18. ~Colton~

18

~Colton~

My Mercedes screeched to a halt outside Frat Row—what we called the block that housed three of the five fraternity houses of Stonewell University.

I hadn't seen Mason for two days even though we lived in the same house. He'd been strategically avoiding me. And ignoring my texts and attempted calls.

And I knew why.

With his eyes everywhere now, he was aware that I'd found out about him marking Brianna as a Hex target.

He was fucking lucky that Lev hadn't.

The only reason for that was because he wasn't here right now.

I'd thought it really strange when Brianna had reported to me that Lev had been giving her the silent treatment and staying away. He was an extremely proactive guy. He didn't fold and he didn't do things quietly or carefully. So when I'd approached him about it, I'd found out the reason for him withdrawing was because he'd been called back home by his father, Roman Knight, the business tycoon and owner of the multinational conglomerate, Knightsridge Engineering. When Daddy Knight called, there was no choice, Lev absolutely had to go.

Knowing their usual get-togethers, Lev would be back within a few days.

Long enough for me to stop Mason in his tracks before Lev found out about it and all hell broke loose.

As it was, I'd already intervened in more of Hex's attempted strikes against Brianna.

After she'd told me she'd been marked, I'd been keeping a closer eye on things. I'd stopped two of Mason's frat boy soldiers from slashing her tires, and I'd also stopped three of the football players also in his employ from trying to corner her one night when she'd been leaving campus late. I'd recognized the Hex formation they'd been taking, wherein they would've then crowded her and threatened her. I hadn't told Brianna about it because it just would've scared her, so I'd interrupted their attempt by wrapping my arm around her and staying right beside her, making it clear their attack couldn't happen.

Ever since then Mason had been avoiding me, knowing I was aware of what he was doing.

Or what he was ordering his soldiers to do, because he liked to keep his hands clean.

As I climbed out of my car, I took in the mayhem all around.

The members of all three houses were gathered around the front yards of their mansions, looking freaked out, displaced, and up in arms all at the same time.

Through the chaos, I caught sight of Mason standing rigidly by the front gate of the middle house—the one we'd been a member of not too long ago—as he spoke with Rosemary Reitner, the head of the one of the sororities. She was dressed in her favored sundress look, this one a demure pale blue. Her blond hair was big and wild in its permed style.

I'd found out that she was also one of Mason's captains of several of the sorority members also operating as Hex soldiers now. The girl's mother was a partner in a rival law firm to his father's. And Mason was obviously intending to use that connection in his upcoming war against Peter Hall. Shit, it was brazen of him. All of it was. With him restarting Hex and Levi only participating a little, it wasn't evened out like it had been before and the power of it had clearly gone to Mason's head. He was getting involved in dirty dealings that Lev would normally nix. Lev didn't like us going that route, he usually handled that sort of thing on his own and he was much more accustomed to it than Mason. Because once Mason got a taste of power after it being so long denied him and him being so subservient and restricted by his father, he couldn't hold back, it became addictive to him.

As it clearly was doing now.

I jogged up to them and Rosemary eyed me. "What you doing here, rockstar?"

Her displeasure at my presence was obvious. And it wasn't just because they were in the middle of something. It was because she wanted Mason all to herself. After I'd rejected her because she was one of the most manipulative people I'd ever met—something she had in common with Mason when he got into this kind of phase, she'd turned her attentions to Mason for the last couple of years to spite me. She'd somehow discovered that he and I had a casual thing going on and she kept doing whatever she could to remind me that he'd never acknowledge that outside the bedroom, yet he would with her if she got close enough.

"Fuck off. I need to talk to Mason. Alone."

Mason turned to face me, agitation and surprise warring. "Busy, Colt."

"You'll make time," I bit back. " Scourge."

When I folded my arms across my chest and made it clear I was settling in and not going anywhere until he finally had the decency to hear me out, he blew out a breath and told Rosemary, "Give us a moment."

"Sure thing," Rosemary said. Her gaze swept over me. I was wearing my special pair of custom-made gold leather pants with studs all over them, along with a black metallic tank and a black shimmering cropped jacket over the top. "Maybe you should save those sorts of outfits for the stage. Bit too flashy for everyday wear, don't you think?"

"Like I said, fuck off, snake ."

She sneered. "Sure thing, pretty little rocker."

Urgh.

When she walked away into the crowds of the sorority members who'd also gathered around at the calamity taking place, I stepped up to Mason. "What's happening here?"

"Infestation."

"What?"

"One house was swarmed by red ants a couple of hours ago. Another was crawling with cockroaches. And the third has a rat epidemic."

"Wow, that's one hell of a coincidence. All at once, different creatures."

"It's far from a coincidence."

It hit me all too quickly.

"It's fine. I'll handle it. I'm working on it."

Shit. Had she actually done this? Had this been her way of fighting back against Hex's bullying?

"It is?" I asked, feigning cluelessness.

"Of course. This was a coordinated strike."

"Huh… that's some crazy shit."

He gave me a withering look. "This was your little girlfriend, Colt."

"My girlfriend? Last I checked, I was relationship and strings free."

"I saw you. I saw you in the recording studio with her."

I shrugged. "I was comforting her."

"Looked like she was comforting you too about you not being happy that I've had her marked."

"I'm not happy about it. In fact, what you're doing is both unfair to her and dangerous in the grand scheme of things. You need to stop before Lev comes back. You're living up to your Scourge name way too well right now."

"No can do. I want her gone before he gets back."

"What? No. You can't do that to him."

"To him? Or to you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You've clearly taken a real liking to her. I saw you with her, remember? You're enamored. As for us living up to our nicknames, you're doing the opposite, not holding true to your Maverick persona at all, in fact. Putting your attention all on one person, cutting back on the partying."

Before I could get a word out about that, he went on, "Well, I'm not going to jeopardize all of us based off some new feelings you have for a girl you've only known for a few weeks. The fact is she's trouble where Levi is concerned, so she needs to go."

"Mason, this is the wrong way to go about it and you know it. Just fucking well talk to Lev, all right? Solve it from that angle. Don't punish Brianna when she's not at fault."

He gestured angrily at the frat houses behind him. "I just told you she did this. Not at fault? Bullshit."

"Even if it was her and you're not just being ridiculously paranoid, it would only be retaliation for what you've already done to her." I laid my hand on his shoulder and dug in so he couldn't instantly pull away, not while I needed to drive my point home. "Come on, brother. Do the right thing and back off, yeah?"

He stared at me for several moments and I really thought he was seeing reason and the error of his ways.

But then his phone rang, shattering the hold I had on him, and he pulled away and fished it out from the pocket of his snug navy jeans.

He swiped it open and answered, "Chase?"

Chase Arlington? The football captain?

He was on his payroll too? A member of Hex? Shit, Mason was really going for it. Chase's father was a rival of Mason's father.

"What situation?" I heard Mason asking down the line. "Paramedics in the locker rooms? What? What about the showers? Fine. I'll be right there."

"What's going on?" I asked, as soon as he hung up.

He scrubbed his hand over his face. "Another fucking strike. This time at the players on the team who I've also recruited into Hex."

"What do you mean another strike?"

"Chase was too worked up to give me the necessary details. Weak fuck. Something we need to work on. I need to head down and find out for myself."

As he went to take off toward his Porsche that was parked a couple of hundred feet in the distance, I called out, "I'm coming with."

He was too worked up and focused on the immediate to protest.

Holy shit.

Paramedics filled the corridors near the locker room and stretchers with several players on them were being wheeled out and rushed toward the lot where I'd seen a bunch of ambulances parked when I'd arrived on campus just behind Mason.

Speaking of Mason, I hadn't seen him for at least twenty minutes since he'd dipped inside the guy's locker room to find out what had happened.

Students, professors, maintenance staff, and even the Dean were all flitting about in a panic, the Dean trying to contain the shitshow, along with the medical professionals who'd been called in.

I grimaced as I took note of another football player with burns to his face, neck, chest, and hands, being wheeled past on a gurney. Second-degree burns, if I had to guess.

Finally, Mason emerged. I stepped out to meet him. "What happened?"

"Some malfunction with the showers. The water was scalding-hot and the taps wouldn't turn off once they were turned on, so the players were stuck in there subjected to those temperatures." He lowered his voice and pulled me with him away from the crowds as he told me, "Six of my soldiers . Just them. The other players weren't even in there. The chances of that… it's next to none. Another setup. Another fucking strike against Hex. Against me."

"I guess some people aren't happy about Hex being revived, or the moves you've been making."

"Some people? Come off it, Colt. It's clearly her."

"Brianna? No fucking way."

He shook his head at me in dismay. "Either way, I'll find out. And whoever it is, they'll be punished. Severely."

With that, he stormed off down the corridor.

This whole thing was growing out of control more so with every passing day.

I'd thought Lev not being here right now would be a good thing, so I could reach Mason and have him call off the mark against Brianna, but clearly that wasn't going to happen. Mason was being beyond his usual stubbornness right now. So far beyond. All of this was.

While I'd failed to get through to him, our dynamic clearly not making it possible, Lev could.

Shit, I needed him back here ASAP.