Page 87 of Kings of the Campus

I walk over to the car, my head throbbing from where Max punched me, and my body sore from grappling with him. I pull down the sun visor mirror and examine my face, which iscovered in soot and ash. I have a cut on my lip but other than that, Max didn’t hurt me anywhere else.

Slapping the visor shut, I pull out of the drive and follow the ambulances to the county hospital. Once inside, Tessa is immediately rushed to a room where she’s looked at by several doctors and nurses.

One comes out to give me the news. Tessa is very weak from the kidnapping and the smoke inhalation, plus she lost a lot of blood when Max stabbed her. I hadn’t even noticed in all the commotion. I clench my hands into fists, grateful that Max is already in custody because I could have killed him myself.

“We don’t know if Tessa is going to make it, Mr. Montgomery,” the nurse explains.

Ice fills my veins and I feel like I can’t breathe. The world seems to stop around me.

“Save her,” I plead.

50

TESSA

The world swims around me as I slowly come to, the sterile scent of disinfectant filling my nostrils. My eyes flutter open, but everything feels hazy and disjointed. A dull ache radiates through my shoulder, and I can hear the soft beeping of machines nearby. Where am I?

Panic rises in my chest as the last memories flood back—Max, the fire, the knife…Devin. My heart pounds and I try to sit up, but a sharp pain shoots through my body, forcing me back down. I let out a quiet groan, blinking rapidly to clear my vision.

“Tessa,” a familiar voice says softly beside me. I turn my head, and relief floods through me as I see Jace sitting at the edge of my bed, his face lined with concern. Alec is standing just behind him, arms crossed but looking equally worried.

“You’re okay,” Jace reassures me, reaching for my hand. “You’re safe.”

I take a breath, then touch my face, realizing I’ve got a cannula in my nose. “They didn’t think you were going to make it,” Alec says, his voice tight. “But you were a fighter.”

My throat feels dry, and I struggle to speak. “What…where’s Devin?”

“I’m right here.”

Alec steps aside and reveals Devin in the bed just a few feet away. He’s got a matching cannula in his nose, delivering him oxygen as well. He looks a little worse for wear but he’s alive. I feel a wave of relief wash over me.

“You’ve both been through hell,” Jace adds, his voice filled with emotion. “But we got you out in time. Max is in custody. He won’t hurt you again.”

The mention of his name sends a shiver through me. “How…how did he even get out? I was keeping track, looking for any news…” My voice trails off, confusion thick in my words.

Alec’s jaw tightens as he exchanges a glance with Jace before answering. “Max’s family pulled some strings. They used their money and influence to get him quietly released after just a year. No headlines, no announcements. We only found out after we took him down.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “I should’ve known…”

Jace squeezes my hand. “There’s no way you could’ve known, Tess. His family made sure of that. But we’ve got him now. He’s not getting out this time.”

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but the weight of everything that’s happened—the fire, Max, all of it—won’t let me rest. Devin’s eyes are still on me, filled with concern, and Jace and Alec are waiting too, like they know there’s more I need to say.

“There’s something I haven’t told you guys,” I begin quietly, my voice shaky. “Something about Max.”

Jace leans forward, frowning. “What is it, Tess?”

I hesitate, my fingers gripping the hospital blanket tightly. “We…we dated. Freshman year. For a few months.”

The room goes still. I can feel Devin’s eyes burning into me, but I don’t look at him, not yet.

“He was charming, you know? Cool, confident—everything a freshman would fall for,” I explain, feeling the memories resurface. “At first, I was caught up in it. He seemed like he had everything together. But then…I started seeing this darker side of him. He had a drinking problem, and when he drank, he had a temper. He’d get possessive, angry over small things. I tried to look past it, thinking maybe I was just imagining things or overreacting.”

“But you weren’t,” Devin says softly, his voice tight with restraint.

I shake my head. “No, I wasn’t. Things kept getting worse. He was unpredictable, and I started feeling scared around him. So I broke it off.”

The words hang heavy in the air, but I keep going. They need to hear this.

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