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“Nope. This is good old fashioned trauma,” I say brightly.
“That’s worse. I think I’d rather you were high,” he says. “What the fuck happened?”
“I can’t tell you,” I sigh. I’m not sure if the Devils meant it when they threatened Ariyah and Adelina, but I’m not taking any chances. “Oh, well, they butchered my hair as you can see.”
“Yeah, I can,” he winces. “Fuck, I’m going to see if anyone will come to the house to fix it. The cameras won’t tell me shit about what happened to you. I checked, and they’re looped on an empty hallway until about a minute ago. The video cameras on the lawn also show it to be empty up until you collapsed against the tree. When your text came through, I was near the school and headed straight here. Rachelle is freaking out.”
“Sorry,” I sigh. “I couldn’t focus enough to read the screen. It’s like I sent out the SOS and then checked out. I’m spiraling between anger and that place in my head that makes me forget to care.”
“Let’s focus on the anger, okay?” Theo says, his long legs carrying us around the side of the school toward the parking lot.
“Theo,” Rachelle hisses, running toward us out a side door.
“She’s skipping the rest of the day,” he announces.
Rachelle gazes at my hair with wide eyes before she nods.
“I just canceled my last group for today,” she says. “I’ll follow you home. Fucking assholes.”
“I’m taking the fifth,” I say. “Why the hell is this school built so close to that cliff again?”
“I’m calling Emil,” Rachelle says. “I’m not built for this shit. I want to go inside and force the principal to call the guys in.”
“You can’t do that,” I say mildly.
“If they’re holding something over your head, we can handle it,” Theo says, continuing to walk with Rachelle.
She has her handbag over her shoulder. I guess she really is bailing on the rest of the day.
“What if it’s not only my head?” I ask tentatively.
“What else is there?” Rachelle asks.
I shake my head, not wanting to say too much more.
“I don’t get it,” Theo mumbles. “What the fuck am I missing?”
I’m very protective of my new foster family. They’re such good people, regardless of how bloodthirsty they are. Maybe I have a martyr complex, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. So I keep my mouth shut.
“The guys texted me to say that the backyard is ready for you if you want to break shit,” Rachelle says, stopping at her car.
Theo parked next to her, and he helps me into the fancy car that he has. I’ve noticed it before in the garage, but didn’t know who it belonged to.
“Stay with us,” Theo says softly.
I need to choose the anger. I’m too close to just slipping away into my mind. I need to hold onto something so that I won’t lose time. It’s a coping mechanism that I have, but it won’t serve me well right now.
“Will there be bats?” I ask, looking around him at Rachelle.
“Crowbars too,” she promises. “They found some really good stuff that will break well.”
“Okay,” I rasp, swallowing hard.
Theo closes the door before he says something to Rachelle that I can’t hear. Coming around, he gets into the driver’s seat before he turns over the engine. The sound is low and growly, and I let myself enjoy it as I gaze down at the phone in my hand.
Opening the group chat, I read through the worried messages, letting them stoke the fire inside of me. The Devils want to take this away from me, and I won’t let them.
There’s an unknown message on my phone, and I open it, knowing it’s from the guys.
