Chapter 34
Cam
I hand Evan a soda and take the seat next to her in the waiting room. Her focus remains on the doors they took Keira through ten minutes ago. We told the nurse what we knew. Now we just wait.
“She’ll be okay.” It seems like the right thing to say, but I don’t know if it’s true. Had it been anyone else in that room waiting for Olivia, would they have even questioned it? Would they have raped Keira?
This isn’t something that can be swept under the rug. We won’t let it. Someone like Olivia won’t ever stop if she doesn’t get punished at some point.
But right now, I need to take care of our girl. “How’s the hand?”
Evan blinks and turns to me. “Hand?”
I smirk and reach for her hand. “You smacked the shit out of Olivia Carmichael.”
“Oh.” Evan glances down at it. “I guess I did.”
I take it and check it over before threading my fingers through hers and holding it on my lap. “I’m sorry about your friend.”
She blows out a breath. “I thought I was used to this school.” Her blue-gray eyes lift to mine. “I thought I knew everything they could do to us, but this…”
She gestures toward the hospital doors and shakes her head.
“Won’t go unpunished,” I say with conviction.
Evan meets my gaze. “There’s not much you can do to her. She’s untouchable. Fucking rich bitch.”
That makes me smile.
She cocks an eyebrow at me. “What?”
“You amaze me.” I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to her knuckles. “The shit you put up with. From us, from Olivia, from Chase.” I shake my head. “Most girls would have given up at some point, but not you.”
“I’m not giving up on my dream just because of a few roadblocks.” She scoffs.
“Someday this will all be a memory of a really sucky night.” I bump her gently with my shoulder.
“Tell me Olivia’s going to pay for this.” She looks up at me with so much hope.
I brush my thumb along her jaw. “We have a plan, but we need to work fast. First thing that needs to happen is we need to clean up the recording. No one needs to know about us. At least not yet. Especially not your mom or Damon’s dad.”
She nods and processes what I’m saying. “Then what?”
I smirk. “Then we send a copy to the authorities, Olivia’s father, the DA, and post it online tagging our school.”
Her mouth opens and closes. “Will that be enough?”
“Depends on what they find in there.” I gesture to the doors.
“Usually drugs can be hard to find after the fact, but Olivia just gave this one to Keira. It should show up on her workup. That plus Olivia basically walking Keira into the room.” I shrug.
“It will definitely get everyone’s attention, but there’s no guarantee she’ll do time for it.
But she’ll be tried in the court of public opinion.
And probably be asked to leave Deimos Academy. ”
Evan gives me a look. “Asked to leave? Not expelled?”
“Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in.
” I rub my thumb on the back of her hand.
“Our parents will do anything to make us who they want us to be. My dad wants me to go to Yale. He’s going to be disappointed to find out I can’t get in, but maybe he’ll figure out that’s not really what I want or need. ”
She rests her head against my arm and squeezes my hand.
“Olivia’s dad will do what’s necessary to keep his daughter from doing jail time.
But he’ll also make her life unpleasant enough that she wishes she was in jail instead.
And that’s what will punish her. Will it make Keira’s life better?
Probably not. But I bet she walks away with something more than trauma from being drugged. ”
“You mean Olivia’s father will pay her off.” Evan sounds sad, like the world isn’t living up to her expectations. I wish I could change it for her. Make the world exactly how it should be. Everyone gets exactly what they deserve.
“Why do you think we didn’t go after Chase directly?” I turn and press my lips against her hair. “Because he would have gotten away with it. Yes, there would have been a little punishment, but not nearly as much as Damon was owed.”
She sighs. “If I did any of this shit, I’d be in prison.”
“Nah, goody.” I tip her chin up so I can search her eyes. “First, you wouldn’t pull any of this shit because you’re way too smart for any of us. Second, if you did, you’d be smart enough not to get caught. And third, we wouldn’t let anyone take you away from us.”
She gives me a soft smile, and my heart beats a little faster. “I meant what I said.”
Those words. Fuck. I could spend a lifetime and not be good enough for this girl, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let her go.
“Good, because no take backs.” I wink and brush my lips against hers.
She releases a sigh and turns to look at the doors. “Do you think they’ll let us back there?”
“When she’s ready.”
EvanAnn
It was almost thirty minutes after they took Keira in that they let me know she wanted to see me. Cam gave me a kiss and said he’d be out here waiting. While we waited, he told me about some of his family vacations as a kid.
Places I only dreamed of going, they went to on a whim.
I follow the nurse back, and she opens the door for me. When I close in on the bed, Keira looks as pale as the sheets behind her. I round the bed and take her hand. It’s so cold. I rub it between my own.
She opens her eyes and smiles groggily when she sees me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Tears press on my eyes, but I blink them back. She was in that room because of me. Because Olivia thought Damon wanted someone just like me.
“Could you…?” She waves her other hand toward the cup with a straw in it.
I reach for it and hold it in front of her, guiding the straw to her lips. She drinks a little and then pushes it away.
“What happened?” Her eyes search mine for the answers.
I sit on the edge of the bed and tell her about the spiked drink. How Olivia brought her into the room, and how I was right there. I even tell her about me slapping Olivia.
Keira laughs, but her throat is still sore from her stomach being pumped. “I wish I could have seen that.”
“I think we have it on video.” Smiling, I squeeze her hand. “Where are your parents?”
I glance over my shoulder toward the door. Someone should have been notified she’s here.
“Mom’s at work. Dad’s usually asleep around now.” Keira looks down at her lap. “I wasn’t supposed to go out tonight, but…”
“I get it.” It’s hard to feel like you’re not part of the school. To be on the outside looking in. I thought not going to the parties wasn’t a big deal, but so much of our social lives happens there. “Did they call?”
She nods. “Dad should be here soon. Mom can’t leave work.”
“I’ll stay with you until they get here if you want.”
Her eyes brighten as they meet mine. “That would be nice, but if you need to go—”
“I don’t. This is where I need to be right now.” My chest feels warm. “Cam’s out in the waiting room, but he’ll stay as long as I need him to.”
She smiles. “Those boys must be gone on you.”
“I like them too,” I admit.
We talk about classes and some movies while we wait. Nurses come in and check her vitals every now and then.
“Will you get in trouble?” I ask. “For going to the party?”
Keira shrugs and looks away. “Not so much trouble. But Dad needs his sleep. He works first shift and Mom works third. They want to be home for my younger sister in the evenings. She’s twelve.”
“Is she trying to get into Anteros too?”
Keira shakes her head. “No, she would do excellent on the Deimos side, but she doesn’t really have a thing like us. She’s just really smart. Wants to be a scientist when she grows up.”
Before I can say anything, there’s a knock on the door. A large man comes in and glances at me before his green eyes settle on Keira’s.
“You took years off my life.” His voice is low and soothing. He’s upset, but not at her, at the situation. “What the hell happened?”
“Someone gave me something in a drink at a party.” Keira blows out a breath. “This is EvanAnn. EvanAnn, this is my father, Bruce Fox.”
He looks at me like somehow this is my fault. I don’t think an adult has ever looked at me like that.
“Dad! She’s my friend. She realized what happened and got me to the hospital.” Keira draws her father’s attention. “If she hadn’t been there—”
She cuts herself off, and her eyes water.
“I’m sorry.” Bruce gets to Keira’s bedside and reaches for her shoulder like he wants to comfort her but forgot how.
“It’s okay. It’s just been a long night, and I’d like to go home.” Keira breathes out a shaky breath.
He draws his hand away and fists it at his side. “I’ll go find the doctor.” He glances at me. “Will you stay with her?”
I nod and sit in the chair beside the bed. It takes another half hour before they release her.
“Do you need a ride home?” Bruce asks me as we walk beside Keira in a wheelchair.
I shake my head. “My boyfriend is waiting for me.”
He nods. “Thank you for being there for my daughter.”
“Anytime.” I ignore the twist in my gut that says this is partially my fault.
“I’ll text when I get home.” Keira takes my hand and squeezes it before she’s wheeled off, leaving me alone.
I turn to the doors to the waiting room. It’s late now, and I pull out my phone as I head that way. The guys checked in on me a couple of times to make sure everything was okay, but otherwise, they just let me be.
I appreciated that, but I’m also not sure how Cam and I are going to get home. The guy who dropped us off left to return to the party. When I push through the doors, Damon, Hawk, and Cam rise to their feet.
A rush of warmth goes through me at finding them all here. Cam steps forward and draws me into his arms.
“How are you doing, goody?” He rubs my back as I sink into him.
“So tired.”
“Come on. We went and got Damon’s car.” Hawk nods toward the exit.
Cam wraps his arm around my shoulders, and we follow Damon and Hawk to the car. Cam gets into the back seat with me, and I rest against his shoulder, suddenly drained of all my energy.
An alt rock station plays softly as we drive into our neighborhood. Instead of going to our house, Damon heads to Hawk’s. I breathe out a sigh of relief.
I don’t know if my mom would have been home or not, but I’m not ready to talk to any more parents. And crawling into bed with the Devil’s trio sounds like heaven right now after everything we went through tonight.