Page 21 of Believe In Us

We planned, we plotted and any day now she’ll be back in his arms.

So for now there is only one thing I can do, and it has nothing to do with my father and everything to do with her. I have to decide what I plan on doing with my own newest obsession, because as of today, I think I might just keep my little pet.

Lunch rolls around after the longest fucking morning, and I take the opportunity to head down to the courtyard and keep an eye on things. With us in charge of keeping things in order on campus and ensuring no one steps out of line or forgets their place under our reign, there have never been any issues between cliques. The jocks stay with the jocks, the stoners and freaks stay out of sight, the mean girls hang on our tails like pathetic little pups, and everyone is on their merry way to enjoying the perfect school year. Until recently.

The troubled kids from out of town were warned to stay out of our fucking way, but they’ve managed to jump onto our radar and everybody knows it. Apparently they’re quite a hit around town, what once was a crowd of privileged assholes reminding them of how out of place they all are around here, have now turned into their own little fan club and groupies. That means trouble for us.

No one can sense this shift of power, it’s bad for fucking business. It’s how empires are taken over, how whole civilizations collapse. A ripple in the kingdom we rule, although it’s as corrupt as they come, it’s still ours to inherit, to control. We have no intention of burning it to the ground, our only goal is to free it from the shackles of its tyrants. Yet as I stand here watching how they all interact with their classmates, I’m not sure it’s all that bad. In war, the only thing more important than the enemy you fight, is the allies you create.

“Ugh I can’t believe they’re still fucking here.” I turn to my right and find the queen of queens standing beside me glaring daggers in their direction. She looks pissed, I’d even go as far as saying jealous as she watches what the little group of less fortunate foster siblings has become. “I mean I get the appeal, the guys are sexy as fuck, all tattooed and dangerous,”

“We’re tattooed and dangerous,” Alek says from my left, rolling up his sleeves to reveal the ink splattered along his forearms.

“No you have like two measly tattoos. They are covered in them from head to toe and it’s, Mhmm,” Carrington moans, as she bites down on her lip. She’s in her usual attire, the Servite uniform tailored to look more like something that Sailor Moon chick would wear.

However, the look on her face as she watches the punks, matches something you’d find in a porn video. “Someone misses my boy Ace,” Alek mocks, causing Carrington to glare murderously at him, but never once does she deny it. Her obsession with Ace, despite his continuous rejection, had seemed to dissipate since he left earlier this month. I guess it’s finally hit her, he’ll never be hers.

“At least Scarlett is gone,” Wynter, Ace’s sister, and the indifferent, cold-hearted, true leader of the posse, scoffs from behind us, interrupting Carrington and her snide comments. I turn to find the ice princess glued to her phone, not even bothering to look their way. Her platinum almost white hair is cut short in a bob thatfalls right above her shoulders, combed into loose beach waves, and held back with a black headband. Like Carrington, her outfit has been altered, though on Win, I’m shocked to say it looks nice. Slutty chic.

I smile sheepishly at her, understanding her reluctance to accept her brother’s girlfriend, having had the same issue once, before I got to know Scar. “Yeah Win, but you’re forgetting your brother is too, not to mention your psycho uncle has moved her into your house,” I answer, but she doesn’t bother looking my way.

“Ace is a fucking idiot for leaving because of her,” she continues, never once looking away from her screen. “But we already knew that. As for Wes, we all know he’s nothing to me. Just some fucker who shares my blood and jovial attitude.”

I grin wider at the sarcasm coating her voice as I turn back to watchthe punkstalking comfortable amongst each other. “Ugh whatever, who gives a fuck about the dirty trash whore,” Carrington whines, smugly placing her hands on her hips. “She’s gone and we’re all better off for it. Now all we need to do is get rid of the other two and we’re back in business.” By the other two I assume she’s referring to Jade and Ruby.

I lean back against the table we’ve deemed ours since freshman year, crossing my hands over my chest as I watch Carrington Prescott turn green with envy. “My, my Carrie, looks like you and your queens are afraid of a little competition.”

“Puh-lease,” Kinsley scoffs, suddenly appearing from behind Carrington, moving around me and standing directly at my side. I can’t deny the sense of hatred that washes over me the moment I hear her voice. “As if those two could ever compare, or even come close to us. They're insignificant and completely subpar.”

“They’re worth more than the four of you combined,” I snap, my rage getting the best of me at Kinsley’s continuous insulting of Jade. “No offense Drea,” I add, turning to Alek’s twin sister who despite being part of the group, never has a say in anything.

For some reason this catches Wynter’s attention. “Don’t tell me,you too?” she asks, but I don’t seem to catch what it is she’s talking about. She starts to laugh, an oddity for the ice princess who only has two settings, cold & cruel, just like her brother. She’s the meanest of mean girls, the kind who won’t outwardly insult you for being beneath her like Carrington, or bitch at how jealous she is of you like Kinsley, or silently stand back and watch you take a beating from the other two like Drea. No Wynter is the worst of the four Queens of Servite Academy. Wynter Servite simply doesn’t give a fuck. Not about anyone, least of all a couple of punks who’ve come to stain the pristine reputation of our school. She cares about no one, except her dear twin brother Ace, and apparently thebitchwho’s taken him from her. I’ve always viewed Wynter as a little sister of sorts. Her, Ace, and I, along with Alek, Drea, and Stella all grew up together and were pretty close before the guys and I were recruited to join our father’s cavalry, therefore ending our childhood, and forcing us to grow the fuck up. The girls also went their separate ways when Wynter and Drea started hanging around more with Carrington, leaving poor Stella all on her own, with no one to rely on but herself.

Come to think of it, it’s always been poor Stella, all alone, no friends, no family. However, I realize that’s all changed as I turn my attention back to the group and find Stella standing right in the middle of their tight knit pack. Somehow, for some inexplicable reason, I feel a deep pang of jealousy within me.

“Of course you’ve also fallen in deep, let me guess with the wolf?” Wynter asks, coming to stand beside me, though she’s obviously not expecting an answer because she already has it all figured out.

“Maybe we should go pay her a little visit,” Carrington adds, a cunning smirk taking over her pout. “Let’s go and inquire how good our big man here is in the sack.”

“Leave her out of it. I’m fucking serious. This is my one and only warning to you, all of you,” I shout, looking at the four girls and including Alek and Beck in the mix, “Stay the fuck away from Jade.”

Chapter

Ten

JADE

Weeks Later

My phone falls to the floor, a loud thud sounding as it hits the gravel beneath me. “Jade are you there?” I can hear Bass’s voice coming from the speaker but I can’t get myself to answer. Physically, I can’t speak. His words ring violently in my ear, drowning me in a river of dread.There was a fire, it caused an explosion and Servite Manor is gone. Your sister and Ace were taken to the safehouse, they’re unconscious but they’ll be okay Jade.

Unconscious. A fire. Another goddamn explosion. Once again my sister’s life is in danger because of the fucking monsters in this place. Hidden in plain sight or lurking in the darkness, they’re all fucking here. After the crash where Ace was taken captive by his uncle, Scarlett was taken to the hospital with a concussion and some minor bruising and scrapes, but now eighteen, she was able to check herself out against doctor’s orders. However, Sebastianand I forced her to come to Ace’s beach house, not letting her run off after him like she was planning to do. We needed a plan, so here we were planning to keep her locked up in his bedroom until we’d figure out what the fuck we were going to do to get him back without sending her into the lion’s den. But not all of us were on the same page. Alek of all people, along with that whore Scar brought back from the Gallows, Remi, or something, decided for once to do the “right” thing and helped her plot her escape. Alek then came back to the house for help after dropping her off at Servite Manor, and the worst part was it wasn’t until that very moment that we realized she was gone. Bass and Alek took off after her and Ace, but Beckett stayed back to make sure I didn’t go running after them. Alek said he’d promised Scarlett to keep me away from the mess she was in, but I’m not sure when it was that he started promising my sister anything. Maybe around the time he found out they were cousins.

It had been too long without any word from the guys, and I was getting restless just sitting around doing nothing. I decided to take a walk along the path leading out to the deck at the edge of the water when I received the call. My blood dropped to my feet, my heart ached with worry that something bad was going to happen to my sister. When I finally regained my composure I ran back to the house, finding Beckett on the phone just outside the door.

“I’ll call you back, she just got here,” he murmurs, hanging up his phone and shoving it in his pocket.

“Take me to her now!” I shout out, my body shaking in anger as Beckett watches me not giving away his reaction.

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