Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112449 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112449 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
I laughed out loud at Jeremy’s snarl. Why? ’Cause it’s what I do. What kind of idiot defuses a situation when it’s just getting good?
“I was pouty ’cause we had to go all over tracking you down, just to tell you the good news.” He clapped Micah on the back. “Why don’t you do the honors?”
Micah squared up to Legend. “You’re done. The people have spoken and Bedlam is no longer now or forever. So where does that leave the Bedlam Boys? Turns out most of the young voters in Bedlam tend to stick around since such a prestigious university offers them cheap tuition just for being a resident.”
“Another little factoid,” Jeremy picked up. “These young voters have gotten to know you and your methods very well, and they’re not fans.”
“Steals from my dad’s business every week,” someone shouted.
“Fucker beat my brother for being disrespectful!”
“The bitch boy deserved it,” I called back.
“Roan,” Rainey hissed. “Curb your natural instincts.”
I chuckled. She’s starting to know me too well.
Truth was, it didn’t matter if this mob ended the way we were headed. Every single person in this crowd would regret this. Even if it wasn’t us doling out the punishment. They had no idea the war they were about to start.
“They don’t want you anymore,” Gael said. “They don’t want Bedlam, if this is what it means to live here. Getting rid of one group of tyrants only for another to take their place.”
Jeremy grinned. “A wind’s coming, baby, and it’s sweeping your hick town away. Or at least the half that’s reverting back to Crystal Canyon.” He held out his hands. “We got the votes. We got the town. We’ve got you.
“Hey, Jonah,” he stage-whispered. “How long did we bet we’d take over?”
“Gave it a month.”
“I was being generous.”
Cairo cast a look over his shoulder. “Rain, excuse yourself.”
“Why?”
“Because I think he’s going to keep talking.”
Jeremy laughed, gesturing to us and yukking it up with his Crows. “So what if I do keep—”
Cairo punched him in the throat.
You’d have thought the guy would’ve learned to block that move by now.
Jeremy flew back and rebounded fast. Wheezing, he swung wildly, taking out a bystander to get to Cairo. Alphonso was already there, smashing Cairo over the shoulder with his crutch.
I ripped it from his hands and swept his bad leg. He went down under the mob surging at us.
They came from everywhere. Punching. Kicking. Fighting for our side and against. They trapped us in.
Quinn launched at Rainey. “Manure-stinkin’ slut!” She tangled in her hair, wrenching a scream out of her.
Rainey seized the hand holding her, locking Quinn still, and smashed her fist in her nose. Blood spurted on her knuckles—the last thing I saw before five people were between us, pushing and shoving us apart.
A blow rocked my side, knocking me into Arsenio. I straightened for Gael’s barreling charge, shoulder dropped to run me through.
I snapped to the side, shoving Arsenio back. Gael crashed into the guy coming after him. The crunch of bone on bone reverberated through my skeleton.
The crowd shifted. Bodies crushing. Shouts and screams banging in my ears. Arsenio was gone in the time it took to turn around.
I saw a punch headed my way and spun to meet it. Fist raised, the red mist cleared on Micah.
We jerked to a stop.
Micah dropped his arm and shoved through the bodies. I glanced around wondering if anyone noticed.
Movement shifted out of the corner of my eye.
I twisted, spotting the glint of metal. Time slowed.
Heart thumping in my ear, I moved between beats, throwing up a block. The blade glanced across my arm, slicing the skin, jolting the chest strike wide.
Bang!
A gunshot ripped through the noise.
“That’s enough!”
Students scattered in every direction. The red sleeve covering the arm of my would-be killer flashed through the bodies.
“On the ground! Everybody, on the ground!”
Clutching my arm, I ran after them, forcing my way through. Someone shot in front of me. I collided into a hard chest.
“Mr. Banks,” barked my mother’s head of university security. “Inside, sir. Now.”
There was no point fighting him or the three others who grabbed and ran me inside. No red sleeve. No glimpse of the hooked nose that stuck out from under their hood.
They were gone.
***
Rainey
The earth rumbled beneath me.
Images blinked on and off. Swirling clouds. My bare feet skimming the grass. Polished shoes crunching in the gravel.
I peeled my eyes open, gazing into a sea of black. Pain flooded my senses. Giving over, I surrendered to the dark, falling far from pain’s reach.
“... you’re still...”
A voice floated through the haze.
“... goddess...”
Light pierced my lids. My vision cleared on the forest floor, watching my fingers sway to meet it.
My body was heavy—separate from me. I called my hands to move. My legs to carry me. My lips to open.
“... worship you.”
The world spun and gentle arms set me down. Clouds came to blanket me, shielding the sun as a shadow passed over my eyes. Its soft presence drew on my lids, closing them.