Page 59 of PET

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend. They’re forbidden. And she’s only seventeen years old. She has other things she needs to focus on rather than boys,” he says with a snarl, approaching us with who I assume is his driver.

He’s a huge motherfucker.

I crane my neck to look up at the dude towering over me, a scar running across his entire face and dipping into his hairline. He looks down at me and growls like fucking Lurch.

“What seems to be the problem?” Mr. Lucas asks the headmaster, ignoring my presence and steps between me and Billie.

“I heard a ruckus and found Ms. Lucas here in cahoots with her classmate, Mandi—”

“I’ll take it from here,” Patrick says as he grabs a hold of Billie’s arm roughly.

The memory pisses me off just as much as it did when I saw it live. Rushing back to the bars, I grab and shake them. “Let me out, goddamn it! I didn’t do anything!”

Anger licks up my neck as I take several deep, calming breaths and drop my head. I can’t help Billie if I do something stupid and get myself locked up for longer. Speaking of, how long do they expect to keep me in here?!

I jump back when the jailer’s door opens with a loud creak and a man in a slightly different uniform steps in. He must be the Sheriff. Looking up at me, he frowns and plops down at his desk like I’m the least of his worries.

“Hey!” I shout, shaking the bars again. “I was told I had to wait for you to return. Well, now you’re back. I want my phone call!”

The guy chuckles as he leans back in his desk chair and kicks his boot-covered feet up on a tall stack of files. He has no care in the world, smirking up at the ceiling as he closes his eyes.

“Listen here, asshole! I don’t know which family is paying your salary, but do your fucking job!”

This gets his attention. Jumping up from his leisurely position, the chair slams against the concrete wall as he storms toward me.

“You’re a cocky little fuck. Didn’t your pathetically weak father teach you not to bite the hand that feeds you? I have the keys,” he says, dangling them in my face. “And I have the power.”

Stepping back, another memory fills my mind from those exact words coming from Patrick’s lips.

“I have the power,” Patrick says as he pulls Billie with him. “And you will listen to me!”

Anger rips through me again as I rush forward to take Billie away from him, when he spins and shoves me in the chest. He put his goddamn hands on me. I shove Patrick from behind when he thinks he’s won, facing the headmaster again. He releases Billie and stumbles forward. I don’t give him time to react before I punch him in the jaw. It cracks under pressure, but it doesn’t seem to faze him.

He stands and grins at me. “You didn’t have to get hurt, kid. We had high hopes for you, but it looks like you’re not a team player. It’s too bad because youarea Lungren…”

I’m confused by his words when it pulls me from the moment and he punches me right back. I stumble back into his driver, who shoves me forward to face Patrick. Swinging, I connect my fist with Patrick’s jaw again. We go back and forth several times, the taste of copper filling my mouth.

“Stop it!” Billie screams.

But we don’t stop until we both land a few more punches.

I’m out of breath, stepping away from him as I smile and know I’ve won this round. His face is jacked. But I realize he’s close to Billie again and grabs her arm right as the front doors burst open.

“Earth to you, kid!” the Sheriff shouts, pulling me back to reality. “Fucking kids these days.”

Turning, he stalks back to his desk and plops into his chair. I realize this worthless piece of garbage isn’t going to help me at all. He’s definitely dirty—paid off by someone like Patrick Lucas or any of the elite families. Hell, that’s probably how he got this job in the first place. It’s good to have friends in high places, I guess.

I have to get out of here somehow, though. When the officers came in and saw the scene before their eyes, they took Patrick’s words over mine and cuffed my wrists.Self defense—what a lying sack of shit. He might not have thrown the first punch, but the fight between us was inevitable.

There was nothing I could do to stop it, nearly passing out when I tried. Cuffed and shoved to my knees in the middle of Reaper Academy, the cops held me down while I watched Patrick take Billie out of my sights. He’s her uncle, so they didn’t question a thing. Not even when Billie cried and begged for their help. They turned their heads to look away, but I watched every second.

“Look at her! She’s begging for your help and you’re not doing a thing!” I shout, struggling beneath two officers holding me down.

My cheek presses into the polished wooden floors of Reaper, watching Patrick pull Billie closer and closer to the exit. Cops mill in and out, not minding her pleas. A spoiled brat, I heard one of them say.

“AH!” I scream out and push up from the floor.

But the officer’s over-power me and shove my face back into the planks. I groan out and kick for dear life. He’s taking Billie from me and there isn’t a fucking thing I can do about it.

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