Chapter 8: Eve

My battered and bruised body was sore when Kasey woke me the next morning. The cuts from the rocks and branches were still raw, and her eyes pleaded forgiveness as I got dressed, feeling the stiffness stick to my bones.

“I’m sorry. I should have warned you.”

“Yeah, probably.” I grimaced at the sight of a black and blue welt on my thigh and shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter, though. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“I had no idea they were already set on you,” she said. “The look in Keane’s eyes last night—it was scary. It was like you were his plaything or something.”

I nodded, unsure of how she wanted me to respond to this. That’s exactly what it had been, a game of cat and mouse, all the way down to being batted around like a toy before an inevitable death.

“Did they hurt you?” Kasey asked meekly, and I hesitated. Had they hurt me? Not as much as the woods had.

“They forced me to drink that blood wine. It was horrible.”

“That’s how they claim you,” she said softly. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. They can’t claim me. I’m not an animal.”

Before Kasey could respond to this, there was a light rap on the door, and a woman poked her head in.

“Evelina?” she said. “You have a session with John Carter in five minutes.”

“A session?” I repeated, and she nodded, not caring to explain as she shut the door behind her. I glanced at Kasey, who shrugged.

“It’s normal,” she assured me. “Every new intake has a session on their first real day. Afterward, we have classes.”

“What kind of classes?”

“The usual,” she said. “English, math, prayer—”

“Prayer?”

“Yes. It’s required for all of us.”

“I didn’t realize this was a religious school.”

“It’s not, really.” She shrugged. “But I think the staff like to pretend that if we pray, we’re less evil than people think.”

I laughed. “No wonder my stepfather likes this place. He thinks I’m the antichrist.”

Kasey walked me to John Carter’s office, squeezing my shoulder as I raised my hand to knock on the door.

“Good luck,” she said, then hurried away. I knocked on the door and then cracked it open, finding John Carter behind his desk. He looked up from a pile of paperwork and smiled at me.

“Evelina, so good to see you. Please, take a seat.”

I didn’t sit and instead stood there by the door, arms folded protectively across my chest as John smiled at me.

“So what is this, like some sort of counseling session?” I glared at John. “Are you a school counselor?”

“You could say that,” he said with a nod, eyes following my movements as I began to pace the office, running my eyes once again over the photos, posters, and fish tank against the wall.

“Do I get to take actual classes here?” I demanded, stopping to face him. “It’s a school, isn’t it?”

“Counseling first, schoolwork later.” John smiled. “I must say, most of our students aren’t as eager as you to start their schoolwork.”

“If I weren’t trapped here, I’d be at my university,” I said with a shrug. “In fact, I’d been looking forward to it before my stepfather betrayed me.”

“Trapped.” John drummed the butt end of his pencil on the pad in his lap. “Tell me why you felt the word trapped came to mind first, Evelina.”

“It seems obvious,” I told him, relenting enough to take a seat on the chair across from him. “I don’t want to be here, I didn’t volunteer to be here, and all I am is some pawn in my stepfather’s game.”

“What game do you believe that is?” John asked, and I snickered, rolling my eyes.

“It’s all social status and politics.” I shrugged again. “He has money, he has power, and he can make things go away.”

“What kind of things?”

“Just…things. Whatever he wants to go away, he can make it happen.”

“I see.”

I sighed, rubbing the ache in my temple that was just coming on. “What’s the point of this?” I asked. “You already know why I’m here. My stepfather is a crook, and he has pull. Whoever doesn’t know that really needs to figure it out.”

I wondered momentarily if John Carter had any idea about the late-night parties and bonfires. Did he know about the Rogues and how dangerous they were? Did he care? Or did they play him like a puppet, too? It seemed to me that Keane and his boys ran this place, employees be damned. I figured it wasn’t even worth bringing up. The Rogues scared me more than Carter did.

“How are you settling in?” he asked, smiling pleasantly. I swallowed and looked away, wishing I hadn’t shown up this morning.

“Blackwood isn’t what I expected,” I admitted. “I thought it would be more like a school and less like a prison.”

“You aren’t behind bars. So what gives you that impression?”

“Are you kidding? It’s like an asylum in here.” I sighed and folded my arms over my chest, anxious to get out of this cramped little office and back to the real world. Then again, outside these doors, the Rogues waited, and they were no better. At least in here, they couldn’t touch me.

“Is there anyone giving you issues?” John asked, and once again, I almost blabbed about Keane and the boys. But something told me not to. Pissing off the Rogues didn’t seem like a good idea.

“No,” I lied. “Everyone is very welcoming.”

“That’s good.” John smiled, probably to put me at ease, but it did the opposite.

“Can I go now?” I asked, and relief flooded through me when he nodded.

“Breakfast in the cafeteria goes for another twenty minutes,” he said, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall behind me. “Hurry fast.”

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I jumped to my feet and raced out the door, stopping to take a breath only once I was far enough away from the office to breathe. Fortunately, there weren’t many students around, so I took the opportunity to compose myself, leaning against the brick wall and closing my eyes. As the anxiety slowly melted from my limbs, I turned around to head to the cafeteria, bumping straight into someone who was coming from the opposite direction.

“Oops,” the kid said as our shoulders collided. “I’m so sorry.”

Relieved it wasn’t one of the Rogues on a mission to make my life miserable, I forced a smile and shook my head.

“No worries.”

“I’m Max,” the guy said, offering his hand to me. “You’re Evelina, right?”

“Just Eve.” I took his hand and shook it, feeling at ease with this guy already. He didn’t give me the eerie vibes the Rogues did, and his smile seemed genuine. He was of average height and build, with sandy-blond hair and innocent eyes.

“I saw you briefly at the bonfire last night,” he said, taking it upon himself to fall into step next to me as I began to head toward the cafeteria. “The Rogues—did they catch you?”

I swallowed, wondering if everyone in this godforsaken school knew about what had happened.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I said, trying to push the image of Keane’s body pressed against mine away from my mind. “It wasn’t exactly a happy welcome.”

Max nodded, understanding. “I had to do it when I was admitted, too,” he said. “But they found someone else first. Since then, I’ve done everything I can to stay off those assholes’ radar.”

“Then maybe being seen with me isn’t a good idea.” I smiled to let him know I was kidding, but a flash of apprehension flicked over his features anyway. Max was cute in a boy-next-door kind of way, not really my type back home, but sweet anyway. The more people I had in my corner, the better.

“So what are you in for?” Max asked as we walked. “What’s your damage?”

I smiled. “I’m not supposed to be here,” I told him. “Family politics, and all that. I’m only here because my asshole stepfather is too powerful for his own good, and he doesn’t like me.”

“Ah,” Max said. “Same.”

I gave him a quizzical look, and he laughed. “Just kidding. I’m in here for clinical depression. My mom got tired of all my suicide attempts, so here we are.”

“I-I’m sorry you have to go through that,” I said earnestly. “Is it better for you in here?”

“Yes, but only because they finally figured out my meds.” He smiled shyly, his arm brushing mine as we walked. Up ahead, I spotted Kasey in the breakfast line, filling her plate with eggs and bacon. As I raised my hand to wave at her, relieved, someone else caught my eye, and I dropped it again. The Rogues were sitting at the front of the cafeteria, leaning back in their chairs as they watched Max and me come into the room. Keane was smiling, but it was sinister. He looked hungry, but not for food.

“Shit,” said Max, apparently seeing the same thing I was. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Well, well, well.” Teague’s familiar voice seeped under my skin suddenly, and I realized he’d left his spot to approach Max and me. I stopped in the middle of the floor, and Max did the same. Everyone in the cafeteria was watching us now as though they knew what was coming.

“Even after last night, you’re still out here showing your face,” Keane said, stopping in front of me. One arm came out as his finger brushed my cheek. I had the urge to back up but refused, meeting his gaze and staring him down anyway.

“You don’t scare me,” I said, but the tremble in my voice probably gave me away. Teague grinned at me, but his expression fell into one of disgust as he turned to look at Max.

“Evelina belongs to us,” he said softly, and I was surprised when Max nodded and took a step back. What the fuck?

“I don’t belong to anybody,” I insisted. “Especially not you assholes.”

Still grinning, Teague turned his attention back to me and shook his head. “You better work on that sassy mouth, Evelina. One day, someone might just smack it.”

“Are you threatening me?” I demanded, straightening up the best I could. It didn’t matter. Teague had over four inches on me, and I probably looked like an idiot trying to show him up.

“There are no threats,” someone else said, and Keane joined us where we stood, ignoring the curious onlookers. He glanced briefly at Max, smiled, and then leaned into me.

“You’re ours,” he whispered, nuzzling my neck. I flinched, focusing on my breathing, wishing my body wasn’t responding to him in the way that it was. “You’re ours, sweet girl, so you’d better not let anyone else touch the honey.” He lowered his voice, breath warm in my ear. “Got it?”

“Fuck you.”

“Name a time and place, kitten.”

Before I could respond, Max spoke up. “No harm done, Keane.” He put his hands in the air as if to surrender. “I was just trying to be friendly.”

“Don’t apologize,” I said to Max, pushing my shoulders back cockily. “You did nothing wrong.”

Keane smiled at this, tracing a finger up and down my bare arm. “I love that sass.” He spoke as though we were the only two people in the room. “But be careful, sweetheart. It might just get you hurt.”

“By who?” I forced myself to meet his gaze. “You?”

A flicker of something I didn’t recognize crossed his features, but it was gone before I could confirm it was even there.

“Hey, Eve,” Kasey said bravely from the breakfast line. “Are you hungry?”

God bless her.

“Yep.” Shooting one last scowl at Keane, I stepped around him, ignoring the fear that slithered up my spine. Relief flooded through me when he didn’t try to stop me.

“See you soon, kitten,” he said, watching me walk away. “See you very, very soon.”