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The douche gave me a sleazy smile as if he had something up his sleeve. He curled his finger at one of the grown men at his back and whispered into his ear.
Mac touched my shoulder, and I swallowed back the growl of annoyance. His gaze was fixed on the ass hat, but he gave me a slight shake of his head. I wanted to ask why but I doubted I would get an answer at the moment. Fuck it. I’d shut up for now, but I was serious. I would hurt that bastard.
“New girl has earned Press Prep a late start,” the jerk wad in charge said.
My entire cage of people groaned in annoyance and swore at me. I gave no fucks. I flipped him off just for good measure.
“Everyone else will be given five minutes head start.” A projector was turned on, and a map appeared on the far left wall. “Hide or stay on the run. Either is fine. The point is not to be caught, but the moment you are, you will be placed in another cage. At the end of the game, the one who survives the longest will be given favor by the school higher-ups you attend.”
The place erupted in cheers. They were all nuts. Somewhere along the way, they’d lost every brain cell. I wanted nothing to do with any of this. Why couldn’t I just be left the fuck alone?
“Nice going, new girl,” Nelly hissed.
If she was expecting me to feel bad or anything besides anger, she’d have to find someone else.
“Guess you better run fast,” I muttered.
The cages were opened except ours, and the so-called hunt began. My heart rate kicked up as time ticked by.
“Fucking bitch,” someone not so quietly whispered.
“Ignore them,” Mac said.
“Oh, I am. I could care less about a bunch of rich assholes.”
Mac laughed, and I couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t upset with me. He smirked and continued to stretch. “I expected him to pull some shit like this. Douglass goes to our school, but he isn’t above taking bribes, and no one from our school will pay him shit.”
“Great, he’s an upstanding citizen.”
The stoner guy huffed out a laugh. “According to his father, he is.”
A part of me didn’t care who his father was. If I was to survive my hell sentence in Aridole, I needed to know who to stay clear of. “And his daddy is?”
“Man, you don’t know shit,” Nelly said. She approached us, staring at the open garage doors all the other people had fled out of. “His dad is the chief of police.”
Well, fuck me. I blew out a heavy breath as the pieces started to form. “Great. Is there anyone who is not a corrupt piece of shit here?”
It was telling that no one said anything. Even Mac kept his mouth shut.Great job, mom. You made my life better.
Hawke bouncedon the balls of his feet with a gleeful smile. I couldn’t fault him. I was feeling the same adrenaline pumping through my veins. Samson and Lux were more relaxed, but I could tell both of them were excited about this year’s games.
“You won’t be kings this year,” Bolton said.
“Want to bet?” I asked.
Bolton sneered at me. “Fuck off, trash.”
I took a step toward him and almost laughed at the way he nearly took a step back. “Want to say that louder for me?” I met his gaze straight on.
One thing my old man had taught me was to never back down, especially from any of these uppity shits. There was nothing in this world that Bolton had that I couldn’t get from myself. As far as I was concerned, we were on equal footing. Scratch that. I was above him. He thought he was some hotshot because his father was old money in Aridole. However, money could be taken, and men like him were nothing without it in their pockets.
Bolton glared, and I prayed to the devil he’d make a move. I couldn’t go make a mess for Lux to clean up, but I could sure as hell react to anything he started. As if Bolton knew what I was thinking, he turned away from me.
“Bolton, come on,” Harry said and gave us the barest glance as he moved toward their own cage.
Each set of contestants was given one to hold the prey they caught.
“If you want, I can introduce him to Luna after this,” Hawke said.
