Page 3 of Ruthless Legacy

I finally lose control, hurling my knife at the screen, when some coward kicks her in the head, because that’s the only way to get her to release Zeus.

I watch as she struggles to stay conscious, and loses that fight just as the rest of her clothes are ripped from her body and someone with a bandanna climbs on top of her.

“Fuck her, fuck her!” Eloise screeches. “Fuck her so I can show everyone what a whore she is.”

The guy on top of her fumbles with his jeans and pokes around but has trouble getting an erection.

“Do it!”

“Shut up bitch, I can’t enjoy this with you yelling.”

A howl and laughter from the other end of the tunnel draws their attention. “Shit. Someone’s coming.”

“We need to get out of here.”

“We can’t just leave her here.”

“Yes, we can.”

It’s Eloise that says,

“No, we can’t. She’ll wake up and then she’ll rat you out.”

“She’ll rat on you too.”

“Me? Who am I? I’m wearing a mask. No one has seen my face, and the bruises I’ll get from the few hits she landed will be covered by makeup and clothes. It’s you on camera. You and your buddies. It’s your mask she pulled off, Zeus’ dick she bit. I was never here. And if you don’t want to be here either, you’ll do exactly what I say.”

He nods, and does her bidding when she says, “Bring her.”

The camera cuts out, but I know what happened next based on the timestamp. It was time for the crossover. When the pledges are taken to the cemetery as their final challenge and awaken in their new lives.

Eloise says Thea grabbed the guy’s bandanna. That means she saw his face, but the camera pointed downward, zoomed in to where he was trying to fuck her.

I’m relieved that he couldn’t. The thought of her being violated has been on a loop in my head, since we didn’t have any details about what happened that night. He tried. His clumsy fumbling ineffective penis tried, andno onesaid a word.

No one advocated for her. Not one person spoke up and said what a bad idea it was to continue what they were doing. Not one person uttered a word about how we’d react when we found out. Why? Because somehow Eloise has convinced everyone that she can make these decisions and has our support.

Without looking at Pax, I say, “You definitely gave her the impression that you agreed to make her ours. Your behavior, your actions,your silencehave giveneveryonethe impression that she’s working with our permission. With our blessing. We’ve been wondering how we’ve lost control. Wondering who’s been turning the school against us.” I point to the screen. “There’s your answer Pax. It’s you by way of your proxy.Your buddy,Eloise.”

* * *

Pax

I tamp down the urge to defend myself against Finn’s accusations. What can I really say to that? He’s right. He’s been right. I dismissed his concerns, because I wanted to protect my secret. Because I knew he’d overreact if he found out, I agreed to push him and Eloise together. But that’sthe onlyreason. I honestly didn’t think she’d take things this far.

But clearly, I underestimated her attachment to Finn, or how much she hates Thea. The little hellion fought. Hard and relentlessly, even when it was clear her body couldn’t fight anymore. As I watched, I realized that wasn’t the first time she’d been in a fight for her life. She’s skilled, but she also fought with a raw savagery that can only come when you’ve decided the situation is kill or be killed. What kind of life did she live before, that she had to do that?

Finn pulls out his phone. “I’m calling my father. Eloise thinks she has me? Well, fuck that. This deal is done.”

The words rush out of me. “You can’t.”

He pulls out another knife and points it at me. “Are you defending her to me? Are youstillgoing to push me toward her? What else does she have on you?”

“Nothing. I’m not defending her, I’m not pushing you towards her. I’m done with that shit. I never wanted to do it to begin with. I just…”

“Just what?”

“I didn’t want you sniffing around Thea, okay? It was clear you weren’t just into her because of the job for my father. You liked her, and I didn’t like that. She was a distraction.”

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