Vile Boys (Spine Ridge University)

She turns to look at Lana and then me.

What the fuck is going on?

How is she here?

But then she’s shoved into the van.

I storm past Lana, headed straight for the door … right when the van races off.

“FUCK!” I scream, losing my goddamn fucking soul along with it as the van’s gone before I even manage to step one foot outside.

I try to run after it, but it’s no use.

I won’t ever catch up on foot.

“No, no, no!” I mutter, sinking to the ground outside, still clutching my knives, my only tether to this world before I tear it all to shreds.

These fucking Bonesmen have the only girl I ever loved, and now I’ll never fucking see her again.

How could this happen?

How dare they steal her away from me?

“You, you’re one of them.” The voice behind me makes me turn around.

Anger gets the best of me, and I roar out loud as I kill a guard, ramming the knife straight into his neck before I cut it off entirely and let the head roll across the street.

I feel feral, completely unhinged, as though there isn’t enough blood in the world to satisfy my craving for murder.

I head back inside, determined to get revenge and get her back. The guys from Skull & Serpent Society and Phantom Society have managed to make the guards fear them, as there’s a standoff near the hallway. I physically have to swallow away my rage to make sure I don’t lose it and throw myself at them.

I need to get back to the Tartarus House ASAP and tell the boys so we can fucking track Crystal down and free her.

If I let these guys here know just how badly it affects me that they took Crystal, I’ll never get out of here in time to rescue her. I have to keep my cool, play it off like it’s no big deal, so they don’t suspect me. None of those fuckers, not even Kai, knows what she means to us, to his own fucking brother who doesn’t even know she’s been taken. Taken by the Bones Brotherhood … the underground Mafia his own dad works with.

My hand clutches tightly around the knife as I make my way back through the hallway, eyeing those guards with suspicion, before I approach the group. “We should go.” I clear my throat. “This truce won’t last long.”

God, it’s so fucking hard to maintain this facade when all I want to do is scream.

We head back out of the compound through the way we came in and run to the two cars where we split up.

“I’ll take our car back with Nathan and Milo,” Kai says, then he turns to Lana. “You go with your brother. Caleb, you go with her too.”

I jump into Dylan’s car, and we race off before those guards change their mind and decide to chase us. But fuck, it feels so bad to leave the scene of the crime knowing Crystal is out there somewhere, probably wondering if she’ll ever get out.

My fingers dig into my thighs as I clench my teeth together.

“What’s wrong?” Penelope asks Lana, who begins to cry.

“Crystal got taken with me.”

Fuck. So they were together at one point.

“She was here too?” Penelope grabs Lana’s shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought there was still time to save her,” she says. “But when I finally found her, she was getting shoved into a van, and it raced off before I could get to her. I couldn’t see the license plate. And now they’ve taken her to God knows where.”

Fuck. I can’t say anything.

My lips part. “I’ll ask the Tartarus boys to check with their connections and see if they can find her whereabouts.”

Ares

I clutch the banister of the balcony overlooking the maze and breathe out a sigh. The sun is setting, and it’s been days since I’ve last felt alive.

My soul is waning along with the petals on those goddamn roses beneath me.

Was there ever a different way this could go?

No.

She would’ve never believed a word of my story.

I grab my drink off the table and take a much-needed sip, the heat as it slides down my throat barely enough to cause a sizzle. I feel nothing. Anger has long ago taken ahold of my heart and shriveled it up into dust.

But when her fingers thrummed my chest and touched the most hated part of me it’s almost as if she collected the specks of dust with her bare hands just to see if my heart could ever beat again.

And for a moment, I almost believed it could … for her.

I sigh out loud, but a loud slam of the doors pulls me out of my thoughts, and I turn my head toward the noise.

Caleb barges out onto the balcony. “Crystal’s been taken.”

My eyes twitch, and I turn around to listen, praying I misheard.

“The Skull & Serpents and Phantoms forced me to come with them to save one of their own, Lana—”

“You went into a Bones Brotherhood compound alone?” I grit.

“Are you even listening to me?” Caleb says. “Crystal was there.”

My eyes widen, and my lips part in shock.

Bones Brotherhood? But how?

“Lana and Crystal were snatched off the streets together, and we managed to save Lana, but we couldn’t fucking find Crystal until it was too late.” His voice fluctuates in tone, emotions taking hold. “I couldn’t get to her. But I saw her.” His eyes tear up. “Right when they drove her off in a van.”

The glass in my hand cracks.

My little rose … taken by those wretched monsters?

“None of them even knew she was taken too. I had to pretend I didn’t know her. I had to leave and couldn’t save her …” He nearly collapses, so I chuck the glass away and catch him in my arms, holding him tight.

This isn’t just going to kill him.

It’s going to kill me too.

“She’ll be sold,” he murmurs, the desperation in his voice making me want to scream.

My teeth grind together tightly. “No. I won’t fucking allow it.”

“But they’ll know it was you, and your father will never—”

“To hell with him,” I whisper into his ear. “I didn’t let her go so she could get taken and sold. She belongs to us, and we will track her down and take her from their fucking claws.”

A smile slowly spreads on his cheeks. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“What’s this?” Blaine’s standing in the door opening, clutching the banister as he sways his hips sideways. “Concocting evil plans to rescue a certain damsel in distress?” He holds up his hand and looks at his nails. “And to think I just got my nails done. Such a pity I’m going to have to stain them with the blood of our enemies.” A filthy grin spreads on his cheeks. “I’m so ready. When are we going?”

I grip Caleb’s shoulder and look at them both, licking my teeth. “Grab your guns and knives. Let’s show them the demons of Tartarus. Tonight, we feast on their fucking bones.”