Chapter Four
XADEN
“Push!” Coach roars. I grit my teeth and quicken my pace across the ice, defenders coming at me hard but I dodge them, keeping the puck out of reach—faking a left only to go right, switching my stick from hand to hand and pushing the puck either side.
Keenan–our goalie–tries to anticipate my next move but he won’t get it, I never know what my next move is until I make it.
I see him favoring his left so I dummy for a right hit only to switch it up at the last second and go left.
The puck hits the net without any resistance.
I skid to a stop, spraying ice everywhere.
“You fucker!” I turn and lift my helmet, smiling. Caspian slams into me and smacks me on the back with a broad grin on his face. “Dude, that fucking right spin was on point, you have to teach me that shit.”
I roll my eyes and shove him away from me as I skate back toward the coach and call out, “When you can keep up with me, I’ll teach you!”
“Your mom rode me faster than you can skate!” I chuckle at the idiot, he was the most unlikely friend I have ever made but after everything, he was the only one who stood by me.
Coach eyes me with disdain from the box as I come to a stop in front of him.
I know he hates me and wants nothing more than to throw my ass off the team.
He and I both know this team would be nothing without me.
“There is no I in team. You could have passed,” he snaps.
I shrug. “There may not be an I but there sure as fuck is an M and an E,” I snarl.
“Get the hell off my ice, Devlin, you’re done for the day,” he shouts.
I scoff at the fucker, he’s some washed-up has been that thinks he’s better than all of us.
I fucking hate to admit it but the fucker is better than most of the team.
If he wasn’t as good of a coach as he is I would have his ass thrown out of my fucking town.
But, this is Stormsend. This is what it’s like to grow up on the other side of the tracks.
You learn fast enough that you aren’t meant to make it out, he makes it so you can’t leave.
All he wants is to ruin Somerset and now, I finally agree with his plan.
I want them to pay. They thought they could get away with it but not this fucking time.
Merging the schools was his first step, we’re here to help him destroy the fuckers.
I ignore Caspian calling out to me as I make my way to the locker room.
I used to love hockey, it was my ticket to freedom, my one way out of this fucking place and away from my father.
It was all I wanted. I hated living in his shadow.
Now, I have learned why he is such an angry fuck and why his hatred of Somerset runs so deep.
I’m my father’s son and I will claim my spot at his side.
This past year I have proven to him that I am made for this life.
Both schools have to share the same rink.
We all share and sometimes we cross paths with those bitches.
They hate us as much as we hate them. They all glare at Cas and label him as a traitor for joining the enemy.
I wear my jersey with pride every time we step out onto that ice.
We may not have all the glitz and glam like Somerset but we have something they don’t, hunger.
Those fuckers are so blinded by their own wealth and wants they don’t see what is right under their fucking noses.
We allow them to see us a certain way because we love how they underestimate us.
They may flash their cash and build mansions but not us, we are gritty and fight for everything we own.
Truth be told, I’m richer than everyone in this fucking place, I just didn’t earn my wealth the same way they did.
I stuff my gear into my bag and change before heading outside to wait for Caspian.
I ignore the pictures on the wall as I escape the rink and head for his Range Rover.
He clicks the key for it to unlock and I quickly climb into the passenger seat.
Before I can even get two minutes to relax my phone rings.
When I see who is calling guilt churns inside me. I should ignore the call but I can’t. “Yeah?”
“I spy with my beautiful little eye something beginning with your past,” she hisses.
I sigh, not at all in the fucking mood for her shit. “I don’t have time for your mind games, Maddison. Tell me what it is that you want so I can hang up.”
“One, fuck you, Xaden, and two, your rival’s bitch ass sister is my new neighbor!” I pull the phone away from my ear and glare at the fucking thing.
“Calm the fuck down, Maddison!” I snarl.
“Toren Kellar is my new neighbor.” Her words are like a sucker punch. I thought my warning the other night would have forced her to go back to where the fuck she has been hiding for the past year, but I guess I was wrong.
“She won’t be around for long,” I grit out through clenched teeth, then end the call just as Caspian stalks out the doors and heads straight for me. My hatred for her engulfs my entire being. Toren Kellar is nothing but shit under my skate. I’ll return the bitch to hell myself.
Caspian slides inside the car, takes one look at me and instantly his face morphs from tired to ready to fight. “What happened?”
“You up for causing some shit?”
Caspian grins and wags his brows. “I’m always down to cause mayhem, brother.
Point out the fucker and I’ll deal with it.
” I eye him for a second and realize in the span of twelve months he has changed so drastically.
Cas used to be a free spirit, cared for nothing aside from his friends and hockey but now, all he wants is an outlet for his anger.
Hockey may be the only thing that keeps us from falling into a black hole neither of us can claw ourselves out of.
He and I were never friends before that night.
He was my rival, but when shit went south, he was the only one who sided with us.
He showed me then that he was willing to go against them for what was fucking right.
“This isn’t like the normal ones we target, this one has the power to bring you to your knees.”
His brows draw in. “Who is it?”
“The little sister of your ex best friend.”
He jerks in surprise. “Toren’s back?” I never told him where I went last night.
He has no idea I’ve been keeping tabs on Masen and his father.
The events of that night have never been far from my mind.
There were no arrests and no justice was served, so I was forced to enact a form of justice of my own.
Caspian was all too keen to help me right the wrongs of our past. My father gave me the green light to do whatever I had to in order to avenge her.
My chest aches at the thought of her, it should have fucking been Toren!
“The bitch isn’t just back, she’s here, at our fucking school.”
Cas’s face turns a shade of red with anger. “What the fuck is a Kellar doing on this side of the school?” The hatred for his former best friend is clear in his tone, his eyes burn with venom.
I shrug. “No idea, but if she thinks she can come here and wave her freedom in our face, we’ll show her she doesn’t belong.”
“I want her out of here.”
I nod. “We’re going to exact our pound of flesh from that bitch and use her to destroy her father and her bitch ass brother.
” Caspian’s eyes spark with bloodlust. I never told anyone aside from Miles and Neave about who I really am, others suspect it but never openly say a word.
Loose lips sink ships and my family isn’t the fucking Titanic.
When Cas followed me back to Stormsend and proved his loyalty to me, I allowed him into the fold and now he is in the know and one of us.
The only way out of this life for him is in a pine box.
“I want her to suffer. I want them all to fucking suffer.”
My mouth twitches into a smile. “We’re going to declare her off limits to everyone. We are going to take our time with destroying the crowned princess and make sure her brother sees everything. I want her reputation ruined, her life destroyed and her heart and mind fucking shattered.”
I barely slept a wink last night. Once Cas and I got back to my house, I started plotting out my next move.
Being a Devlin affords me certain… privileges.
I plan to use those to my advantage. Toren is going to wish she had stayed gone.
I thought visiting her and telling her to fuck off back to where she came from would have her hightailing it out of town but it appears the bitch has a death wish.
Last night I wanted to snuff the life out of her and rip her limb from limb before cutting her lips off and adding them to my collection.
Taking the lips of my victims is my tell. Every killer has one, even Cas.
Caspian parks the Range Rover out front of the school and kills the engine. We stare out the windshield at the students rushing to get inside the building. “I can’t wait until we take this place down.”
I grunt my agreement. “I can’t wait until this shit is over and we can go home.
” Cas hums his agreement. “I will never let Somerset be the better town or team, I’ll do everything I have to do to make sure Stormsend is the better option.
I’m taking them all down now.” Before I can exit the car, my phone begins to vibrate in my pocket.
I bite back the snarl that wants to break free, knowing who it is without needing to check the caller ID.
I bring it to my ear as I answer. “Yeah?”
“Your tone is not something I appreciate.” His cold tone filters through the speaker.
He may not be here or even able to see me, but he still has the power to set my blood ablaze.
We may be cut from the same cloth but we are nothing alike.
He was raised to take over for his father, groomed for the role of being the Don of the Devlin Cosa Nostra.
I wanted something different for myself until shit changed and now I am more like my father than I want to admit.
“You butting your nose into my business is not something I care for.”
“You forget your fucking place, boy.”
“I didn’t forget shit,” I hiss. I inhale sharply through my nose and force myself to remain inside the vehicle, if I get out now I will find the first fucker and beat his ass so badly his mother will need dental records to identify his body.
“I didn’t stop living, you did. Now, you will watch as I take everything you built and make it my own. ”
“You were never meant for that role, it was always meant for—”
“Shut your filthy fucking mouth. You never say her name!” I roar. Cas shifts in his chair, pressing his body against the door, offering me as much space as he can.
“I made you, boy, and I sure as fuck can break you. I have let you live freely for long enough. I gave the green light for you to take down all those little cunts that were there that night. You will come home tonight, I want a meeting with you and the piece of shit you live with. I know that bitch is back and I want her fucking head on a platter. Am I clear?”
My anger burns through me. “Finally, something we can agree on,” I clip out before ending the call. I take a minute to center myself before I turn to Cas, his gaze already on me.
“He’s out for blood, isn’t he?”
I nod. “He wants her head. He won’t stand in our way and he’ll give me everything I need.
We will meet with him tonight.” He thinks he gave me space but he’s wrong.
I tried to run from who I am and that cost me everything.
I will never hide from who I am again. I am a fucking king and I’ll die before I ever let Masen Kellar take over Somerset.
I know his father is grooming him to take his place.
I’m going to break that son of a bitch into pieces.
I was saving him and Kellan for last, but I might just make his sister watch as I end her brother’s life.