Page 55 of Vengeful

"My father owns one of them," I said. Of course he did. "I'm sure he'll let us use it if we make it through the day." I'd insist. After everything he'd put Chloe and me through, it was the least he could do.

"Whenwe make it through the day," Slade corrected. "I'd like that. We could go and take in a game of hockey or football. Depending on when we go."

"Are the Dusk Bay Demons really that bad?" I asked. I'd heard rumours of their head coach working for Caleb, who owned the team.

"They're worse," he said with a smile. "But the Dusk Bay Sharks are on track to win the Down Under Bowl this year. That's the Australian version of the Super Bowl."

"I didn't realise you were into sports that much," I observed.

He shrugged. "I can get behind local teams. Especially when I know most of the guys on them. Most of them are friends or friends of friends. Or enemies of friends."

"You're full of surprises," I said. "I presume you know most of the Dusk Bay Smashers too."

"The twins are into rugby more than I am, but yeah, I know a lot of them. They're not a bad bunch of blokes."

"For people who are shady as fuck." It was my turn to smile.

"Exactly." He nodded. "A university in Dusk Bay might not be a bad thing. The area is big enough for one."

"I guess it is," I agreed. "I just wish… It was a normal university." I was quiet for a couple of minutes. I broke it by asking, "Has any school board tried to end the trials?"

"I'd be surprised if they don't have a conversation about them every year," Slade said. "Speaking as a law professor, they are a legal nightmare. The contract every student has to sign before they start at the Academy is worded to cover every conceivable scenario."

"What about the inconceivable ones?" I asked.

"One of those and the Academy will have problems." He ran his hand over his chin.

"Problems as in getting sued?" I asked. As far as I knew, that never happened. I remember signing pages and pages of the contract. Some of it I'd read, most of it I only skimmed. It wasn't as though I could send it back to have clauses removed. I'd had no choice but to sign it, regardless of what it contained.

Of course, my father told me I should have read it thoroughly before I put pen to paper. Chloe read it all and didn't say a word before she picked up a pen and signed hers.

"Problems as in people wanting to sue them," he agreed. "There's a clause in the contract stating that they can't be sued, but the right lawyer might find a way around it someday. Not that it would get that far. The Academy would deal with everyone involved long before that."

"They'd have them killed," I concluded. "Should one establishment have that much power?"

"Whether or not they should, they do," he said. "But the right people on the school board could end a lot of it."

"If they survive long enough to make change," I pointed out.

"That's true," he admitted. "It would take very powerful, influential people with balls or uteruses of steel."

"What you're saying is I need to get through today so future students don't have to," I said slowly.

"That's up to you," he said. "I would never tell you how to think. You're more than capable of doing that yourself."

I smiled. "Right, but what’s the point of being rich and powerful if you can't make change when, where and how you want to?"

If the Bell family was going to be more powerful than any government, then I wanted to be more powerful than the board of Brutham Academy too. Yes, I was fucking ambitious and I wasn't going to apologise for it. For the first time in I didn't know how long, I had another, better reason to fight my way through the trials. Something even more important than leading my family. When I was done, Brutham Academy first year trials would be a thing of the past. If students wanted to kill each other, they'd have to find another way to do it.

"If I haven't told you lately, you're fucking gorgeous and I love you." He leaned over and kissed me, apparently not giving a shit about what anyone else thought.

I kissed him back. "You'refucking gorgeous and I love you too. We've so got this."

Now I wanted to get off this bus, but only to get the trials underway. I was ready to kick all the ass.

CHAPTER 20

LILA

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