Page 19 of Cruel Prep (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 1)

I see the demon patch first. That sneering face with a crown on its horned head.

It’s Dallas.

His head is slumped forward, chin on his chest, and he is leaning against the side of a bookshelf. Clearly, he isn’t well. His legs are spread out in front of him like a rag doll. Dried blood is pasted against the back of his head.

I drop to my knees. “Dallas?”

He doesn’t answer, and I slowly reach for his neck with two fingers, doing what I’ve seen done in movies and television. I press his cool skin in several places before panic begins to grip my chest, making it hard to breathe.

There is only the faintest flutter of a pulse.

At least, I think there is. Maybe I’m making it up. Maybe there’s nothing.

Maybe he’s dead.

10

Lily

I jerk my hand away and cover my mouth, muffling a scream. Then, on shaky, drug-fueled legs, I crawl back into the hallway. I’m just finding my feet, ready to run downstairs and find a phone to call 911, when I run into someone.

“What the fuck?”

I recognize Cora’s voice and almost sob with relief.

“Thank God. Cora. We have to—” I look back at the door and shake my head. “I need a phone. Something happened, and—”

Cora rolls her eyes. “Where is Finn? Why did he let you leave?”

She sounds like she is annoyed with me, but I know it’s just because she doesn’t understand.

“We need to call the police.”

She grabs my arm and pulls me down the hall. I don’t ask where we are going because it doesn’t matter. No matter where we go, I’ll find a phone and call for help.

Cora throws open a door. Finn is sitting on the edge of his bed. He still doesn’t have a shirt on. When Cora walks in, dragging me behind her, he frowns at her. No, it’s a grimace.

Maybe it has something to do with the ecstasy between her boobs from the game earlier. Finn didn’t seem to enjoy her dare, and it didn’t make any sense to me, either. For days, she talked him up to me, acting like he liked me. So, why would she do that?

I shake my head, chastising myself for thinking about something so trivial when someone might be dead in the other room.

But I’m not thinking rationally about anything. My mind is a tangled mess, and I just need someone else to tell me what to do.

I need someone to help.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growls.

Cora yanks me forward by the arm, pushing me towards him. “Cleaning up your mess. Whatever you did to her in here, keep it in here. There are still people downstairs. They know you’re fucked in the head, but they don’t know how badly.”

I feel like I’m in a nightmare.

Maybe this is a bad trip. I’ve only ever smoked pot before tonight, so I don’t know what ecstasy should be like.

Based on the name, I’d assume it was better than this. More fun.

This is not fun. Not even a little bit.

Finn grabs my arm. The gentle touching from before is gone. His fingers dig into my skin with crushing force. I wince as he pulls me towards him.

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