We reach the brightest section of campus, the central quad, and steam down through the grass, skirting along some decorative bushes. My heart’s racing and I’m breathing hard as I throw myself after Lesley, and I think we made it to safety when a guy appears from the side, out from a stand of foliage, and slams directly into Lesley.
I try to stop but my momentum carries me forward. Another guy appears and grabs my arm, wrenching me sideways, yanking hard enough that I think my shoulder might pop out. I scream in pain as he throws me to the ground. I hit the grass hard, roll, and try to get up, but someone kicks me in the side and I double over, gasping for air.
“Lesley and her new pet.” A young man walks over, flushed from running, a wild smile on his face. He’s got dark hair, stubble on his chin and cheeks, and dark green eyes. He’d be handsome if he weren’t looking at me like he wants to rip my face off. “Who’s the girl?”
“Kaye Drake,” one of the guys says. “Lucy’s sister. Calico member.”
I curse softly. How the hell do they know who I am?
“Lesley, looks like you found another stray.”
“Fuck you, Malcolm.” Lesley gets up to her knees, but two big guys stand around her. One shoves her forward and she glares at them with pure rage in her eyes, but gets back to her knees, hands balled into fists.
I try to stand, but Malcolm wags a finger at me. “Stay where you are, little stray.” He looks back at Lesley. “You took something from me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
One of the guys behind her grabs her hair and yanks. She screams and he pulls harder until she’s nearly falling over backwards. When he releases her, she crumples forward.
Malcolm walks closer. “Let’s try again. Where’s the key, Lesley?”
“Up my ass. Get it out with your tongue.”
“I love your foul mouth. It’d love it more wrapped around my pulsing cock.” His friends snicker and laugh. “Should I strip search you? Actually, don’t answer, I think I will anyway. Maybe I’ll get lucky and that key really is up your ass. I’ll fuck it out and make you scream while I do it.”
Lesley glares at him as he gets closer. I’m panicking, not sure what to do. We’re in the middle of the lights, surrounded by the empty classroom buildings—there has to be security nearby, right? But nobody’s coming to stop this nightmare.
Malcolm kneels in front of Lesley and tilts her chin up. She’s breathing hard, staring into his eyes.
“Where’s the key?” he says quietly.
She wrenches forward and headbutts him in the face.
He growls in surprise and stands, clutching a bloody nose. Lesley laughs until one of the guys punches her in the gut and throws her over onto the ground. They’re about to kick the shit out of her when Malcolm speaks up, stopping them.
“Get the key. Don’t waste your energy hurting her more.”
The two Cask thugs look at each other and shrug. They start patting her down, grabbing into her pockets, feeling along her waistband, basically touching everywhere they can but they don’t find the key. I’m starting to think she wasn’t kidding about shoving it inside of her body—when two men come roaring out from the darkness nearby.
“Shit,” Malcolm says as Terrence barrels into the Cask thugs pawing at Lesley. The big Calico monster throws one of them onto the pavement and punches the other so hard the guy drops like his lights were turned out. Emilio takes another down with a brutal fist to the throat and turns to Malcolm as Terrence makes sure Lesley’s okay.
“You shouldn’t have touched one of my people,” Emilio says, advancing on Malcolm.
Malcolm backs away slowly, grinning through his bloody nose. “Tell your people to stay the fuck away from me and I won’t have to do shit like this.”
“Who’s funding your little excursions, Malcolm?”
“Fuck you.”
“Why aren’t you going on runs yourself, huh? How come you have your people doing all your dirty work?”
“What can I say? I can’t swim.” Malcolm barks a laugh, eyes wild and intense. “You shouldn’t have fucked with me. We could’ve shared the island, but now I see how it is.”
“I don’t share.” Emilio steps forward. Malcolm steps back. “Take your fucking losers. Go back to your lame party. Pray I don’t come for you myself.”
“You wouldn’t though, would you? No, you send your girls to do the tough parts.”
Emilio snarls but holds himself back. The Cask boys get to their feet and limp over and the whole group begins to walk away. Emilio watches them go with scorn, and Terrence looks like he wants to chase them down and kill them.