Chapter 28

Hawke

“Why Madoc’s?” Aro asks. “They could be going anywhere.”

I turn right, watching the Charger continue straight, and I speed ahead to get to the highway and the shortcut to Madoc’s house.

“You think Reeves is sending them?” she inquires.

“If Madoc has something that can protect him or that Reeves can use as leverage, he’ll need it more than ever now,” I tell her.

It’s his style to get angry teenagers to do his dirty work for him. They’re dumb enough to take the fall for him. That’s why he built Green Street in Weston. Because the parents there aren’t connected, the younger population is desperate.

“And if they’re just here to play,” I add, “Madoc’s is where everyone is at.”

Either way, the fun is at Kade’s house tonight.

Stoli and Dirk follow, Dylan taps away on her phone in the back seat, and Aro sits next to me, her eyes peeled for the other car. I punch the gas, trying to get there before them.

“Tie them up…” she says under her breath. “Hold them hostage…other things if people are into it…”

She repeats my words from the Carnival Tower story. I never really knew if it was all true or not. My parents didn’t seem to know much, and around the time I was born, the stories seemed to disappear altogether. According to my research anyway. The rivalries went on but all very tame. No violence, no breaking and entering, no threats, definitely no murder…

If that’s what happened to Winslet anyway.

Aro is right. Something is happening again, and it’s hard to ignore that Carnival Tower is a story that just might be somewhat true.

I glance in my rearview mirror, seeing the Weston jersey still on her. “Dylan…”

But she purses her lips. “No.”

She doesn’t even look at me, just shakes her head.

“They will take it off of you,” I grit out. “You have other clothes in that bag. I know you do.”

But she refuses to look at me, probably texting Kade and her friends to warn them that a shit-ton of trouble is on the way.

She’s going to be a senior this year, and from the looks of it, a whole new shit show is on the way.

And she just races toward trouble. Every damn time.

I won’t be there to watch out for her, and I don’t trust Kade to have her back. He just encourages her.

I look over at Aro, seeing her watching me. “And whose side are you on tonight?”

But I say it with a small smile, so she knows I’m teasing. Kind of teasing. There’s a lot more to her home than just Green Street, and the only thing she has here is me. It’s hard to be sure what she has to fight for.

But instead of saying Falls or Weston, she just says, “Yours.”

My chest tightens, and I look back at the road, knowing we have no time for me to pull over and kiss the hell out of her.

She told me she loved me last night. I never thought in a million years she’d be the one to the say it first. I’d wanted to say it since that night she crawled into bed with me and just slept.

And then she woke up the next morning and hopped out, going off to make coffee.

No pressure.

No expectations.

Just there for each other.

Not that women were always so all over me that I had to fend them off or anything, but in that moment, I knew I needed her in my life—as a friend or anything really—because it was the first time I knew I was never going to be alone again. As long as I could keep her.

Of course, my family is amazing, and I’ll always have them, but I loved Aro that morning and how she seemed to understand that I had just needed someone to talk to. I told her stuff I would never tell my family or friends, because I knew she wouldn’t laugh at me.

I loved her in that planetarium and when we made pizza for breakfast and when I saw her standing alone at my college and watching the other students. I wonder if I might’ve even loved her on the fire escape in the rain that second night.

I don’t want her to ever speak another word again that I can’t hear.

But she thinks this is going to end. She even seems resolved to it failing when we part ways for school. Like she doesn’t even want to try.

Her history with Green Street is tough to compete with, because even though she hates it there, she’s comfortable with Hugo and the rest of them. She knows what she’s in for. Nothing is unexpected. They all grew up the same—she feels equal.

Expecting her to change nearly her entire life is a lot to ask, but she’d better get on board, because I’m not losing her.

“This won’t be just Weston,” she tells Dylan and me as we fly through Madoc’s open gate. “Green Street will be there.” And then after a short pause, “They’ll be in charge.”

Most people in Weston aren’t affiliated with Green Street, but every person in Green Street is from Weston. Except Reeves, the real boss, a fact I’m sure Hugo resents.

Still, though…many of the Rebels idolize the gang, and they’re easily manipulated to help cause trouble whenever Green Street needs them.

Cars pack the driveway and the lawn, tire marks ripping the grass and creating puddles of mud. The fountain in the center of the driveway overflows with soap suds, and I hear a crash inside as some Trent Reznor song blasts over the speakers.

I pull in behind two other cars, blocking them in, and take my phone, dialing Kade. It’ll take forever to find him in there. I need to call him.

We climb out, all of us scanning the road behind us for any sign of the Rebels’ headlights.

The music blasts, the phone rings in my ear, and I shake my head. “Kade, pick up the phone. Goddammit.”

He probably can’t hear it.

What am I saying? He probably doesn’t even have it on him.

I take Aro’s hand, glancing at Dylan. “You don’t leave my sight.” And then to Aro, “Stay close.”

We head for the house, and I swing open the door, music hitting my ears like a needle. I flinch.

People loiter around the entryway and linger on the stairwell leading to the second floor. Jasmine Cavanaugh is pressed against the wall underneath the Caruthers’ family photo being felt up and kissed by someone I don’t recognize.

We make our way past the living room where air mattresses cover the floor, and half of the students dance around in their pajamas, drinking, laughing, and cuddling.

But then I look ahead and stop.

“Jesus,” I whisper.

Dylan laughs, and I don’t have to see her face to know she’s delighted. I shove open the patio doors and blink long and hard. “Madoc’s going to kill him.”

Foam machines spill suds all over the pool deck, the pool, and onto the lawn, reaching about three to four feet high in certain areas where it piles up against the rock walls and fences.

Our friends and classmates—hell, the whole fucking school—is here, dancing thigh-deep in the suds, drinking, and falling in the pool that they can’t see because it’s covered with foam, just like the deck. Blue and green strobe lights make it hard to make out anything, all of the other lights off.

Madoc spends a fortune on landscaping, and I don’t want to be Kade tomorrow when his friends have trampled his petunias because they can’t see what they’re stepping on.

I search the area, looking for his blond hair.

But someone calls my name, “Hawke!”

I jerk my eyes over, seeing Dirk head my way. “Have you seen Kade?”

“No, man. Call him.”

I already did.

I just shout. “Kade!”

Aro and I spin around, looking, but then I tell Dylan, “Go make sure Madoc’s office is locked.”

She nods and runs. Madoc keeps his office secured when he knows a lot of strangers will be in his home, so it should be off limits tonight, too.

But we need to make sure.

“We should shut this down,” I tell Aro.

She shakes her head. “No. The crowd will slow them down. You don’t want them to have free rein of the place. The Pirates outnumber them anyway.”

“The Pirates will think it’s all in good fun,” I fire back. “They won’t fight back.”

“You want to put drunk people on the road?” she asks. “They’re here for a slumber party, Hawke. They’re in for the night.”

“I know th—”

But all of a sudden, the house goes dark, every light inside dying.

What the hell?

“Ohhh!” people cheer around us, but I look at Aro and she looks at me.

“Where the hell is Kade?” I murmur.

And Dylan…

Shit.

Everything out on the patio still runs—the decorative torches, strobe lights, and foam machines. They’re on a separate breaker.

The chatter inside the house gets louder, and then we hear screams. I barely start to move before Aro is clutching my arm. “What is that?” she asks.

We both look to the patio doors, watching as dark figures emerge from the house. Some wear face paint, others wear nothing to hide their identities, and I spot Farrow Kelly sliding a backward baseball cap over his blond hair as he strolls in shirtless to show us all how badass his tattoos are.

He’s the Weston quarterback. If he sees Dylan in that jersey, I’ll be spending my night trying to get her out of his fucking trunk.

Hugo, Axel, Nicholas, and a couple of their Green Street cronies drift in, and then T.C. Wills takes Farrow’s side and holds his hands around his mouth. He shouts up into the night air. “Grudge Night!”

Everyone at the party turns, noticing them at the doors, and I walk with Aro to cut them off before they come any farther. No one speaks as they watch Weston invade, the music dead and silence taking over the entire house.

Farrow looks to Hugo—his future employer—no doubt. “You want to take this?” he teases with a smile.

But Hugo just shrugs, looking amused. “Have at it, kid.”

I take Aro’s hand, trying to shift her behind me, but she refuses to go.

“You after something?” I ask Farrow.

“Oh, we’re just dying to see how the other half lives.”

“Be careful or we may cross the river to do the same.”

His eyes gleam, and Dirk and Stoli take my side.

“We’ll just have to take off our Rolexes first,” Stoli adds.

I laugh, turning my head. “You got a Rolex?”

“Dude, my dad is overcompensating since the divorce.”

Aw… I fix my gaze back on Farrow, seeing how well he’s holding it together, or trying to. The dude is dumber than a brick. All he has are his fists.

He turns his eyes on Aro at my side. “Hey, baby. Been missing you at school.”

Nicholas shifts, and it grows quiet, the tension thick like someone is about to move.

But then we hear Kade’s voice. “She’s not missing you,” he tells Farrow as he finally joins us with a cup of something in his hand. “Pretty boys are nice, but pretty doesn’t last. Your girls always make their way over here when looking for someone to pay their Visa cards for the rest of their lives.”

Aro whips her head toward Kade, takes a step, and I reach out and grab her, rolling my eyes. “He’s kidding,” I tell her.

I level him with a look.

He wasn’t talking about her. Or really anyone in particular. Just flashing Daddy’s wallet to make Weston feel inferior, which is a low blow, but hey, it’s Kade.

Farrow approaches Aro. I tighten every muscle.

“We saw the video last night,” he says.

“Both of them,” Hugo adds. “And you still owe a debt to me.”

Both of them. The one Stoli posted after kidnapping her, and the one I handed off to the police proving Reeves is a dirty cop. That one hasn’t gone out to the public, but Hugo would know about it by now.

“You know I’m a feminist, Aro,” he points out. “I will hold you just as responsible as I would any man.”

He’s not talking about the shit we found in the trunk that night in the park by the fish pond. He’s talking about her betraying Green Street. She was safe when she became mine at the tattoo shop, but that changed yesterday when the Reeves video proved they were running drugs in Green Street. Now we’re enemies again.

Aro shifts next to me, and I follow her gaze, seeing white and blue hair peek out from between all the Weston kids.

Tommy Dietrich.

Whatever that kid’s looking for, she’s finding it with Green Street.

But then I hear Kade’s low bite. “Tommy…” he grits out. Then he jerks his head, gesturing for her to get her ass to his side. “Now!”

Her eyes flit anywhere but at him as she swallows.

Scared. Nervous. As always.

But then…

Her jaw tightens, she raises her eyes, and she lifts her chin. “Or what?” she asks him, meeting his gaze. “What will you do?”

“You’re Falls.”

And to my surprise, she steps forward, almost like she’s following orders. But she stops. “Then give me a ride home. On your motorcycle.” The kid doesn’t blink. “Take me home.”

Kade doesn’t say a word. Just stares at her.

“How about a game then?” Fallow smiles. “And then we’ll leave, okay?”

T.C. and another guy I don’t know hold up their hands, several sets of silver handcuffs dangling from their fingers.

“All you gotta do is run,” Farrow tells us, looking around at the crowd.

“Ohhh,” someone laughs behind us.

Excited chatter starts to fill the patio, and everyone shifts, ready to move.

Tie them up, hold them hostage. Other things if people are into it.

Yeah, tie up the Trents and Caruthers, so we won’t stop them from looking for whatever it is they’re really here for.

T.C. shouts at the top of his lungs. “Get ’em!”

Screams go off, frantic laughter and squeals, and everyone runs. I look to Aro. “Hide,” I tell her.

“Shit!” Dirk cries, and I whip my head around to see someone taking him down with cuffs in their hand, but they both disappear into the pile of suds.

I look around. “Dylan!”

But then I catch a flash of blue as Dylan runs back into the house.

“Get off me!” I hear Aro cry.

I look to see her shove some Weston chick in the chest, the girl falling into clouds of foam and then we hear a splash. I can’t help but laugh, because that was the pool. She should be glad for the soft landing, I guess.

“Let’s go!” I grab her hand, because of course, she didn’t go hide like I told her. We run back into the house, and I don’t see Kade anywhere, but people race and laugh as Rebels catch girls, tying them up, and throw guys down on the ground.

This is ridiculous.

But then I hear a scream. “Farrow! We got a Rebel jersey on a Pirate here!”

I look over to see Nicholas on top of Dylan, my cousin fighting him off as he tries to cuff her.

“Goddammit,” I bite out.

“This one’s insane!” He laughs as she swats at him, thrashing.

I grab him by the hair and haul him back, hearing him grunt as I throw him down on the floor.

I drop down on him, my knee on his neck, and lock one cuff on his own wrist, trying to get the other one on.

Aro pulls at me. “Hawke, stop!”

But then she’s gone, and I look to see Schuyler yanking my girlfriend off of me.

Aro shoves her into the wall, anger etching both girls’ faces.

Well, this has stopped being fun, I guess.

“Bitch!” Schuyler yells.

I give up on Nicholas and climb off, scowling down. “You don’t touch her!”

But Aro is there, helping him off the ground as he smiles.

“Hawke, relax,” Aro says, standing with him. “Nicholas is a good guy.”

His grin grows bigger and he puts his arm around her, the cuffs still dangling from one wrist. “Trust her,” he chirps. “She’s known me a lot longer than she’s known you.”

I stare at them, hit with the reminder that they’ve lived together. For a lot longer than she’s lived with me.

“Hawke, let them have her!” Schuyler yells. “She’s trash!”

But I ignore her.

Chaos whirls around us as people give chase and laugh, others already tagged as they sit on the floor. I notice Weston people out of the corner of my eye bringing in the foam machines and small water tanks. Suds spill out inside the house now, but all I feel is the need to kick his ass and give her a head start back across the river before I chase her down and fuck her on her own turf.

“Come here,” I tell her.

She straightens, lifting her chin as Nicholas stands at her side. “I don’t have a Visa card,” she says.

He snorts, burying his forehead on her shoulder.

But all I see is the glint in her eyes. God, I love how much trouble she is.

I barely notice how the commotion has died down and Rebels grab me, locking my wrists together as I watch her to see what she’s going to do.

Dylan and Kade stand close, being secured, and Schuyler stands next to the wall, watching us.

Farrow approaches, phone out and snapping pictures. “This is excellent.”

Kade drops his scowl, not giving them the satisfaction. “Watch your back,” he taunts, but it sounds like a promise.

But then someone else approaches. They walk up, standing with Weston and wearing a mask. No one else wears a mask.

A backwards cap covers his hair, and he wears a white mask with blacked-out eyes.

Farrow looks over at him. “Where were you?” he asks the stranger.

Whoever he is doesn’t answer. He just walks up to Kade, looks to Dylan at his side, and then gestures to both.

His crew must know what he wants, because the next thing I know, the guys are fastening one cuff to Dylan and another to Kade, locking them together.

Kade thrashes. “No!”

“What the hell?” Dylan jerks, trying to free herself.

The masked one, whom I’m sure is Reeves, leaves, disappearing out the front door.

How the hell did he get out of jail?

Laughter echoes all around Weston, and I shake my head, looking to Aro and waiting for her to tell her people that we’ve had enough fun for the night.

But Aro just grabs Tommy and yanks her away from them.

“She’ll just come back to us,” Hugo says.

But my girl isn’t having it. “You need to leave.”

“And why would we do that?”

“Because I can pay her ransom.”

I jerk my eyes to Aro. Ransom. As if Tommy Dietrich is a hostage too.

But she is thirteen, and she shouldn’t be with these people.

“You pay me, it won’t just be once,” Hugo warns her, and I know what he wants.

I jerk against my cuffs. No one touches her.

Aro approaches him, ignoring me. “Yeah, it will. Because I have your money.”

Aro, Jesus. Don’t give him that fucking money. We can’t trust him. He’ll always think she owes a debt, no matter how much she gives him.

“The bridge,” he commands. “Thirty minutes.” And then he looks to Nicholas. “Go with her.”

So she doesn’t run…

Weston drifts by with bottles of liquor and trays of food they’ve liberated from Kade’s party, one of the dudes carrying a girl over his shoulder.

“This one wants to come with us,” he announces.

“Coco!” Dylan shouts.

The girl hanging over his shoulder pops her head up, and I recognize Dylan’s friend. “What?” She grins. “I want to see their party.”

“Seriously?” Dylan tries to yank free of Kade, but he just grunts, pulling her back.

I arch an eyebrow, looking at Aro, and the knowledge that Weston is taking another Falls girl doesn’t escape either of us.

They leave, their engines firing up outside, and Hugo shoots Aro a warning look before he closes the door behind him.

Nicholas heads for the driveway, Aro turns and backs away, holding my eyes as she goes.

I shake my head, warning her.

But she purses her lips, trying to hide her damn smile.

Stopping, she heads back over to me, glances around, and fixes her gaze on Schuyler. Walking over, she plucks a bobby pin out of Schuyler’s hair, the girl scowling as she jerks in her cuffs.

Aro straightens the pin, reforming it, but I meet her gaze and can’t look away.

Pressing her body into mine, her scent hits me, and liquid heat rushes through my veins as her mouth hovers over mine. She reaches behind me, and I hear the bobby pin slip into the lock of my cuffs.

I brush her nose with mine.

“I’ve been detained before,” she whispers as everyone in the room watches. “A few times…”

I almost laugh. Seven times, actually. I’ve seen her record.

She moves the bobby pin around, taking my bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s actually not that hard once you get the hang of it,” she teases.

I nod. “So, what you’re saying is handcuffs won’t work on you.”

She smiles. “Maybe duct tape.”

I graze my lips over her forehead, brushing her hair with my mouth and dying to have her in my arms. “I love you,” I say.

“I know, baby.”

The lock clicks, the cuffs open, and I pull out of them, letting them fall to the ground.

She slides the pin into her pocket and backs away as I rub my wrists.

“Aro,” Dylan calls out, holding up the bindings she shares with Kade.

But Aro only watches me.

I take a step, watching her get closer to the open door and the car with Nicholas and Tommy waiting.

“Don’t…” I tell her. “Don’t cross that river.”

But she doesn’t stop.

“Let us loose!” Kade demands.

Aro holds up her thumb and index fingers, forming a frame with Kade and Dylan in the picture, and studies it. “Mmmmmmm, no.” She drops her hands. “That’ll be funny.”

“Aro!” Dylan screams.

Followed by Kade. “Aro!”

She spins around and runs away, and I start after her but stop, knowing I can’t leave Kade and Dylan behind. Aro jumps into the waiting car and speeds away, and I twist around, digging into the side table for Kade’s motorcycle keys.