Page 76 of Deliverance

Thomas ushers us into the other bedroom, pulling me on to the bed before forcing me to lay down. When my head hits the pillow, it’s not relief I feel. It’s fear, it’s regret, it’s…heartache. Thomas slowly begins undoing his button-down shirt before dropping it to the floor, revealing his gray haired chest. His hands undo his belt, pulling down his slacks and boxers in one go, revealing a half hard chub. God, I’m gonna be sick.

He moves over to me, his hands pulling down my leggings no matter how tightly closed I keep my legs. He reaches for my panties next, and this time I don’t uncross my legs. No. Fuck this. Fire ignites in his eyes, his gaze promising hostility before cracking his hand against the sensitive flesh of my upper thighs. I cry out and he forcefully yanks them off before grabbing the hem of my sweatshirt, lifting it and my t-shirt over my head until I’m laying there completely exposed.

This is why I’ve been so hyperfixated on Asher, on any of the Legacies. They are the only ones who could ever stop things like this, the only ones with the power to intervene. It’s clear that Asher doesn’t want me. I’ve known that truth for longer than I care to admit. I was just hoping I could convince him otherwise, hoping I could make my escape somehow…someway. I was just hoping?—

Suddenly, the door opens, and my father appears in the doorway. His eyes take in the scene before him as his gaze comes to his best friend. For a moment, a small amount of hope blooms inside me, but that hope quickly withers and dies when he looks to Thomas and nods approvingly, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

The hollow sound of the lock engaging cracks a piece of my heart as I begin shaking my head.

“No, no, no, no,” I whimper as Thomas closes the remaining distance between us.

His large hand covers my mouth, muffling my screams as he climbs on top of me while my father pulls up a chair from the corner. My eyes fixate on the crown molding on the ceiling, tracing over each detail, forcing my mind to escape. To allow me to be anywhere but here. Anywhere but this hell, and it almost works.

Almost.

* * *

I’m sitting in the dining hall at the university, picking at my salad when Mercy and Angela sit down. I lift my eyes in question, what do they want? For the most part, we have kept our space from each other since this summer. I’ve just come to the conclusion that having no ‘friends’ is so much better than being friends with little cunts like them.

“You are not going to believe what happened last night,” Mercy says with a sneer.

I lift an eyebrow in interest because that’s all I can muster to feign any kind of interest in her.

“What?” I ask.

“Asher came to her room last night to hook up,” Angela says while Mercy crosses her arms and sulks. “And he called her Skyla!” she whisper shouts.

My eyes widen as I look to Mercy.

“Yeah, the motherfucker straight up called out her name as he was dumping his cum into my pussy,” she gnashes, shaking her head as she huffs. “First it was all about how he missed fucking me and then he was calling out that posers name?”

“Poser?” I question.

“Yeah, c’mon, Bridgette. You really think she can just come out of nowhere and steal the most eligible man among us? He belongs to one of us, not…her. Where the fuck has she even been? England? For what? She hasn’t earned her right to sit at the goddamn table, let alone at the head.”

She’s not wrong. I can’t help but stare at Skyla, jealousy and envy causing a murky mess inside me.

“And look at her!” Mercy continues as we watch.

Asher comes up to their table, making eye contact with Liam, who is currently snuggled into Skyla’s side. He looks at them but doesn’t stop as he sits down at an empty table in the corner of the room. Asher doesn’t look up from his plate, taking a bite of his pizza as he keeps his eyes downcast.

My gaze moves back over to Skyla as I see Liam slip his hand under the table, gripping her thigh. I fucking knew there was something there, Maggie convinced me otherwise so easily. Played on my jealousy. I don’t know why that pisses me off so much, but it does. My eyes come to Maggie’s, only she isn’t looking at me, she’s smiling at something Skyla says before taking a bite of her food.

Skyla must be able to feel our eyes on her because she turns around as Mercy speaks to me.

“Fuck that bitch. She doesn’t deserve to be here. She doesn’t deserve to take not one, but two of our men.”

My feet move across the room before I can stop myself, my blood boiling thickly in my veins. Am I taking my rage from my own issues out? Possibly. But that doesn’t erase the fact that this bitch literally holds everything in her hands I could ever need to be free, and she’s rubbing it in everyone’s goddamn faces.

“Christ, here we go,” Liam grumbles under his breath.

I ignore him, focusing solely on the bitch who deserves all my wrath. Mercy is right. She doesn’t belong here. She doesn’t deserve to be here and steal all of our chances of freedom. It’s not like the Legacies won’t grow up to be the monsters they were raised by, but it’s better than the monsters we have been raised with.

“So, what’s the deal? Asher isn’t good enough for you? You’re trying to go after Liam, too?” I call out, making sure my voice reaches every corner of the dining hall.

Predictably so, all eyes land on us.

“What are you going on about?” Liam drawls casually. Conveniently, his hand is nowhere to be found on her leg anymore.

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