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“Is it weird that I didn’t think this could hurt innocent people until now?” I asked. “I feel terrible about what happened to Annika, but I knew what I was doing when I sent her to that beach house. I didn’t want her thrown off a cliff and left to die, but I daydreamed about her feeling a fraction of the pain she green-lit for Winter.
“This is different,” I said softly. “Some kid rotting in jail. People working for a living branded as thieves. A woman recovering from assault.” My gaze swept the café, and the shocked, laughing, and gossipy faces. “I wasn’t looking to make their pain public.”
“There are no names.”
“No, but it wouldn’t be that hard to look them up from these details. Maybe Wilder can leave all that out for the other guys. Be more vague.”
Another headshake. “If it’s vague, no one will believe it. What’s the point?”
Cato was a man of few words, but they got straight to the heart of a problem. I couldn’t argue with him. It’s the details that make someone buy into the truth. Same for a lie. A list that said, “Owen got someone arrested. Owen assaulted someone,” would be crumpled up and tossed in the bin. We were accomplishing what I set out to do.
So why did I feel so gross?
“Does it get worse than this?” I asked.
“Haven’t gotten to Levi yet.”
I bared my teeth. That shit had my sister beaten and set the Rogues’ house on fire. He attacked me and almost carved his ownership on my skull. Those times he had witnesses and accomplices to his cruelty. If he had no qualms doing those things in public, it made me heave to think of the secrets he tucked away.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but hopefully they crack before we make it to the end of the list—”
“Hey! Give me that, you Dreg fuck! Who did this?!”
My insides curdled. In an instant, I was transported to that night in my room—bound and covered with sores.
Owen burst into the cafeteria, ripping the list from everyone in sight. The time away from school did wonders for the bruises. His face was that of a classically handsome sociopath once again, if not for the snarl twisting him unrecognizable.
“Save it, Thasher, we’ve all read it.” Lindsay rose from her table, arm folded and grin wide. “Sad thing is not one of us is surprised you’re a twisted, rapist piece of shit.”
He shoved through a pack of footballers, getting to her. “Yeah, and no one’s surprised you caught gonorrhea,” he snapped back. “Twice.”
Lindsay’s grin wiped away.
“But unlike your slutty ass, this shit ain’t true!” He shoved a stack of lists off a nearby table, showering me and a half dozen people in the filth of his past. “Wake up, people. First, I’m attacked and hung from the ceiling. Then, those lies about the Daltons trafficking immigrants. Now someone prints up crap about Natale, and here they are coming for me.
“It’s obvious to anyone with a fucking brain. Some Dreg coward is attacking the Royals, but they don’t have the balls to do it to our face. Well, here’s your chance!” Owen threw out his hands, chest puffed and face reddening. “Step up and say it to our face, punk. Better yet, come up with some proof.
“None of our servants were ever fired for stealing, and if something’s missing from our house, this is the first time I’ve heard of it. What did I steal? If I got someone arrested, who was it? Huh? Huh!”
Notice you’re not bringing up number four on the list.
“Whoever believes this fool has shit between their ears,” Owen shouted. “Wake up, Royals. This is our school. Once we start taking this crap, letting Dregs trick and turn us against each other, we might as well give this town to the trash and be done with it!”
He stormed out, kicking up paper in his wake. I watched him go through narrowed eyes.
“I take it back,” I hissed. “We don’t let up on them. No names, and no mercy.”
The corner of his eyes crinkled, giving away the smile behind that muzzle. “That’s how we do it.”
THE NEXT DAY, THE SHOWDOWN was held behind the music hall. Wesley Hill didn’t eat anywhere else—the pretentious prick. That’s why we were kind enough to drop a stack of his secrets on each table on the balcony.
Rafael and I ducked behind a tree, parked there as the sophomore Royals arrived to eat before their first class.
“—complete garbage,” Gabriella said. “Me and Giovanni? Don’t make me laugh. That guy isn’t fit to lick my shoes, let alone my pussy.”
“Hmm.” Saylor led the pack, gorgeous as usual in a velvet rhinestone Armani dress. “I don’t know. Lately, you’ve been disappearing on us. Saying you want a night in, or going on some trip with your parents for the weekend. Plus, we used to hear nonstop about your hookups. The last few months—nothing. A secret beau would explain a lot.”
