Page 126 of Cruel Elite (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 3)

I open the glove compartment and see Noah’s gun tucked away there.

Grabbing it, I flip the safety off and run into the trees to get my man.

38

Noah

The betrayal almost hurts worse than the beating.

Almost.

Tank laughs as the Hell Princes take turns throwing punches at me, encouraging the men to get creative.

“We’ve got all the time in the world out here, fellas. Have some fun with it.”

Unlike other encounters with the Hell Princes when they overestimated their own strength, Tank didn’t take any chances this time.

He showed up with seven other bikers, and they all either have a personal vendetta against me or are in desperate need of some catharsis.

They certainly don’t hold back.

“The least you could do is give me a chance to fight back,” I say, spitting blood onto the ground.

“Not a chance in hell, fucker. We’ve got plans for you.”

The Hell Princes dragged me away from where Haley and I had been standing, but the walk through the woods has been a slow one, punctuated with long breaks to kick me in the ribs, make my nose bleed, and knock the wind out of me.

Whatever they have planned for me, it isn’t going to be pleasant. They aren’t offering me a warning.

This is a punishment.

Perhaps, the final punishment.

The possibility that I might die washes over me as one of the Hell Princes, a small guy with a face tattoo and a nose ring, slams his fist into my jaw.

I’m scared, obviously, but I also can’t help but notice the irony.

I thought Penny ruined my life, so I set out to ruin her.

In doing so, I made her so mad that she decided toactuallyruin my life.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

I grimace. That’s a J.C. kind of joke. The bastard is getting inside my head.

I should have apologized to Penny sooner.

Maybe if I had, things would have been different.

Maybe there would have been time for me to make things right with Penny and have her call off this plan.

Then again, maybe not.

She seemed genuinely hurt when she thought I’d offered her up as The Sacrifice. Her relief at finding out I hadn’t seemed genuine, as well.

Is there any way she didn’t mean to do this?

Tank is walking just ahead of me, but he stops walking suddenly, turns around, and punches me in the stomach.

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