To the End: Year Four (Hannaford Prep Book 4) Page 6

  When we’ve all piled into bed that night, Avery in Ash’s bed and me jammed between Blaise and Ash in Blaise’s bed, I take forever to fall asleep. We just have to survive the year. Everything will be over by the end of senior year.

  Or at least I hope it will.

  Chapter Seven

  It becomes very clear on the first day back at class that Atticus Crawford is not taking any chances this year with our safety while we’re attending school. Mr. Trevelen has been replaced by a stern faced woman who takes the time to personally introduce herself to Avery and me before our first class. She seems proficient enough and when we pass her in the hallways on our way to classes her eyes barely touch the guys.

  Fucking perfect.

  Avery cackles at me and tucks her arm in mine. “Are you going to stab any girls that look at Harley from now on? Just shed blood from the get-go? I feel like Illi is going to spend the year disposing of corpses for you.”

  I tilt my head as if I’m thinking about it but, ah, yeah. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Ash seems to scare girls off with his cold demeanor and asshole-ish nature and Blaise’s rock god status makes him unapproachable to most of the girls at Hannaford.

  Harley is fucking rape-bait, I’m sure of it.

  When I’m stupid enough to say this over lunch he stares at me like I’ve greatly insulted him and Blaise roars with laughter. I feel kind of bad but I mean, really, he’s the one that nearly died on me so he can put up with my weirdly overprotective response to that.

  “Says the girl with every fucking deranged psycho in the fucking state chasing after her. Fuck, you get your enemies delivered on a platter by one of them. I’d put money on that guy wanting a taste of you.” Harley snaps, and Ash gives him a look.

  “Don’t ruin my fucking appetite, now I’m being reminded of Joey and I need to fucking vomit.”

  I cringe. “Can’t get his head out of… your head?”

  He looks at me like I’m dense. “I was talking about him trying to rape you, I could not give less of a shit about him being dead. I’m relieved. I only wish I’d taken a photo of his decapitated, vacant face before we left the restaurant.”

  Avery sighs at him. “Can we not talk about dead bodies while I’m trying to eat please? I have three hours of dance recital prep this afternoon and I need my carbs.”

  Ash rolls his eyes at her and changes the topic. “So how are we all faring in our classes so far? Harley? Are you managing to keep up?”

  Harley’s face goes from grumpy to fucking thunderous, and I abandon all pretenses of eating and grab a book.

  It’s going to be a long-ass year.

  We’re all sharing the same classes again, except for choir and the gym classes, and the rivalry between Ash and Harley has picked up from last year as if we hadn’t even gone on break. The usual pop quizzes had been sprung on us, a way for our teachers to weed out the students who slacked off over the summer break, and they were neck-and-neck for taking out second spot. I’ve beaten them in everything so far, having actually read through all of our syllabi and started on the assignments already.

  Blaise spent the summer doing the reading for our AP lit class and I’m secretly confident he’s going to be more on top of things this year. Avery also spent a few nights studying with me, but she’s more worried about our ‘extracurriculars’ getting in the way of her college applications.

  She doesn’t have to worry about our safety at Hannaford. There isn’t a single teacher, other than poor Ms Umber, that hasn’t been replaced by Atticus in his efforts to keep her safe. It’s frustrating from a workload perspective, I knew what the others expected, but I do breathe a little easier and Ash is much less of a dick once he’s back on the Track team.

  We just have to survive the year.

  One day at a time.

  * * *

  On Friday, after classes are finished and Avery is at her ballet training, I head to the library to get some studying done. I need to get ahead early on, like I did last year and it’s too tempting to get distracted by one of the guys if I stay in our rooms. Blaise and Ash have joined the basketball team again now the Jackal’s men have been ousted and Harley is spending all his spare time in the pool again, so there’s not much of a chance at getting a few hours alone with them again but I’m weak. I might fucking beg for the distraction from the workload the AP classes have given me.

  I get a solid hour in before my coffee is finished and my skin is crawling from the eyes on me. I do my best to ignore it but fuck, they’re all fucking pathetic.

  I sigh and start to pack up, my mind firmly in my reading for my AP lit class, when Lauren takes the seat across from me.

  I startle and then give her a little smile. She hasn’t tried to speak to me since I’ve become friends with Avery back in our sophomore year but we smile and wave in the hallways often enough that her opening words catch me off-guard.

  “I was moved into the boys dorms because of the renovations as well, I’m two doors down from you guys. I noticed a weird guy leaving a package at your door, I was going to call the admin staff but I looked in the box first. What the hell is going on, Lips?”

  I force my face to be a blank mask, the shadow of my smile still lingering. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. The only boxes we’ve had delivered have had Avery’s mountains of crap in them. If you found her stash of sex toys then I’d suggest you keep that information to yourself. She doesn’t really like gossip.”

  Lauren bites her lip, rolling it between her teeth nervously. “Look, my dad’s the Police Chief in the Bay. I know exactly what the Beaumont’s are like. I know what Avery does for her brothers. If you want to get away from all that, away from the Bay, then you need to get away from her. Ditch Ash and Harley, and run away with Blaise. Otherwise it’ll be your head in the box.”

  My spine snaps straight and my eyes narrow. Big mistake. Fucking huge.

  No one insults Avery on my watch.

  No one gets away with trying to split me and the boys up. I learned that lesson well last year. No exceptions, no leeway, I’ll start gutting people without question this time around.

  “Watch your fucking mouth. You think you’ve seen something? Maybe you should get your eyes checked because there’s no heads being stored in my room. My family is none of your concern.”

  Lauren rocks back in her chair at my tone, her face screwed up in confusion. “I saw the Butcher come get the box, how the hell does Avery know him? He came to the dinner last year for her, I mean, seriously Lips, get out of there before they take you down too.”

  I shove my books in my bag and stand. She stands with me and wraps her hands around her chest. “Being popular isn’t worth dying for Lips. It’s really not.”

  I laugh at her, just straight up lose it right in her face. When I can finally breathe again I lean in to whisper to her, “Avery knows the Butcher because I introduced them. Maybe you didn’t read the name on the box but it came to me. Stay the fuck away from me, my family, and our business. Don’t turn into Annabelle Summers, Lauren. Just don’t.”

  Then I turn on my heel and get the fuck out of the library. I’m fuming, furious that Lauren’s added herself to the list of people I have to look out for.

  I make it back to the rooms before anyone else and I let myself into the boys room. I need a shower, a dozen shots of whiskey, and like seven or eight orgasms to calm myself down.

  I flick Avery a text before I climb into the shower, letting her know we need to discuss the conversation and then I scrub at my skin like a psycho. I use a little of everything and the smell of all of my guys slowly mellows me out a little.

  I’ve dried and dressed myself in one of Harley’s sweatshirts by the time I hear the front door open. I scrub my teeth and fling the door open, expecting Avery but finding Harley. His eyes take in my bare legs and his chest rumbles in appreciation until he sees the scowl on my face.

  He waits until I’m done with my teeth before cradling my head in his han
ds, staring into my eyes and murmuring, “Who am I beating for you, babe?”

  I swallow. “When is shit going to settle down enough that I can just enjoy having you? When are we ever going to be left alone?”

  He kisses me softly and tugs me until I’m pressed against his chest. “We’re going to figure this out. Now, stop trying to distract me. It’s been too long since I’ve been in a fight, I’ll send the text and fix it tonight.”

  I shiver and meet his eyes again. A fight club fight? That sounds like the perfect way to spend a Friday night at Hannaford but he can’t challenge Lauren.

  Before I can answer him the door opens again and Avery, Ash, and Blaise walk in. Avery doesn’t make any comments about Harley being wrapped around me, she only stomps over to the coffee machine and turns it on before rummaging in the freezer for ice cream.

  I pull away from Harley and peg Ash with a look. “Where’s the whiskey? We need to do serious damage control and I need something to take the edge off.”

  Ash’s eyes narrow but he goes to the bar he’s set up and pours us both drinks. Blaise makes a stupid joke and Harley scoffs at him while he grabs them both beers. I try to soak it all up to calm a little more of the rage in me.

  Once we’re all seated and there’s a giant tub of cherry ice cream in front of me I finally speak. “Lauren saw the head in the box. Her dad is the Police Chief back in the Bay and she said that she knows all about Senior.”

  Avery frowns and starts to tap on her phone. I already know that there’s a good chance she’s talking to Atticus for information and I grab my own to ask Illi for his own assessment. They get their information from very different channels. I consider it for about a half a second before sending the same request to the Coyote. Fuck it, all hands on deck.

  Blaise takes a swig of his beer and says, “What are we going to do if she won’t let this go?”

  I cringe and take a huge mouthful of ice cream, not keen on discussing that avenue. I’ll take her out if I have to but I’m also pissy she’s forcing my hand. Ash watches me for a second and then pries the spoon out of my hand.

  “I’m not watching you tongue-fuck the spoon tonight, Mounty. Her dad belongs to Senior. The problem is if she speaks to him about the box. He might come to investigate it to try to impress the Senior. The only reason he can afford to send his kids here is because of the dirty money Senior and his friends give him.”

  His eyes flick to Avery’s and I can see his brain working. She can too.

  “Yes, I’m well aware the Crawford’s pay him too. I’m also very aware that Atticus has nothing to do with them anymore.” She says, her tone is just a little too civil to be genuine.

  Harley scoffs at them both. “If we walk down the hall and kill her now there’ll be a fucking mass exodus. The students here are already twitchy as fuck about Annabelle and Harlow disappearing. Words out that Joey’s dead. It’s pretty fucking obvious it all leads back to us. If we start killing students off then we’ll have the fucking FBI showing up. Senior got any of them in his pocket?”

  Ash flicks a wrist at him dismissively. “Of course he does. He has fucking senators and governors on his payroll, for fuck’s sake. FBI agents are nothing in comparison.”

  I snatch my spoon back off of him and tap on the table idly as I think. Avery watches me carefully. I meet her eyes and she nods. “I agree.”

  Harley huffs at us. “Wanna let the rest of us in on your telepathy? I fucking hate it when you both pull this shit.”

  Avery smirks at him and sets her phone down on the table. “We need to start building our own network. We need to have legitimate people on our payroll as well as Lips’… connections. I have some but we need more. We need people that Senior hasn’t already gotten to, or people that want protection from him.”

  Blaise blows out a breath and rubs the back of his neck. “I have a whole fucking list of people for you then.”

  There’s a sort of stunned silence and then we all turn to look at him. He rolls his eyes at us. “Seriously? I’ve been dragged to the Kora headquarters in New York every fucking year by my parents, you think I don’t listen to the shit going on around me? My parents sent me to Hannaford to stop me from falling in with the wrong crowd. Half the board of Kora is owned by someone. My dad has spent a lot of time and energy keeping himself away from corrupt political influence and he only deals with other people that are the same. So I can give you a whole list of people who are clean.”

  Avery leans forward onto her elbows and pegs him with a vicious look. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me this earlier? I could have had them in our pockets months ago.”

  Blaise shrugs. “You banned me from talking about my dad and Kora. I could probably get my mom to help with the list. She could tell us who’s most likely to break and what pressures are best… applied.”

  I can’t think of anything worse than involving the woman currently holed up in an exclusive five star resort being paid for entirely by the son she’s spent eighteen years treating like utter shit but I keep my mouth shut about it.

  For now.

  Chapter Eight

  The Crow’s presence at Hannaford is like a wet blanket, smothering and uncomfortable. The riots in Mounts Bay are on the TV everyday, and the violence is only getting worse. The entire student body at Hannaford is edgy. I steer clear of Lauren, because I’m pretty sure I’ll be tempted to stab my way out of that conversation, and focus on my studies instead. It’s easy enough to do because she avoids me as well.

  I start to notice that the fear in the other students' eyes only gets worse as the weeks go on. I hate it but it’s a fuck-load better than the whispers I’ve dealt with before. Harley fucking preens over it, smirking in every class as we sit together. I should have known he’d enjoy being infamous for deadly reasons.

  One the the perks of having the Crow’s men as our teachers is that I no longer have to even pretend to be discreet when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Harley’s eyes stay glued to his notes but he raises an eyebrow at me. He’s intent on beating Ash but he’s also super freaking nosey and overprotective of me, even when it’s only Illi messaging.

  Stay at school. Things are getting worse here. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.

  I sigh and flick the screen to Harley, and then to Avery when she turns in her seat to see what we’ve been distracted by. Her lips press into a firm line and she doesn’t pay the teacher another second of attention, her hands flying over her phone screen in her lap.

  I shift my focus back to my classwork and try not to think about the potential dangers Illi is facing. Luckily our AP classes come with more than enough assignments to keep my mind busy. For a month or two at least.

  I start up study sessions in the evenings again and this time around the whole family joins in. Harley goes to swim practice first and Ash always goes for a run, but by the time Avery has cooked some massive, complicated gourmet meal we’re all back and ready to tackle our classwork.

  Harley and Blaise take three weeks to come to an agreement of who can sit next to me because Avery claims best friend rights and has a permanent seat next to me. Harley argues that we have too many joint assignments, while Blaise still needs more help than the others.

  I consider chiming in but Ash gives me a sly look and says, “They’re probably going to fight it out, Mounty. I know how much you enjoy that.”

  Avery makes a disgusted noise when I get goosebumps but I shrug her off. She’s been extra pissy and touchy since we got back to school. I make a mental note to aim for the most painful points if I ever go hand-to-hand with the Crow. I think I can punch him hard enough in the dick that he’ll piss blood for a month.

  When we’ve eaten and everyone has survived the Beaumont Bullshit I immediately jump into my studies. Ash snarks at me for how far ahead I already am. I ignore him, my greatest skill, and completely focus on Blaise’s homework. Possibly the only downside to our family group sessions is that Blaise struggles to focus with so many people around. The m
argins of his pages are full of little drawings, stars and roses, and I place my hand over his to stop him. He scrunches his nose up at me but not without looking.

  "I'm not gonna survive this year." He mumbles.

  I shrug at him and squeeze his hand. “You can always move to the lower classes. I mean you're not planning on going into business, you don't need to know complex algebraic equations to play guitar."

  Harley smirks and says, "He's not in the classes for the education. He's just being a brat and doesn't want to sit by himself."

  Blaze flicks a beer cap at him. "Maybe I'm just worried about ending up singled out like you were last year. The principal looks a little too buttoned up for my liking, that usually means she’s a closet freak. You should watch yourself, rape-bait.”

  Harley’s eyes narrow dangerously and Avery gives Blaise a severe look. "Atticus would not put anyone in this building unless he were sure they’re clean."

  I hum under my breath and do my best not to make eye contact with her. I don't want her to see what I think about her assessment of Atticus and his business, but of course she notices straight away and calls me on it.

  "Do you have concerns about the Crow’s men?"

  Ash bristles at her tone but I don't care. "I don't think that he would send anyone unless he was sure, but the Bay has taught me that you can never really be sure. I mean, I'm sure about you guys and I'm sure about Illi and Odie. I highly doubt Atticus has such a close relationship with any of these men and women. They’re not family.”

  Avery’s anger simmers down just a little and she tucks her hand into mine under the table, her own little version of an apology.

  Ash stares at her for a second, and then snaps, “Crawford isn’t family either. We don’t trust him or his people. That’s the quickest way to fucking die.”

  I sigh and settle back in my seat as the fighting starts up again around me. This is going to be my whole fucking year. Beaumont Bullshit over Atticus fucking Crawford.