Page 51 of Brutal Prince

“Indi!” Addison yells from the other side of the hall.

Yeah, fuck, Addy, no time to chat, girl. Apparently I’m a little fucking busy.

I shove against the guy’s chest, and he falls back with a laugh.

My heart’s in my throat. My legs are still shaky from the intense horse ride, and they threaten to deposit me on the floor any minute. All around me, the hall erupts into laughter.

What the fuck is happening?

“Yeah, me too!”

I turn to the sound of a voice, and a girl who’d been standing nearby grabs my face and kisses me. I shove her away, but a second later someone else grabs me and plants a kiss on my mouth. I’ve barely shoved the stranger away before a hand slides around my throat and I’m drawn back against a warm, hard body.

I catch sight of Briar. He’s standing by his locker, a few inches taller than most of the kids around him.

He looks like he’s about to commit murder. Shoving a kid aside, he surges through the crowd toward me.

But that’s all I see before the guy holding me spins me around, grabs my hair in a fist, and crushes his mouth against mine.

Another one of Briar’s friends, his BFF. But just as he forces his tongue in my mouth and I’m about to knee him in the groin, we’re torn apart.

Briar has his friend’s blazer in a fist, and from the snarl on his face, looks about to punch him in the face.

Addison is at my side the next second. She reaches behind me and I hear something tear free from my clothing. She holds up a note.

Kiss Me.

“I’m telling the principal,” she says, turning on Briar with such a look of fury, I wouldn’t be surprised if she punched him.

Briar shoves his friend away and steps up to Addy, his lip lifting into a sneer.

“Go ahead, Addison,” he rumbles. “Go tell the principal what I did.”

Addison goes as white as her school shirt, and makes a soft sound in the back of her throat. I step in front of her, my entire body stiff with anger.

How fucking dare he threaten my friend?

“Back off, loser,” I say through my teeth.

He glances down, dismisses me, and looks back at Addy.

Bad move, Briar. You should know better than to dismiss me, you smug prick.

But when I throw a punch, he catches it almost absently, without taking his eyes off Addison.

“You know what happens to snitches around here, Addy,” Briar says.

I look up at him, and my body goes ice-cold; all that hatred consumed by fear in an instant.

“We all know what you did, Briar,” Addy whispers. “We all know you—”

“Then fucking prove it,” he growls, stepping closer to her. I’m sandwiched between them, and it’s only then that Briar seems to remember about me. He glances down at me and then does a double take. A slow, serpentine smile spreads over his lips. “But until you can, you keep your fucking mouths shut.”

“Or what?” I say, pushing back my shoulders.

Briar inches closer, but I put my hand on his chest and move Addy and myself back. My hand stays, and for some reason I can’t make myself take it off him. If Briar notices, he doesn’t seem to care. Instead, those blue eyes spear through me, eating into my soul.

“Or you might become Lavish’s next fallen angel,” he murmurs. A dark light fills his eyes as he reaches up and grabs my wrist, pulling my hand away from his chest.

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