Page 18 of Bitter Rivals (Bitterwood Elites)

We come to a door that the woman leading us opens with a swipe of her thumb, and inside is a stairwell. As we march downstairs, I can’t help but note we used both an elevatorandstairs. The guard takes us down yet another hall that ends with tall, double doors. When I peer inside, I realize it’s a very large cafeteria. The size of it surprises me, and I notice there are no windows.

Am I in the basement, then?

Vexed I have no clue what’s up or down, I look around when my gaze locks with Professor Vaughn’s. His hungry stare flickers over my body, and I curl my lip at him before turning to give him my back. Glancing at Bianca, I see her looking at her boyfriend, too.

“Thinking about his lips on mine?” I whisper cruelly to her, spurred by some unknown nastiness.

“No, I'm thinking about punching you in the back of the head and vomiting into your food at the thought of his lips on yours.”

Bianca’s words lack fire, making my brow furrow, but the guard looks back at us. I tamp down my irritation at the brunette’s nonchalance. There will come a time when we’ll rumble. Bianca and I are shown to our seats at the far end of the mess hall when a giant screen in the front of the cafeteria comes to life with Principal Windsor’s smiling face.

“Good morning, Bitterwood Elites! I hope you slept well. It’s been thirty hours since you entered your dorms, sleeping off the effects of The Pit, the sleeping draught, and whatever else we might have injected you with no doubt!”

My eyes widen in horror, mirroring the expression on Bianca’s face and undoubtedly other students’. This man is a maniac, and my blood curdles at the thought of what he’s done to me—not to mention what happened to me while I was unconscious. Principal Windsor continues before I spiral into panic.

“It’s nearly nineteen hundred hours. In an hour, after you eat, we’ll begin a new game! The Gallery has voted, and tonight’s event will be Bawl or Brawl. This game will be played in teams against one another.”

As he speaks, plates of hot food are placed before us. Unconsciously, I dig in, starving. Around me, the clank of silverware tells me that everyone else is following suit. I mull over Principal Windsor’s words. Bawl or Brawl... can’t say I’m fond of the name. It implies someone’s going to be crying or fighting. Knowing this place, it’s probably both. Hopefully, I won’t be participating soon.

“Looks like everyone is enjoying their dinner,” the gray-bearded dick in charge of this fiasco comments. With my luck, it’s poisoned, but I’m too hungry to care. “Now, to announce the contestants for the first fight. Cashel O’Connor, Bianca Abbot, Bentley Lennox, and Remington Radcliffe.”

The bite I’m chewing gets lodged in my throat when I try to swallow as my picture, along with Bianca’s and the two boys show up on the screen. Taking a big swig of water, I swing my head around in shock. Cashel and Bentley are the assholes from orientation and the showers, but I don’t know which is the blond or the sable-haired boy. My eyes narrow as they lock with the green gaze of the blond boy, whose lips tip up in glee.

Fucker.

But suddenly something else clicks in my brain—I’m goingagainstBianca. As if we both realize this at the same time, we turn to face one another, our forks still raised half way in the air. A vicious sense of victory slices through me as I sneer at the brunette whose boyfriend has my body and mind in knots. This is my chance to get back at Professor Vaughn. Anything I do to hurt Bianca will hurt him.

Slowly, I stand up, rescanning the room until my gaze locks on the one I was searching for. The deep blue irises meet mine, and my smile turns saccharine sweet. Professor Vaughn’s expression is too shuttered for me to know what he’s thinking, but I swear a brief moment of worry flits across before he can hide it. I nearly laugh out loud at the sight. Heshouldbe concerned.

I’m going to destroy the woman he loves.

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