I didn’t take down the Darlings. But maybe I was never meant to destroy them. I can get more done from within than I ever could from the outside. Now I just have to convince my brothers that they can slide into the best spots on the game board, not as competitors, but as a team. If someone had told me a month ago that my brothers would be the ones I was most worried about convincing, I would have laughed. But here I am, more caught between our families than I’ve ever been. I just need to find the way out.
twelve
Crystal
Finally, I understand. Colt was wrong about us being Romeo and Juliet. But he was right about one thing. My place is with them. My family’s place is with theirs. Somehow, I’ll convince them. I’ll convince them that even though they hate the Darlings, that they aren’t the enemy. If the Capulets and Montagues had known how it would end, would they have done things differently? Or sacrificed their children for their pride?
I stop at the door to the gym, my heart racing in my chest. Inside, I can hear a single basketball bouncing against the hardwood. I swallow hard, trying not to lose my lunch. It’s the end of the day, and I can hear the football team on the field behind the huge building, the whistles and grunts and thuds. I squeeze my eyes closed and try to push away the memories of the last time Coach Snow called me here.
I shove open the door and step inside, blinking in the dim interior, my eyes trying to adjust after the bright, November sun outside. When I blink my vision clear, I wish I hadn’t. A blond boy with a cast on one arm stands across the gym, slowly dribbling the ball with his good hand.
The door slams behind me, and I jump, swallowing a shriek of surprise.
Preston turns toward me. I step back, my hand fumbling for the bar to open the door.
“Wait.”
I stand frozen as he walks toward me. I should run. I should turn and get the hell out. But I see Coach Snow in her office, a pair of glasses perched on her nose, looking at something on her computer. Does that mean I’m safe?
I remember the coach who walked away from me that day when I begged for help. I remember what Coach Snow said to me that day—that you can do what they want you to do, or be who they want you to be.
No. I’m not safe.
I turn, throw the door open, and bolt. I hear Preston call my name, but I don’t stop. I’m halfway around the side of the gym when he grabs my arm from behind and spins me around, pushing me against the gym wall. Damn, he’s fast.
“I’ll scream,” I warn. “Devlin will fucking kill you.”
It strikes me how ironic that statement is. That just a few weeks ago, I would have threatened him with my brothers. But he doesn’t care about pissing them off. Now I have his cousin on my side. And he cares what Devlin thinks.
Preston’s piercing blue eyes skate over my face, and he has the nerve to look surprised when his gaze meets mine and he sees my pupils dilated with fear and the wild look in my eyes.
“You’re scared of me,” he says.
“Of course I’m fucking scared of you,” I snap. “You assaulted me, threatened me with a knife, tied me up, and told me your football team was going to gang rape me. Am I supposed to think you’re a harmless little bunny rabbit after that?”
“You know,” he drawls slowly, his gaze sliding to my lips. “I think you’re a honey badger after all.”
“And you’re a snake,” I say, jerking my arm away from him.
A smirk tugs at the corner of his lips. “You know who wins that one, don’t you?”
“What do you want?” I demand.
Preston’s eyes search mine for a long moment, and then he lets out a little scoff. “I want my arm back,” he says. “Can you fix that for me, Honey Badger?”
“No more than you can undo what you did to me in that locker room.”
“I’d say it worked out pretty well for you,” he says. “You got my cousin out of the deal, didn’t you?”
“So now you’re going to make me pay for that?”
He works his jaw back and forth for a second. “Do you love him?”
“None of your fucking business,” I snap.
“Oh, but it is my business,” he says, leaning in, his voice lowering as he stares into my eyes. “He’s so fucking smitten he can’t see straight. But I can. So either you love him, or you’re fucking with his head. Which one is it, Honey Badger?”
I swallow hard, my heart hammering in my chest. This time not because I’m scared of what he’ll do to me, but because I’m scared of being vulnerable in front of this demon boy. “I love him,” I say, my voice steady enough to give me strength. “What about it?”