Page 80 of Snake

Mason

“Christ, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

I turn to the sound of Knox’s voice, frowning at him. “Now I can’t get a drink?” I ask him before taking a sip of my beer. I don’t drink often, especially when I’m training—and I’m always fucking training—but tonight I needed to take the edge off.

“You shouldn’t be wandering around—”

“Without adult supervision?” I cut in with a snort. “Jesus, turn down the control freak dial, would you?”

Knox’s face clears in that oh-so-familiar way when he’s pissed and he doesn’t want anyone to know it. As if we can’t read him like a fucking book by now. I scoff at him, tossing down another gulp of beer and heading back to the dance floor.

“Look, we’ll take care of Eliza—” Knox begins.

He shuts up when I spin around to face him. “We should have done that years ago.” I point a finger at him, my beer bottle in the same hand, and his dark eyes drop warily to the neck like he’s worried I’m going to spill on him or beat him over the head with it.

I’ve had one drink. Christ, one.

“We were busy,” Knox says calmly, his arm stiff as he uses it to guide my hand away from his chest. Yeah, I guess we’re all close to snapping right now. We could all use a night off, relax, that kind of thing. Knox looked pretty calm out there on the dance floor.

Funny thing that. How she kept saying we couldn’t touch her. How she threatened me with the dean when all I did was hug her. But now? Now she doesn’t have jack shit to say about dancing with Knox.

Guess I wasn’t her favorite after all. Right now, I’m not even sure if I made the fucking list.

“Why are you following me around when you could have your dick buried in Nim by now?” I ask him sourly, making my way through the crowd. I don’t want to go back to the dance floor, but I gravitate toward it, anyway.

Guess I’m a sucker for punishment, because I know it’ll just get me riled up watching Silas dancing with Nim. I mean, did they split her between them and realize there wasn’t more to go around?

My jealousy is rearing its ugly head again, but I’m too emotionally drained to fight it off tonight. Tonight wasn’t about dresses and love songs and shit like that. But that’s what it turned into.

Because Eliza fucked everything up.

I swear, that bitch can be lucky I don’t go around murdering people just for annoying the shit out of me, but she’s getting real close to making me change my mind.

Knox and I arrive at the dance floor a moment later, just as there’s a sudden commotion in the crowd. I see someone running, but they’re too far away with too many people between us, so all I see is the odd flash.

It’s enough for me to know who the fuck it is.

“Eliza,” I mutter, surging toward the dance floor. I use every inch of my height to scan above the crowd, and find what I’m looking for a second later.

There, becoming more and more isolated as the other dancers withdraw, are Silas and Nim. They’re standing so still that I keep searching them for signs of harm. Blood, torn clothing, I don’t even know what the fuck I’m looking for...

Until I see Nim’s hair.

Or lack thereof.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Knox mutters behind me, then he’s pushing past because I’ve stopped moving.

I should be glad she’s not hurt. Eliza is the kind of cutthroat bitch who’d...well, cut Nim’s throat. Yet, somehow, this feels worse. Maybe that’s just because Nim looks so flabbergasted how she keeps pushing strands of short hair out of her face, like she’s wondering why it keeps falling in her eyes.

Knox is already there, and he’s standing right behind Nim, searching the crowd. Not for me, obvious when his eyes glide right over mine, but for more of Eliza’s cronies. Making sure there’s not another nasty surprise waiting for us.

Fuck it, it’s time we left anyway. Knox’s sisters went home with Vicky earlier, so we can pick up and leave soon as we want. Romi appears, hurrying up to Nim’s side. That’s when Nim starts crying.Not sobbing like a big sissy. Just fat, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Her mouth is moving like she’s speaking, and Romi looks around like she’s wondering if there’s a gunman in the crowd waiting to offload a mag or two.

When I get there, no one’s saying anything. So I do. “Knox, get the car. Silas, keep up the rear. Romi, grab her arm.” Then I point at Nim. “You follow me.”

Knox is already heading for the exit. Romi pulls Nim alongside her as she follows me out. Silas follows behind with a strangely blank look on his face.

I don’t like that look one bit, but we’ll have to deal with it later. Right now, our priority is getting the fuck out of here without incurring any more casualties.

For Eliza’s sake, I hope she stays out of sight. Because if I see her, I’ll be locked up for manslaughter when they’ve yanked me off her bloody corpse.

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