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Alec’s set this whole thing up for me. He won’t even tell me what we’re doing to Mackenzie once we get her into the desert. “Don’t get your panties in a knot, Marlowe,” he’d said with a friendly pat of my shoulder. “We’re just going to frighten her. After what she’s done to both of us, it’s the least she deserves.”
What she deserves?
What does Mackenzie Malloy deserve? How many pounds of her flesh do I get to extract for my brother’s death?
No. I shake my head. Don’t think about Mackenzie’s flesh. But my mind disobeys, going to some dark place where I’ve buried my cock inside her, her golden hair curled in my fist. She claws at my skin and those ice-blue eyes regard me with want, and the burning, blistering hatred inside me becomes something else, something almost…exciting.
But that’s not how Mackenzie and I end. I love Felix too much to betray his memory like that. But maybe tonight will help. Maybe I’ll finally be able to stitch closed the bleeding wound in my chest where my heart used to be.
I’m not normally big on throwing my weight around and grabbing a girl from the shadows. But I know Mackenzie Malloy. She could have stayed hidden. She could have chosen any high school, but she came to Stonehurst Prep to rub my nose in it. She’s alive and Felix isn’t. She struts around, hanging off Gabe, leading Eli to ruin with her wounded puppy eyes, and she pretends she doesn’t remember what she fucking did.
Alec winks at me as he crouches behind a stack of gym mates, motioning for the rest of us to take our places. He thinks he hates her more than I do. He thinks ruining his face is on the same level as what she did to me. He doesn’t know a thing about real hate.
I stoop down behind the bleachers with Dave and Cleo. My blood thuds heavily in my ears. The gym hums with nervous energy as everyone waits for their cue. Cleo’s hand finds mine, but I shrug her off. It’s safer if she doesn’t touch me right now. I don’t know what I’ll do when I see…
There she is.
Mackenzie steps into the gym. She’s wearing the Stonehurst Prep cheerleading uniform – the tiny pleated skirt only just covering the curve of her ass. She carries her trainers by the laces, and on her feet are a pair of spike-heeled pumps that make her legs look six miles long. My mouth dries out. My dick goes hard, and I curse it. I’m not supposed to find her hot. But sometimes you can’t tell your dick to behave.
Gabe is right about one thing – in all those years she was gone, Mackenzie Malloy grew up hot.
My eyes flicker over her face as she glances around for Mrs. Anderson. She registers the empty, dark gym a moment before Alec flicks out the lights. I’m plunged into darkness and all I can see is the imprint of her wide eyes.
She’s frightened.
No, she’s not. She’s putting on a show. Mackenzie Malloy doesn’t feel fear.
The guys rush forward. Cleo shoves me out with them. Mackenzie cries as someone – I think it’s Miles? – slams her into the bleachers. Now it’s his turn to yelp as she stomps on his hand, grinding her stiletto heel into the bones of his hand.
Cleo’s got a hold of her now, and the self-satisfied smirk on her face as she rakes her fingers down Mackenzie’s face turns my stomach. There are ten of us here to subdue this one girl. For the first time since Alec proposed this plan, I get a sense that the ground beneath me is turning to quicksand. We were supposed to be the heroes in this story – the aggrieved party seeking justice.
Now I’m not so sure.
My gut twists. I remember Mackenzie pulling her sleeves down at school to hide dark bruises on her arms. I remember lending her my sweatshirt in gym once when she forgot hers, and the look she gave me was pure adoration. I remember how strong and stubborn and impossible she was whenever we were paired up for projects, and how Eli used to talk about her with this pang of longing in his voice.
She was quite something.
She still is.
“Why are you doing this? You’re hurting her.”
Little George Fisher is standing in the doorway, clutching her books and looking like she’s about to bolt. Alec tosses the chloroform-soaked cloth to Cleo and advances on George. She thinks better of her burst of bravery and makes a run for it.
No one ever said that George wasn’t smart.
Cleo picks up the cloth as Alec and a couple of the other guys run after George. I found myself hoping that she got away. Cleo presses the cloth to Mackenzie’s mouth while Dave holds her head and Brandy and Miles try to pin her legs so she doesn’t take an eye out with her stilettos. I’m supposed to be helping. My feet are trapped in the quicksand, my hands glued at my sides.
“She’s out.” Cleo cries out, a hint of relief in her voice.
“Let’s get her to the car.”
The lights flicker on again. Alec and the others run back and surround her limp body, everyone laying a hand on her, touching her bare skin as they drag her in the direction of the parking lot. Her head lolls to the side. Should we brace her neck? I don’t fucking know.
This is a nightmare.
“Noah, grab her bags.” Alec nods to her backpack and other items that she dropped in the struggle. I hurry to scoop them up.
I follow Alec and the guys out to the senior parking lot. Cleo hops into her car and waves and smiles as she and her cheerleader friends tear away. My gut twists again. Why are they leaving?
