“You want to make her touch the sacred stone?” Kyan asked, his eyes lighting up with that idea.
“And bind herself to our desires and eternal wishes,” I purred.
I didn’t know why the three of us had taken such an interest in the legends of the Kotari tribe who had once lived on this land, but we had. And there were more than a few tales amongst them that could be turned to our advantage when we wanted them to. But we’d never used the sacred stone legend before. The one which stated that a sacrifice who touched the stone and swore themselves in debt of the Night Keepers would be forever bound to do their bidding. And if there was one girl I wanted bound to do my bidding for all of time then it was definitely my very own Barbie doll.
“That legend says the sacrifice has to choose to have their soul bound to the Night Keepers,” Kyan said, waving a hand like he was dismissing the idea. “She’d never do it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I hissed, my gaze still fixed on Tatum as she leaned forward to write something down. “She’ll swear it. She’ll fucking beg for it by the time I’m through with her.”
“How?” Blake asked, his eyes lighting at the idea.
“We make her life unbearable unless she agrees,” I purred. “She’ll have no choice but to lay her soul at our feet.”
“You really think we can make her bow?” Blake asked.
“I do.”
“Well, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Kyan announced.
“Then be prepared to see it.”
Kyan snorted a laugh and I smiled as my gaze stayed rooted to our target, our enemy, our Tatum.
She already belonged to the Night Keepers.
She just didn’t know it yet.
This day was already the longest one of my life. And as lunchtime scraped around, I knew it was time for me to face the dining hall again. Except this time, I was going to be ready for the Night Keepers’ horse shit. In fact, I was gonna order up a gift basket of Viking goodies including a longsword and a war horn for Mr Monroe. Because as much as I hadn’t wanted to come back to class, or this damn school for that matter, I now had him to thank. Because now I’d seen how much I got under those three demon boys’ skin. I itched at them like a rash that needed more than a course of antibiotics to fix.
I was here to stay. Not by choice, but screw it. I might as well make the most of the one weapon I had against them: I hardcore bothered the fuck out of them. And the more defiant I was, the more angry they seemed to get.
In truth, my plan was probably insanity. Baiting the Night Keepers was an extreme sport in itself. And I knew the more I pushed back at them, the more hell they’d rain down on me. But bowing wasn’t in my nature. I wasn’t made to sit at the feet of preppy assholes who thought they owned the world. I was made to rule them.
I didn’t know if Mila was avoiding me or not, but she hadn’t been waiting for me in the hall outside my morning classes like she had on day one. That hurt more than I wanted to admit, but as I walked up the tree-flanked path to the Redwood Dining Hall, I spotted her lingering outside the door. She was combing her fingers through her mane of hazel hair and when she spotted me, her eyes widened. I thought she was about to bolt, but she did the opposite. She rushed toward me, throwing her arms around me and crushing me to her chest.
I was so taken aback, it took me a second to remember to hug her in return.
“Are you okay?” she asked and my heart melted at her words. The hardness I’d been offering the world all morning softened and I tried not to fall into the pit of hurt inside me. She cared. She was probably the only one in this whole school who did.
“I’m alright,” I promised.
“I didn’t throw my stew,” she said with a sniff, stepping back with honest-to-god tears in her eyes. I’d never had a close girl friend besides my sister, but I’d always wondered what it would be like. I’d gravitated towards boys in my past schools. Dad said it was because Mom had left when I was young and I’d never needed anyone other than Jess to be my bestie. He also said I was too much of a Tom boy because of him. But that wasn’t quite the truth. My mum ditching out on us had left its mark on me, sure. But being raised by a man hadn’t made me any less of a woman. I was the way I was because of a thousand reasons. Some of them because of her, most of them not. It was funny really, she probably thought leaving would mean she had no influence on my life. But the absence of someone was an influence. Abandoning your three and six year old daughters and workaholic husband had to have an effect. But she was never going to define me.
“Thank you, Mila,” I breathed, squeezing her arm.
Her eyes glittered as she pulled herself together and she glanced over her shoulder as if she expected someone to be behind her. It angered me that she was afraid because of the three muske-turds. I could see she was tough, but maybe she’d had a point before. The Night Keepers didn’t take kindly to being messed with, however strong you were.
“I’m not gonna say I told you so,” she said, breaking a smile and I released a dry laugh.
“If there was ever a time it was due, it’s now. But I’m not gonna say I regret it.”
“Are you crazy? You are gonna fall in line, right?” She gripped my hands and squeezed so hard it hurt. “Please tell me you’re going to be sensible, Tatum? If you do as they say, they’ll lose interest, they’ll-”
“Stop,” I cut her off, a frown tugging at my brow. “They’re just boys, Mila.”
“How can you say that after what they did to you?” she breathed.
My throat thickened as I pulled my hands free of hers. It wasn’t like I wanted to become their new chew toy. And the shame of what they’d done to me just a few hours ago was still burning through me. But bowing wasn’t the answer. Screw that. I’d die first.
I eyed Mila with a sigh, knowing there was no point in having this argument so I changed tact. “I’m glad you’re still talking to me…” A beat of silence passed between us. “My dad didn’t do it, you know. And I didn’t know anything about this, Blake edited that tape to make it sound like I did.”
“I know, I could tell,” she said with a firm nod then lowered her voice. “Have you spoken to your dad?”
“No,” I said quickly. I’d tried calling him several times, but it hadn’t even gone to voicemail. The call didn’t even connect. And my heart couldn’t take what that meant. “I just know.” And I wasn’t going to let any other asshole in the world convince me otherwise. Not until I spoke to him and heard the truth from his lips. He was always in my corner and I was determinedly going to be in his through this.
She nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “Come on, let’s get some food.”
I followed her inside, wondering why she was risking her neck for me. I was tempted to distance myself from her just to save her from the Night Keepers’ wrath, but being cut off from the only real friend I’d made was probably just what they wanted.
I drew my shoulders back as I followed Mila into the hall. Eyes immediately fell on me and I ignored them as I headed across the room towards Mila’s usual table. Her friends were there already and Pearl shrank in her chair like I was the Swamp Monster come to drag her back to my lair.