Chapter Six

Kieran

I'd been here five minutes and already got a text from Wren.

Wren: Fox is in the henhouse. Almost killed a dude.

The little information I could gather was that someone had broken into our house and kicked Fox's ass. So help me, Fox had better have put that fucker down. Dr. Casera as headmaster knew his place. He enforced the same rules we did. Don't unbalance the status quo and Fox, Wren, Henry, River, and I were the status quo in this school. We had built a legacy and no one. No. One. was taking that away from us.

I pushed into the main office and Dasher lifted his eyes to me. Dasher being here put everything in perspective. Fox had one weakness—Dasher. After the initial shock of my arrival wore off, he scowled. Dasher and I had a very complicated relationship. If it hadn't been for Fox, the fucker would be six feet under, crutches and all.

Mrs. Perkins, Casera's assistant, gave me a wide-eyed look. She popped out of her chair, her breasts bobbing in that low cut dress she wore. The best feature on her, truth be told. I'm sure she used a year's worth of pay at this school to get them done. I'm thinking that's why Casera kept her on staff. "Kieran," she said, "perhaps you should wait."

I didn't wait. I barged in. "What happened?"

Fox sat in one of the chairs, his long lithe body stretched back, feet extended and crossed at the ankles. Out of all of us, even me, Fox was the most volatile, but he had the grace of a swan. "Meet Tommy R, our new roommate." Fox's smirk made him look two seconds away from bashing something. Insanity dripped behind his vivid blue eyes. He sported a bruise on his chin and a swollen bottom lip.

"It's Tomás."

I turned to the intruder and almost lost the ability to breathe. The guy's brown hair fell around his face in curls. Thick lashes framed his large dark eyes. Like two dark pits that threatened to pull me under. His nose a perfect feature on his face, and his lips were full but not pouty. The fucker was beautiful. And every part of me took notice. The compulsion to inspect his body had me vibrating along the edge of my skin. I instantly nipped the desire and turned it to anger instead.

"I'm not addressing you," I spat out, pulling myself out of the lapse of judgment and back to sanity. I liked the way his face morphed into something that had to be him pissed off.

"Kieran," Casera started. "Tomás is a new student and is living at Arcas."

Fox snorted behind me.

"I don't think so." I glared at Dr. Casera. "We had an arrangement."

Dr. Casera did not have many years left on this earth and I'd just taken one. I'd meant to take a few more if he didn't withdraw this guy from my house. "He has A status."

No way. "Who?"

Dr. Casera straightened his jacket. "You are well aware that we do not provide that type of information."

I turned to Tomás. The name meant nothing to me, but that was the point in Arcadia. Our ancestry erased the moment we accepted entrance into this fucked up place. "Who are you?" I asked, approaching the guy.

"Tomás, you do not have to answer that," Dr. Casera ordered. He sounded two seconds away from shitting himself. "Kieran, you know better than to…"

I reached for Tomás to shake the truth from him, but he had been ready for me. It'd been so damn long since I actually fought a student at this school. I hadn't thought it even a possibility. But Tomás reacted like a beast. He was untrained and clumsy. A wild thing. He caught me in the face with the first swing, the second didn't land. I sideswept him, trapped him against my chest in a chokehold. I felt his body writhe as if I'd electrocuted his ass. He grunted, pushed me back against the desk with all his weight despite my hold over his throat. At this rate, I'd kill him in two seconds and the fucker didn't give a shit.

Wild didn't begin to explain his reaction. He'd gone into berserker mode. He slammed my ass into the desk. Pain shot up my spine and I bit back a grunt. The desk shifted with our weight, and I felt myself falling, still holding onto his throat, when arms took me around my waist and Tomás was ripped away from my arms. Fox had me pinned while Abe, the security guard, had shoved Tomás to the other side of the office. The guy paced like an angry cat ready to pounce again. His face red, sucking in oxygen. He didn't like being pinned from behind. That was something I'd explore later. Learning your enemies' weaknesses always came in handy one way or another.

"That is enough! Mr. Morrison, take Kieran to the chamber."

I turned to Casera. "You're kidding." No, fucking no. Arcadia University handled their own crimes, had their own security. They didn't send anyone outside for the cops to deal with and the chamber was a slightly ritzier version of a cell. It still meant isolation.

"You just attacked a student. I will not tolerate…"

Fox started to laugh. An all-out creepy Fox laugh that did not invite others to laugh with him. It was the type of laugh people heard right before necks were broken. The type of laugh you heard in nightmares. "I think we're going to head out, Dr. Casera," Fox said. "You should've warned us about the newbie in our house. I had every right to put a cap right into his brain had I been armed. You," he pointed at Casera who blanched, "failed to follow protocol. This is on you. Abigail, let my brother go."

Abe looked confused and looked to Dr. Casera for guidance. "Release him, Abigail."

Then Fox glared at Tomás who glared right back. "And you're going to want to make sure you stay away from me and Dasher. Got it."

"Fuck you," Tomás said back.

I grabbed Fox's arm before they started fighting again. The asshole didn't know when to shut up and for some god-awful reason, I found him intriguing. I wanted to pull Tomás apart and see what made him tick. "Let's go," I said to Fox.

Fox wasn't patient on a good day, now he was livid. Dasher got to his feet on his crutches as the door opened spilling Fox and I out. Fox glared at Dasher. "Come on, I'll take you back."

I could've guessed what had precipitated the fight. Dasher and Tomás together. We were allowed guests, though the five of us knew to vet them first. And everyone in the school knew Dasher was marked. Well, not everyone. The new kid had started in the summer without getting the rules that would keep him alive.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Dasher said back. "You have no right—" The next words died on his lips.

Fox cupped his throat.

I thought Mrs. Perkins was going to have an embolism right then and there. I touched Fox's shoulder, glaring at Dasher whose eyes were trained on Fox. Something passed between them. "Fox," I said in warning. "You can talk with him later."

Fox ran his thumb back and forth against Dasher's pulse as if … , I didn't know as if what. The guy was a mess when it came to Dasher. "Come on, bro."

With an exhalation, Fox released Dasher and took a step back. Dasher hadn't even moved as if knowing not to poke the bear. "We're going to talk." Fox pointed at Dasher, always needing to have the last word. Then Fox turned and practically bowled over Mrs. Perkins on his way out. Once we were outside, it took two seconds for him to round on me. "What are you smirking about?"

I hadn't realized I had been smirking. Fox and I weren't blood, neither were the others, but necessity made us close. It made us stronger than blood. "You're a mess and we just got here."

"That fucker was with Dasher on the sofa. Sleeping together."

Okay. That wouldn't have been a problem to a sane person. Yeah, not touching that one. "Well, he has piqued my interest."

"Great that you find this amusing. Especially now."

Now that we were so close to accomplishing what I had put into motion two years earlier. "I know the risk. And we vet first then figure out our next step. We don't even know who he is."

"And that bothers me."

"Yeah, me too. So before we throw him out a four story window, let's figure this shit out."

Fox grunted and I took that as agreement.