Chapter Seven

Tomás

I soon realized that college was like high school. It sucked ass.

Being in a small school meant the chances of sharing classes with the enemy were high. And there were five enemies in my sphere of existence. I had English 101 with Fox who made it a point to sit behind me so he could kick my chair with his freakishly long legs for the entire ninety minutes of class. Mrs. Bernstein ignored the constant tap and rattle as his steel toed Doc Martens connected with my chair frame. I had Humanities with both River and Henry. Henry didn't say much, didn't even pay attention to me, but River kept throwing glares my way. And when I asked Sofia, a girl who sat next to me, if she could lend me a pencil, she looked to River for an answer. I ended up recording the class with my phone. I had Physics with Wren. The only one in the group I thought would ignore me. That was until he'd put crazy glue on my chair. They were toddlers with a bone.

And then, their ringleader Kieran hated me. Like, hated. Every time he looked at me, it made me wonder if I'd taken my last breath. He had the same killer eyes as Maddox, and I had to consider that he might be the other Brennan living in Arcas. Dasher had explained that only the A-listers—those with blood ties to the founding fathers—lived in Arcas. The Brennans were one of them. Hair like midnight, eyes like jade, and a powerful presence that made everyone notice him, Kieran glared at the guy sitting next to me in Human Anatomy. The guy sighed, got up, and left the seat open for Kieran.

Kieran leaned into my ear. "This is going to be fun," he whispered just as Mr. Purcell had asked for a volunteer.

"Tomás volunteers, Mr. Purcell," Kieran said.

I glared at the asshole. "Tomás," Mr. Purcell said expectantly.

Maybe it was pride that started me on the path toward the cadaver, but the closer I got to the dead body the more I was pretty sure it'd been stupidity.

The smell wasn't even the worst part. Mr. Purcell lifted the flesh over the stomach, and I fainted, hitting the gurney on the way down and almost toppling the body on top of me. Luckily, Mr. Purcell had record fast reflexes. Only the intestines fell on me. After I puked, the whole class burst out laughing and I was sent to the nurse.

One good thing happened at Nurse Halloran's office. I met Jack, the local drug dealer. The guy wore clothes that were at least a size too big. His dirty blond hair was long and loose around his face as if he used it as a shield. His brown eyes were large on his face, and he looked stoned. I hadn't smoked weed since Mad's place. Some kid at his apartment complex, Luke or Brad or some white name like that, had sold me some weed without Maddox being the wiser. As a fuck you, I'd even used Mad's money.

Assassin school or not, people needed to calm their demons.

"What happened to you?" he asked, lifting his chin.

"The Ark Boys," I answered. I didn't need to elaborate.

He chuckled. "Sucks to be you. You might as well run while you got the chance."

I probably should've but I had nowhere to go.

"I might have something to help with that," he said, pointing at my bobbing knee. The antsy part of me always had a limb moving. "Come see me at Harper House. Name's Jack." He got up just as Halloran walked in.

"Make sure you take it this time," she said.

Jack pulled the paper out of her hands and walked out. She watched him for a moment as if collecting herself, then turned to me with a smile. "And you, Tomás R.," she said my name after flipping through the clipboard. "You fainted during anatomy."

I felt my face heat up.

"Every semester a student passes out. Don't worry about it." She seemed nice, checked my head, gave me some ibuprofen, and sent me on my way.

I ditched the pills and opted for the weed instead. So that Friday, I went in search of Harper House, which wasn't hard to find. All I had to do was follow the noise.

While Arcas house was secluded from everything, the other residential houses were all lined up in one clump, the area buzzing with music, laughter, and people. Outside of the cafeteria, I hadn't seen so many people clumped together.

Harper House was the last one on the street. Painted white with stone steps and large windows, it looked like most of the other houses on this stretch. I started to knock when the door swung open and Jack stood there. For a moment he looked like he was going to bum rush me, but recognition dawned on his face and he smiled. "Tomás, I didn't think you'd come. Perfect timing." He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and we started back down the block. "Have you had the opportunity to tour the Arcadia night life?"

"Uh, not really." Dasher and I had spent the summer studying, not partying.

"Well, you are in for a surprise."

As we walked down the path, I watched Jack make pit stops for deliveries and collecting cash. The guy was smooth. He knew everyone by name, everyone knew him. They fist bumped, joked, and he was even almost soaked by a water game a group was playing. It was weird to watch it. Yeah, they high fived and called him for the drugs, but they didn't invite him in, they didn't offer him a drink. He remained on the fringes. I knew how that felt. Not really belonging anywhere. For him, it seemed by choice. I wasn't sure about me anymore. Maybe I could've been nicer to Fox when he saw Dasher and me asleep on the sofa together. I could've explained that Dasher and I were just friends, but I had fought back instead. Afterward, I could've explained to Kieran … yeah, the more I thought about it the more I knew I wouldn't have been able to explain anything to that asshole without a fist. Yeah, no, I couldn't have done anything different. I wasn't one of them. I'd never be. And that wasn't by choice.

We walked around a winding path. The temperature wasn't that cold yet, but it would be colder soon. "Thanks for showing me around," I said.

He shrugged. Then we reached a subsection of the division. A row of houses scattered in the field. "This, my man," he said, "is the red-light district."

When I gave him my huh look, he laughed and explained. "Dude, the entertainment district. We have clubs, bars, restaurants, and houses for all types of kinks." He pointed at each house in turn. On the outside, they looked like regular framed houses. Some like barn houses. He slapped my back a little too hard and we entered one of the closer ones. Once the doors opened, we were drowned in spotlight and music. The windows had a privacy screen hiding the inside of the place.

Smart.

I followed Jack to the bar. The house had been completely gutted. There was a loft that overlooked the dancefloor and a bar, and a DJ on a raised platform. The rest of it was open space. Every class, from first years to fourth years, were scattered throughout. Most dancing, some doing other things in dark hallways. Others at the bar.

It was awesome.

Jack handed me a beer and we clinked the bottoms before taking a pull. It'd been more than a minute since I felt so relaxed. Jack planted something in my hand. "That's a freebie this round. Have fun," he said, winked, and disappeared in the crowd.

I shoved the weed into my pocket and gave the place a good scan. My eyes made it to the loft where none other than the prince of hell stood leaning over the banister. Kieran. His black hair was perfectly styled to the side, despite the humidity that had my curls turning to barbed wire. He wore a loose salmon button down rolled at the sleeve revealing impressive forearms, not an area inked. A leather bracelet around his wrist I'd noticed before. But his eyes were the most remarkable feature on him. Contrasting with the color of his hair, they were an eerie light green. And when the light hit them just right, like now, they looked as if they were glowing. Especially when they were staring at me and glowering. He did that glowering thing well, making my stomach knot, my palms sweat, and my body jittery as fuck. I wanted to punch him so hard, he'd wake up in the next century. Instead, I did what I always did. I broke out my charm. I gave him a smile and lifted my beer in salute before taking another pull. I didn't see if he returned the gesture because I'd already turned around to face the dancefloor.

Fucker.

Fuck him.

I hated him.

I learned a few things about Kieran. He ruled Arcadia. Even the teachers took orders from him. He took his schooling serious enough to pay attention, do his homework, take notes. It was once he was out of the classroom that he became a dick. He never ate with us in the cafeteria, always consulted his phone for something, and he did the glaring thing very well. The hairs at the back of my neck often stood on end whenever he was around me.

People expected me to run with The Ark Boys. But no thank you. I had to try college, so I could see what came next with Maddox. Killing him had even taken a temporary back seat. I didn't need or want the notice of The Ark Boys. I had even considered asking Dr. Casera to move me out of that house but hadn't decided if I wanted to move. The Ark Boys were mostly gone and when they weren't, they spent a lot of time locked in one of the many rooms in the house discussing shit I had no interest in. It gave me free reign and I liked that. Better than sharing a house with a dozen or so other guys. I could deal with it.

A girl approached me with a sly smile. A sheen of sweat coated her skin. Her blonde hair perfectly straight. She had blue eyes and was wearing form fitted short shorts, and a tank top. "Hi, you're the new student at Arcas."

Oh, crap. I took a sip of my drink. "Yup, that's me."

She sidled next to me. Her fruity scent tickled my nose. "I'm Ashlee," she said with a smile that looked anything but sweet.

"Tomás," I answered.

"You wanna dance?"

"Sure."

I barely put my beer down when she hauled me to the dance floor. For the next fifteen minutes she made a show of it right under Kieran's nose. So obvious that she was making him jealous. She even kissed me. I didn't care. Did I mention I had no problem taking handouts? This girl was handing out. Her tongue tasted like watermelon. And I didn't miss the sneer Kieran was throwing our way. Then, he actually had the balls to come down from his throne to the dancefloor. Okay, the guy dancing was a thing. And the girls flocked to him as if he were candy. He was not candy. The lights pouring on him made him shine. Never thought I'd use that word to describe him. The fucker was handsome and knew it. He could have any girl he wanted. He'd probably fucked more than half of them already. The thought made my stomach clench.

I knew what was happening even before the girl left my ass to hang off him. Then Kieran and I were dancing way too close, and I couldn't look away from him. He caught me looking. The edge of his lips lifted.

Check mate.

Asshole.

I pulled back. The crowd too damn thick for me. I returned to the bar, ordered something stronger, and drank it before I headed out. Arcas was empty when I got there and I lit up the weed Jack gave me. It mellowed me out, pulled me under into sleep with Kieran still on my mind.

I hated him.