Chapter Twenty-Three
Dash
The trees blur past in streaks of green and shadow, but my mind is moving faster than the car.
Faster than the road. Faster than the chaos trying to crawl up my spine.
Come on, Ryan. Pick up.
She answers on the third ring with her usual brand of smug. “This better be good. I was in the middle of something.”
“It’s better,” I say, flat and sharp. “Wyck got a call from a burner. Short burst, encrypted signal. The fucker disconnected before I could lock on. No trace. No footprint. Just static and a stormcloud of intent.”
Silence. Then she laughs, bright, brittle, unbothered.
“You? Failing to trace a call? Shit. The earth just tilted off its axis. Should I build a bunker?”
“Ryan,” I snap, teeth grinding. “Shut up and listen. He threatened Athens.”
That sobers her. One beat. Then two.
“Well... fuck.”
“Yeah.” I don’t give her time to catch up. “I need you to hack Wyck’s line. Mirror every incoming call, every ghost signal. If that asshole dials again, I want his voice in your ear before the first ring ends.”
“I’m on it,” she says. “And the app?”
“You know what I’m going to say.”
Her breath hitches, dramatic, theatrical, annoying. “You want to test Wicked Sisterhood ?”
“Don’t say the name out loud.”
“Blasphemy.” She’s practically moaning. “It’s acamazing and you know it.”
I grit my teeth. “It sounds like a failed punk rock girl group. Or a tampon cult.”
“You love it.”
“I really don’t. What I do love is tracking this psycho and roasting him alive from the inside out. So quit running your mouth and get to work.”
She clicks her tongue. “You’re lucky you’re hot when you’re angry. I’ll ping you when he surfaces again.”
The line goes dead.
No goodbye. No fake affection. That’s the kind of loyalty I can stomach, cutthroat and clinical.
The rest of the ride to campus is a blur, but my mind never stops. The question needles me the entire way… Who the fuck was that caller?
And how the hell does he know her ?
Athens keeps a tight circle. Just us. Which means either we’ve got a leak, or this thing is deeper than any of us realized.
Either way, it doesn’t matter.
Because I’ll find him.
And when I do?
I’ll make him wish he'd swallowed the bullet before picking up the phone.
Fuck my classes. I built this school’s firewall. I could rewrite my transcripts blindfolded. Right now, the only thing that matters is the girl with wildfire in her eyes… And the ticking clock we just heard whispering in our ear
The week drags on with no major moves, and that puts me on edge.
Silence doesn’t mean safety.
It means someone’s waiting to strike.
While Gage keeps a quiet eye on Athens, since he shares half her damn schedule, I’ve been doing laps around campus, ears open, hunting for anything that smells like intent. If someone’s got a death wish, I plan to grant it before they even say the words out loud.
Court and Valentina had to go. That wasn’t a decision. It was maintenance. But I know the second their families crawl out of shock, they’ll come looking for blood. Not that I believe any of them have the balls to make that burner call to Wyck.
Nah.
That cowardice felt outsourced. Hired hands. Deniability. It’s how roaches move when the light’s turned on.
We’re different. We handle our business personally, then gift wrap your limbs in satin and mail them to your mama’s stoop with a bow.
Just as I pull out my phone to check in with Wyck, I round the science building and clock Chad and Kevin huddled like rats near the stairwell, voices low but not low enough. Idiots.
I slide between two trees, still and silent.
“Those fuckers need to pay,” Chad growls, just barely hushed.
“We don’t even know if they’re dead,” Kevin counters. “We figure that out, then we move.”
Move where? Into a grave?
Chad’s got more ambition than sense. “We find out before the party. That’ll be our chance.”
I smile. Good. Let him keep dreaming.
Kevin’s the smarter one, reluctant, cautious. I’d worry if he wasn’t so fucking spineless.
“That’s what they want, dumbass,” he mutters. “With the way their fathers burned down everything… if I were them, I wouldn’t even want to be part of the Devils anymore.”
That gets my full attention.
“What do you mean?” Chad asks.
Kevin scans the area, paranoia lighting up his eyes. He leans in.
“I’m saying… the Elders? They’re finished. Washed-up relics. I’ve heard things, Bash is about to be dealt with. If the others don’t fall in line, they’ll be taken out too.”
“And how would you know that?”
“We’re not the only ones with moles,” Kevin smirks. “Their boys might not even know yet. That’s leverage, especially if their focus is elsewhere.”
He lifts his brows at Chad. Something unspoken. Something grimy.
Then Chad asks, “How’s your other business?”
“Picking up.” Kevin shrugs. “Those two frat idiots keep coming back for more. Won’t be long before every rich junkie on campus is knocking. Doesn’t matter what they want, highs or holes, I’ve got both.”
That’s all I need to hear.
I text Tuck, East stairs. Bring the storm.
Three minutes later, Tucker materializes at my side like fucking thunder.
We walk out of the shadows together.
“Well, well,” I say, folding my arms, “look who’s writing checks they can’t cash.”
Tucker cracks his knuckles. “Go ahead. Say that shit again now that we’re in front of you instead of behind your backs.”
Chad steps up, snarling. “Fuck you, Tucker.”
Tuck grins wide. “Like I fucked your mom last night?”
I glance over, biting a grin.
He’s just getting started.
“You hear that headboard?” he continues, laughing. “She was screaming ‘Daddy’ while I stretched her out with this Devil dick. Hell, just thinkin’ about it’s got me hard again.”
Chad loses it.
Charges.
Bad move.
Tucker meets him head-on, one hand snatching Chad by the throat like a rag doll. “You think you’re gonna kill me? Motherfucker, I’ve killed better men in my sleep.”
“Let him go!” Kevin yells, voice breaking.
“Don’t,” I say calmly. “Not until they answer the question.”
Kevin freezes. Recognition hits him like a brick. He knows I heard it all.
“I asked you,” I repeat, “you still planning something? Or do we end it right now?”
Chad wheezes, his face turning beet red. Kevin hesitates too long.
Tucker squeezes.
“ANSWER,” he snarls.
“No!” Chad croaks.
“We didn’t mean it,” Kevin blurts. “We were just… talking.”
“Didn’t fucking think so.” Tucker lets go, sending Chad crumpling to the ground like trash. “Tell your mom I’ll be late tonight.”
We turn and walk away as they scurry off like rats dodging a boot.
I glance over. “So… did you really fuck his mom?”
“Fucking right I did. Total MIDF.”
“A what?”
He smirks. “Mom I Did Fuck.”
I let out a dry laugh. “That’s sick.”
“Delicious, actually.” He licks his lips like he just remembered dessert. “Going back tonight. Girl’s got stamina.”
“No judgment. Just record it next time.”
“Oh, I will. She’s a freak.”
We hit the path toward the garage.
“Up for a ride?”
“Depends where we’re going.”
“There’s more money in this game than parties and parties. We’ve got clubs, vineyards... and a little something special, engineered by yours truly.”
“Drugs?”
“Designer. Purified. Untraceable. Gets you high as the moon or blank as a corpse, no crash, no trace.”
He grins like a devil. “Fuck yeah. But don’t forget, I got a hot date.”
“How could I forget?”
I hold the door open.
“Let’s roll.”