Page 16 of Deadly Sacrifice

Sitting up straight, I glare at the closet doors across the room. I don’t want to believe Prudence is some snake in the grass, waiting to blow up the future I’ve been promised all my life. But more than that, I don’t want to piss off my dad. For once, I have the chance to show him I’m man enough for all the responsibilities he holds over my head. That I’m not a disappointment like he’s always said.

“Alright,” I breathe out, rolling my shoulders back as determination floods me. “I’ll make sure she’s not a problem.”

“And you’ll bring her to me when you’re done?” he asks, a weird hitch in his voice.

I don’t think anything of it, though. I nod, even though he can’t see me, and then I say, “Of course,” before hanging up.

Sorry, Prudence. It’s you or me, and I refuse to go down without a violent fight.

***

A few hours later, once Creed and Griffin are both home from class, I grab a few beers from the mini-fridge in my room and wander out to the hall. I knock on Griff’s door first, and when he opens it, shirtless and only in low-slung jeans, I dart my eyes away and tell him to follow me.

We gather in Creed’s room whenever we have to talk about shit. It’s the furthest from the stairs at the end of the hall, so no one can overhear us. Even if one of the frat brothers came up to find us, we’d hear their steps echoing down the hall long before they reached Creed’s room.

“What’s up, Ash? You looking for a fight, because the expression you’re wearing says so,” Creed says, cracking open a beer as he leans on his desk.

A fight is long past due, and I’m itching to wrap my knuckles and meet one of the brothers in the woods for an off the books sparing match, but that’s not on the agenda today. I take a long drink of my beer before shaking my head. “No, I just thought I’d fill you two in on the conversation I just had with my dad.”

Griffin tenses from across the room, his beer untouched and his strong arms crossed over his bare chest. He arches a brow at me when I make eye contact.

Creed grins manically when I look back at him. “Please do tell. What did your master— sorry, your dad, tell you to do now?”

“Fuck off,” I grumble with a roll of my eyes. He’s always giving me shit for following Dad’s orders.

Creed’s parents died when he was a kid, and he was left to kind of fend for himself in foster care until my parents took him in as a teenager, after we found out he’d been in a mental institution for a year. His relationship with my dad is different. Creed doesn’t have to live up to any expectations or prove himself. My dad doesn’t really give a shit if he’s high off his ass or having an episode in the middle of campus. Just as long as he does what he’s told with out issue.

I finish my drink, grab Griffin’s, and then repeat the conversation I had on the phone to the only two people I have ever trusted implicitly.

“We take her down, then? No matter the cost or the lengths we have to go to?” Creed asks, a wild glint in his eyes that should be unsettling except that I’m used to it by now.

“I thought you liked her?” I ask, and Griffin nods his agreement, brows furrowed at Creed.

Creed shrugs, brushing his messy black hair out of his face. “I can still ruin her life while I fuck her,” he explains, licking his lips as if he’s imagining… whatever dark shit he thinks about.

“Alright. You two help me wear her down. Figure out what makes her tick, where to really hit her to make it hurt. As long as I’m the one who tosses her at my dad’s feet when we’re done,” I mutter, lost in my thoughts and old whispers of memories.

Griffin stares at me with a blank expression. You’re not going to actually hurt her, right? Not physically? he signs.

I study him, trying to read some emotion behind his eyes, but he’s eerily empty. “It’s not my first plan of action, but I’ll do whatever it takes. We’ll have to see how much fight she has in her.”

Creed cackles loudly, stealing my attention. He looks overjoyed, light brown eyes bright and smile wide. “I’ll drain whatever fight she’s got. Don’t worry about that,” he promises.

I peer behind him to his desk, checking the pill box he leaves sitting out. From here, at least, it looks like he’s been staying on top of his meds. If he hasn’t, though, Prudence might be in a world of trouble because he’s liable to take things too far. Further than even I’m willing to go, and I’m desperate to prove a point to my dad.

I have a split second of second guessing, and I almost try to reel Creed back in and tell him to leave her alone, but I’m distracted by Griffin as he cracks his neck and leaves the room without looking at me.

“I have one request,” Creed drawls, crossing his room to stand before me with a lazy grin. “If we’re going to truly wound her, we’ll need to do it from the inside.”

I raise my brows in question, waiting for him to explain.

“I’m telling you to play nice, man. I know, what a concept.” Creed chuckles, shaking his head. He grabs a toothpick and plucks it into his mouth, adding, “But letting her think we’re not the enemy will only make it that much sweeter when her blood’s on our hands.”

He doesn’t wait for me to agree, just lets me think it over. With a pat on my shoulder and an eager look in his eyes, Creed leaves the room and whistles on his way down the hall.

11

Prudence

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