“You won’t,” Lux said before I could even get a word out.
Hawke winked my way, and I shook my head. “Naw, I want every bloody cry to come from my fists.” Hawke nodded. The nutjob understood the need to make someone bleed.
“Samson,” Lux said.
I moved over toward the guys, knowing I needed to focus. I couldn’t help but glance up at the screen. My gaze was instantly drawn to the new girl. She was talking it up with Mac Conray. He was last year’s school president and worked well under our rule. I already knew the plan was to have him stay in his position of power. There was very little Lux left up to chance when it came to our rule.
“Rem,” Lux growled.
I tore my gaze away from Keegan and looked at Samson as he started laying out the plan. A part of me wanted to go out there and be wild. No plan, just reckless choices. Tonight wasn’t one of those times.
* * *
I tiltedmy head back and stared at the moonless sky, breathing in the air. Adrenaline had my heart racing, and all my senses heightened. Shouts and screams echoed around me, making me smile.
A branch snapped to my right, and I turned my head slowly, meeting the wide eyes of my next prey. I didn’t bother to check the wristband. It didn’t matter to us. We would win overall. Lux didn’t do shit halfway, which meant we had to go the extra mile every time. He didn’t just want to decimate Press Prep but all four schools, making us the kings of Aridole.
“Run!” I gave chase the moment they took off.
It was like hunting a rabbit in the woods. Easy, predictable prey. I knew what they would do before they did. Their movements gave them away. His body pivoted right, thinking he could fake me out, but his bottom half was facing left.
Idiot. I went for his midsection and rammed my shoulder into his body. Solid muscle crashed into me, but I had momentum on my side. We went down, and the guy grunted as I sat up and drew back my fist, letting it crash into his cheek. His eyes rolled back as his lashes fluttered.
“Shit,” I ground out as I stood and really took in just how big he was.
The band on his wrist was white. Leaving him would be easy, but I could already hear the lecture from Lux. A heavy sigh dripped from my lips as I grabbed an ankle.
“Fuck my life. Knew I should’ve stayed to guard the cage.” I rolled my eyes and grunted as I dragged the guy back to where we kept our prey.
Each step was like walking through sludge as sweat beaded on my neck and slid down. The cool night air did nothing to help. The moment I laid eyes on Samson, I dropped the guy. His cold, calculating gaze landed on me. If I weren’t so used to it, I’d be running in the opposite direction.
“How far are we in this grand plan of yours?” I asked.
“You’re late.” Samson grabbed the guy and put him with the rest. I peeked into our cage. We had a variety of colors, but none of them were green.
“Where the hell are our people?”
“Douglass didn’t like something the new girl said. They had a late start.
I laughed. Already, I knew I was going to like this girl. “Interesting.”
“Hardly. She’s an unknown who doesn’t know her palace,” Lux said, dragging two more behind him. They walked on their own two feet into the cage, heads down.
“That’s the best part. She’s not from here,” Hawke said, grinning from ear to ear as he placed his catch in the cage.
“You three are wasting time. You should already be back out there. Rem you are far behind the other two,” Samson said.
“Don’t suck all the fun out of the hunt, Sam.” I turned on my heels and jogged back out to catch more prey. I hoped I caught a certain kind of prey with big green eyes and brown hair.
By the time I came back for the fifth time, we had finally caught people who attended Pres Prep. I wiped my forehead, pushing off the dark strands that clung to my face.
“Uh, it’s too hot for this.” I glanced at Samson as he typed on the tablet, recording each one we got in the cage. “Trade with me.”
“No,” Samson said. He grinned, but his eyes were blank. It was like looking at a brick wall and expecting it to hug you. I groaned just as Hawke came through with more guys from our school.
“Hey, pres,” I said.
Mac nodded at me with his best friend walking next to him. He stopped before entering the cage and whispered something to Samson. Hawke jogged over to me, and we high-fived.