“So, Dev’s got this frat boy’s girl in his lap, right.” Bishop snickers into his fist. “The guy is jacked as fuck, but Dev’s like ‘No, you’re right. If your name’s on her ass, we should check. Fair’s fair.’ and the poor girl thinks he’s messing around. Legit, he stands up, and the frat boy is shitting bricks when he gets a load of how tall our boy is.”
“You’re so fucked up, bro,” Sean laughs, pushing my head from behind.
It catches me off guard. My shoulders go rigid. I was too busy watching Blair instead of keeping an eye on my surroundings.
“Hah, yeah, well.” My voice is brittle and chilly. Sean’s hand disappears. “I wasn’t going to pull her skirt up in front of everyone without her consent.” I shrug. “She was into it. She wanted a Daddy, if you know what I mean.”
I wink at Bailey.
In truth, that girl wanted something dangerous to excite her. I was mysterious and available when she found me smoking outside, and she liked the thrill when my hand slipped beneath her skirt under the flashing neon lights in the frat house. I didn’t touch her, but she acted like I was finger fucking her for anyone to see.
Bailey makes a small sound beside me. She’s blushing and wide-eyed. I can see the internal struggle in her expression, debating whether to move away from me or stay close, because being near me comes with a higher status on the chain of social hierarchy.
My lip nearly curls at her pathetic willpower when she moves closer instead of running away, even after hearing the story. It makes me want to stand up on the table and scream at all of them that I’m not good or nice or some tall, dark, and handsome knight.
If anything, I’m the fucking villain, the thing that lurks in the shadows of nightmares.
I take a second to focus on my breathing before anyone else notices the way I’m dragging air into my lungs. My fingers twitch. It’s a miracle I keep my knee from bouncing at this point.
I’m nothing without the vigorous control over my devious trickster mask. Everyone focuses on what I want to show them. While they see my distraction, I hide my real face inside, distorted and ugly and an unlovable terror.
Thorns encase my heart in a mess of brambles. My own parents don’t love me, so there must be something wrong with me. I belong in darkness.
Across the room, Blair pushes her empty lunch tray to the side and has her nose in a book. It rankles the burning itch making my skin too tight. She doesn’t get to relax and enjoy herself while I’m ready to crawl out of my body from everything locked up inside me.
Fuck that.
If I suffer, she’s going to feel my wrath tenfold.
“Hey.”
With one word, the table snaps to attention. All eyes are on me. Bishop and I might rule this school together as top dogs, but when I speak, they all fucking listen. I smirk at my unsuspecting target.
Bad move, my little toy. Rule number one: always be prepared. If you’re not, I’m going to wreak more havoc.
“Who wants to see a neat trick I’ve perfected?” I tip my head back to survey them, forcing my body to relax into a sprawl against the table.
The devil king is in session on his throne.
Bailey lights up first, as if I’ve personally offered to kneel between her legs. “Oh, yes, yes! What sort of trick? Magic?”
My mouth quirks up. “Sort of like magic. You’ll see.”
I slide my phone from my pocket and find my message thread with Little Thief.
Devlin: Come here.
Blair’s head pops up across the room. She frowns. I crook my finger and she stands with an eye roll.
The tasks have been far too easy.
It’s time for that to end and the real game to begin.
As Blair nears the table, someone behind me scoffs. “What do you want?”
Blair stops in front of me, arms crossed. There’s attitude in every inch of her posture as she cants her hip to the side. I let her hold on to that bit of headstrong independence, prepared to rip it from her with this command.
“It’s part of the trick,” I murmur. Angling my head to peer at everyone, I allow a sinister smile to break free. “Watch this. I’ve got Raggedy Anne trained good. She’ll do anything I tell her to, like my little doll.”