Page 25 of Beautiful Dark Temptation

The fucker had sparked a response I couldn’tcontrol. I was still hard when I stomped out of the field andheaded home like a sore loser. I couldn’t get away from him fastenough. Ignored the crowd, the cheers, the celebration. Wren madethe crowd laugh and cheer for us despite our defeat. My bodyvibrated with rushing anger. A potent thing gaining friction themore I thought about Tomás. I reached the house breathing fast,heart pumping. My lip swollen. Tomás had played me too. Taunting meas if he knew what haunted my nightmares.

Him.Hehaunted my nightmares. Isated my throat with a tall glass of water. The arrogant prick hadno clue what he’d awoken inside of me. But he would. Soon enoughhe’d know the shit he started.

The others followed shortly after I arrived.We all settled, defeated, in the living room.

“This was stupid,” Henry said. “I’m neverdoing this again.” He started to leave but I blocked his path withmy body. When his eyes met mine, he knew not to poke the bearinside of me. He stepped back with the rest of them.

“I thought it was fun,” Wren said.

“Fun,” I parroted. I couldn’t stop theanimalistic rage rushing through me and I upturned a side table.The lamp shattered to the floor at Wren’s feet. He sat up straight,coiled tight. Everything wrecked. “This loss revealed ourweaknesses. Our vulnerabilities and you think it’s fun! Do you haveany idea what our enemies could use against us!”

Fox kept his eyes to the floor. “I didn’tthink he’d betray me,” he said so low I felt the pain of thebetrayal as if it were my own.

“We’ve all become complacent and for us thatis very dangerous.” I let all that sink in. Their expressions saidit all. They knew. “Nothing in our lives can be taken for granted,”I said, a little softer this time. “Our vices,” I pointed at Wren.“Our complacency,” I pointed at River. “Those we love,” I looked atFox, “and our indifference,” I glared at Henry. “And my anger,” Iadded. “We need to reel all that shit in when we’re out there. Ourenemies will use that against us. And make no mistake, our enemieslive within this school. They can’t do anything while we’re here,but out there? In the real world? They can and they will.”

Wren leaned forward, eyes down, handsinterlaced in front of him looking defeated. “I wasn’t thinkinglike that.”

I let out a breath. “I know. And weshouldn’t have to. But we’re not the normals. If we forget, wedie.”

“Well, that’s a total downer,” Wrensaid.

No shit. “We have to fix this.”

“How?” River asked.

I dragged my eyes to Fox who I couldn’tread. “We make an example out of them. It has to be tonight whilethe shit is still fresh. We go the way of the gods.”

The silence in the room felt like an icepick against my skin. Fox had to approve of it. It meant hurtingDasher as much as Tomás.

He nodded. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Do it.”

River shook his head. “That’s fucked up,guys. Even for us.”

“In or out?”

“Yeah, I’m in.”

Wren nodded in agreement. And Henry put inhis positive vote.

My body felt so tired.

Henry wasn’t like us. He was smaller, had asoft disposition. We’d tried to teach him how to defend himself andhe’d broken down in sobs. We tried to teach him how to use aweapon, and he’d refused. But he was our tech person. Smarter thananyone in the room. I needed him. “Henry. I want you there. We needto show them a solid front.”

He nodded and slipped away.

Fox followed me into the kitchen as I pulledout one of my meals while Fox made a sandwich for himself. This hadbeen us since we met after we’d been dumped into the elementaryschool version of Arcadia. Fox and I had become solid the firsttime we met, as if he’d been the missing part of me. I felt hisconflict as if it were my own and I hated Dasher for putting itthere. The I-told-you-so didn’t feel so grand anymore, so I didn’tsay it.

“I never thought he’d betray me,” Fox said,sitting down and taking a bite of his sandwich while I ate withouttasting my food.

“You have to show everyone he means shit toyou now.”

Fox swallowed hard.

“You have to let this shit between you twogo. He doesn’t need or want your help.” I knew the words wereharsh, but they were also true, and I didn’t know how else to helpFox with the baggage he carried around when it came to Dasher. “Andafter tonight, he’s going to hate you.”

He tossed the sandwich in the trash andwalked away. I didn’t even hear his room door close.

The front door opened and closed as I put mydish away. Getting under Tomás’s skin made me feel alive. Icouldn’t kill him yet, but I could fuck with him.

---