I lift my gaze to meet his. My heart beats like a drum and my palms grow clammy. “Punished?”
His hand snakes out and his fingers feather down my arm to my hand. A trail of sparks follows in his wake. That’s alarming. He lifts my hand and places my phone in my palm. “You’re ours now until we decide you aren’t.”
He squeezes my hand around my phone. Hard enough to make me wince a little.
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll give it up fast and we’ll be bored in a week.” He catches my ponytail and yanks me into him.
I gasp as his hard body presses into my softness. Sparks ignite everywhere.
He dips his head beside my ear and his lips move against my skin as he says, “I hope you aren’t boring, unicorn. I think I’d like to play with you for a long time.”
He releases me, and I almost fall back into my seat. He strides away, and all I can do is stare at my phone like it betrayed me.
I’m fucked.
CHAPTER 2
The Question
Harper
Yeah, this isn’t going to be my year. I barely have time to collect myself and move to my second class. I choose my normal spot and hope none of the horsemen have AP Statistics.
I glance at my phone and see Luke sent a group text with the back-to-school selfie I sent to Mom this morning and entered the horsemen’s numbers with the names Death, War, Pestilence, and Famine.
These boys take this whole apocalypse thing way too far.
Death is Luke, of course. The pale horse. From his cold blue eyes to his shiny blond hair. Firm jawline. Cheekbones edged like glass. And lips that look pillow soft. If he was actually death, women would be falling over themselves to die for him.
War is Caden. The red horse. He spreads violence wherever he goes. Dark hair, green eyes. Deceptively pretty face. Not perfect though. His nose has a slight tweak in it from a fight. It suits him though.
Famine is Jack. The black horse. His blue eyes are stunning and have snared many girls. Jack has that darkness to him, not the violence of Caden, but something almost brooding andthrilling—at least for some girls. Except he rarely fucks the same girl twice.
Pestilence is Eli. The white horse. If Luke looks like an angel, Eli resembles a fallen one. Just as beautiful. Soft brown hair and eyes the color of melted chocolate. He rarely smiles and everyone knows he’s rough with girls. Even I had the bruises to attest to it.
My sophomore year, Eli had come barreling down the hall after third period and I was in his path. I didn’t notice because I was talking to Kenz. He grabbed my hips, lifted me out of his way, and went on. Granted, I barely registered to his six foot five self as I’m a full foot shorter, but I had bruises on my hips for a week. Luckily, he wasn’t even aware of who I was, so crisis averted.
The back of my neck prickles again and I swear if Luke is in this class, I’ll make myself vomit to get sent home. Vomiting is the absolute worst, but it may be worth it.
When I lift my gaze, it’s not Luke in the doorway. But my relief is short-lived. Jack and Caden. And they spot me. FML.
If there ever was an unholy pairing, it’s the two dark demons of the pack. Both built to tackle with speed and agility and brute force.
The only other time I got in a horseman’s way was with them.
Junior year on the south lawn during lunch, I was sitting below my favorite tree reading with my legs outstretched. Caden was going long while Jack threw a football. Caden ran under the tree, not noticing me, and would have tripped over my legs if I hadn’t pulled them back just before he reached me. That could have been disastrous.
It wouldn’t have mattered that it wasn’t my fault. If he’d gotten hurt or even embarrassed, they would have taken it out on me. I would have been in their crosshairs. Public humiliation would have been imminent.
Caden had jumped to catch the ball and landed on his side beside me. His green eyes roamed over my body for a hot minute as he grinned, but then Jack ran up and grabbed his hand to pull him to stand again. While they were distracted, I managed to run off before either could say anything to me.
Now I’m not as lucky as Jack takes the seat behind me and Caden drops into the chair next to me. Both give me almost feral grins. This would be a lot easier if any of these guys looked like meatheads or at least had a case of acne, maybe some scarring, but no, they’re perfect. Tall, gorgeous, and dangerous. A teenage girl’s wet dream.
I’d like to say not mine, but let’s be honest. Who hasn’t had a wet dream about a guy they can’t stand, but is absolutely gorgeous? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
I stare at the book in my hands and refuse to look at either of them. But then someone sits in front of me. Oh, no, not just anyone. Eli.
He sits sideways in his chair, and his dark eyes take me in. My heart pounds so furiously I’m sure they can all hear it. My fear probably excites them. Assholes.
