A cat-ear headband lies on the floor at our feet. I kick it aside and step even closer. Glancing down, I realize Devlin’s not holding her neck but the back of a dog collar she’s wearing.
“You have no idea what’s going on here,” he says, his blue eyes fixing on mine. “Why don’t you mind your own business, or better yet, go back to New York where you belong.”
I cross my arms and glare back at him, at those blue eyes that are so clear they look like the surface of a frozen lake in January. Devlin’s eyes promise secret dangers that are every bit as deadly as those icy depths.
I tear my gaze away from his and gesture to the trembling girl. “Anyone with two eyes can see what’s going on here. Now let her go. I won’t ask you again.”
Devlin’s lips twist into an amused smirk. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to,” he purrs in that silk-draped voice. “Because this isn’t over. Unless you’re going to kneel for me instead.”
His eyes flick over me, and his smile widens the slightest bit.
“Not if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
“Kneel, Frosh,” he says, powering down on the girl’s collar.
She clumsily drops to her knees, and everyone starts laughing and whistling and barking again. For one horrible second, I think he’s going to make her blow him right here in the hall.
He called my bluff. I can’t make him stop. I don’t know this guy. I have nothing on him, and no power in this school. So I do the only thing I can think of—distract him so she can escape. I step in and shove him as hard as I can.
He feels like a brick wall under my palms, but I catch him off guard just enough that he stumbles sideways. His hand is still caught in the girl’s dog collar, and she falls sideways onto the floor before his fingers come free. I step over her, getting right in his face. With my back to her, my body is between them, and I hope she has the sense to get the hell out of here. I just played the only card I’ve got—desperation’s best friend, the element of surprise.
It only buys her a few seconds.
Devlin’s hand flashes out and grabs me by the throat, and he shoves me up against the lockers before I can jerk away. My body bangs against the metal, the sound echoing down the hall. His eyes flash with fury and his fingers clench around my neck for a split second before he relaxes his grip to one that is less painful but just as effective at restraining me. All the adrenaline that fueled my courage is turning to something else, and I’m shaking so hard he can probably feel it.
“Where do you get off treating people that way?” I ask, spitting the words at him as I claw to free myself from his chokehold. “You think just because you drive a fancy car and wear a big name that you’re better than everyone else?”
A cruel smile teases the corners of his lips, and he steps in, his body a whisper away from mine, the heat of it swirling over me like a blinding fog. “I don’t think that,” he says in that silky voice, his hand still around my throat just tight enough to feel like a threat. He tips my chin up, his warm breath caressing my lips when he speaks. “I know it.”
For a second, I can’t move, as if the ice of his crystal blue gaze has frozen me solid even as a fire rages under my skin. My body is a contradiction, confusion slashing through me. I can’t tell if I feel incredibly, addictively strong, or terrifyingly weak. If the thing awakening in the core of my being is a delicate bud, a tender green sprout that can be trampled by one careless boot, or a fire-breathing dragon that could raze the earth with her fury.
“This one,” he says slowly, his voice raised but his eyes still locked on mine. “Is now the Darling Dog.”
A hush falls over the crowd, and then a burst of whispers. Before I can spit in his eye for calling me a dog, a fist connects with the side of his head, sending him reeling sideways and tearing me from his grip. King grabs Devlin by the throat before he can recover. “What the fuck are you doing to my sister?”
What the fuck, indeed.
As fists fly, I flatten my back against the lockers, pressing my burning palms against the cool metal, my heart stampeding in my chest. I close my eyes and breathe. I’m not shocked by the appearance of one of my brothers. In the recesses of my mind, I was probably even expecting it. Waiting for them to show up for me, the way they always do.
When I open my eyes, King and Devlin are both on their feet. King is bigger and stronger, but Devlin is quicker on his feet, dancing like a boxer as he throws a punch. It slams into King’s jaw, and he stumbles backward. Royal bursts from the crowd and tackles Devlin. They slam into King, and the three of them go down together. The third Darling boy, the one I haven’t met, dives into the fray.
I edge away from the fight, only to run into Colt Darling. He gives me a crooked grin and drawls, “Now look what you’ve gone and done, Crystal Sweet.”
“Me?”
“Naughty girl,” he says. “I like it.”
“Shouldn’t you be helping your cousins?” I ask. “Because no offense to your fam, but I’m pretty sure my brothers are kicking their asses right now.”
“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” he says, flicking his shiny hair off his forehead.
I spot a mop of red hair in the crowd, a pair of black ears poking up from the curls. I can’t believe that girl’s not locked in a bathroom stall sobbing right now. “I have to go,” I say, edging away from Colt.
“Don’t run away yet,” he says. “We’re still brawling.”
“We’renot doing anything,” I say. “And I need to find my friend.”
“I’m your friend,” Colt says, placing a hand over his heart and giving me puppy dog eyes.