10. Mack
Mack
Waffles trots by me, heading straight to his bowl of water and lapping it up. I grab a cold bottle of water from the fridge and a container of grapes and sit beside JJ at the kitchen island.
JJ takes me in, assessing my mood, and nods with approval. “Glad you could finally join us,” he jokes with a slight edge.
I shove a grape in my mouth and sigh with satisfaction. There’s something about juicy green grapes squishing between my teeth after a run that makes me feel better.
“Fuck off,” I say through a mouthful, offering him a food-filled grin when his penetrating gaze narrows on me. He opens his mouth to retort something, but gets cut off.
Hux leans on the other side with a constipated look on his slightly broken face. I squint. Was that split lip there before?
“Go on,” he urges JJ, who sighs beside me.
“Yes, do go on. You called me home. I was in a very important meeting.” They both know what I do at the end of every run, and they interrupted my Livy time.
“You spend an unhealthy amount of time there,” JJ mutters under his breath, eyeing me.
Huh. He never says shit like that. He always leaves me to mourn in peace.
I crinkle my brow. Am I losing my shit and sitting at her grave too much? Nah. No way. She’s the only one who grounds me.
“You and I have a completely different definition of unhealthy,” I say, shoving a grape in my mouth and groaning at the juices hitting my tongue. “So, what’s up? You find the asshole responsible for ruining Livy’s things, yet?”
He should have by now. There are cameras on every inch of this fucking campus, thanks to Franco. It’s obvious he wants to keep an eye on everyone. Other gangs. Normal students with no affiliations. Us. Plus, JJ can hack into anything to get the information we need.
“They found another body this morning.”
I freeze with a grape dangling over my lips for a brief second. Of course. A damn body. Another one. It’s been like this for over a year now. They keep showing up with missing organs. Like the kid I found in the woods at our party. His bloodied fingers and gasping lips haunt me in my sleep.
And we have no fucking clue who is doing it. Even Franco hasn’t said a word.
“It wasn’t Meredith,” Hux confirms.
“Still no ideas on her whereabouts?” I ask, chewing my grape slowly and watching him closely.
Sometimes the bastard likes to keep things from us. I know he does. His brain is a treasure trove of secrets I’d like to crack open like a damn coconut. One day I will. One day, Huxley will tell me all the secrets inside his brain.
Not today, judging by the droop of his eye. Fucker.
“No,” he quickly says, swiping a hand down his worried face. “No clue where she is. No signs of her. No matter how hard we look.”
Oh, and we’ve looked. One day, she was here and then poof, Mere was gone. Is it a coincidence that some shady shit fell into her lap and then she disappeared?
No. I don’t believe in that sort of thing. It happened for a damn reason. Maybe because she’s Malic Monroe’s half-sister. Or maybe because she overheard some shit she shouldn’t have. We were working on it, though.
“Tell him the other thing,” JJ says, gesturing to Hux with a pointed look.
Huxley sighs, holding up his left hand, smudged with pen marks. “Fuck. Don’t do anything impulsive.” He eyes me sternly, and I shrug. I can’t promise I won’t, especially if it’s bad. “Malic took me to his torture chamber last night, and we had a discussion about Meredith.”
I blink several times. “What the fuck?” I bark, slamming my water bottle down. “Took you? As in—”
“Kidnapped… Yeah.” Hux shrugs like it’s no big fucking deal. “Sure, if that’s the fucking word you want to use.”
“And you’re what? Fucking cool with this? Is that why your face looks like you took a beating? Fuck. We should hunt that asshole down and—” I shake my head, getting to my shaky feet, snack and water be damned!
“Chill,” Hux grunts, holding up a hand.
“Why the fuck should I?” I reel back, dropping the grapes. “That’s declaring war.”
“He saw surveillance footage of Hux and Meredith talking the night she disappeared. It’s his sister,” JJ says flatly. “He was worried about his family and took the only person who might have a connection with her. He’s getting desperate.” JJ shakes his head, running his fingers over his forehead.
“So the fuck what!” I shout, throwing my arms around. “How the fuck did he even get you?”
Hux’s expression immediately drops, and he sighs again.
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is we got it resolved, and the fucker won’t touch me again.
Besides, I only told him half-truths about what we talked about with her.
He doesn’t need to know that we know why she was so upset.
” And that makes it better? Lying to the fucking enemy about where we met her?
Maybe he should have told him the fucking truth after stabbing him through the heart.
“He broke into the fucking house,” JJ grumbles, forcing my gaze to his as Hux curses under his breath. “He waltzed right through the door because we never lock it. Imagine what he could do with that knowledge.”
“And you?” I whip my gaze to Waffles, who nibbles on his paw while staring at me with innocent eyes.
“It seems he was tempted with steak,” JJ scoffs, rolling his eyes.
“You’re too spoiled.” My eyes narrow at the dog, who sneezes and then moves to his water dish again, effectively dismissing us.
Rude.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” I ask, retaking my seat and reclaiming my grapes.
Deep breaths, Mack. Nothing to get too worked up about. It’s all bullshit. We’ll figure it out. Just breathe.
Besides, our revenge should be epic.
“Nothing,” Hux says pointedly, giving me a look.
“Nothing?” I nearly choke on the grape sliding down my throat.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right? That asshole kidnaps you, tortures you, and we’re supposed to sit back and not do anything about it?
” I huff. “Franco would give us the green light to take those bitches out. I got Wilder; you two get the big guy. We’ll strap them to the beams in the basement and teach them a lesson.
” I raise a brow to encourage their nods, but they stare at me like I’m delusional.
Okay, maybe I am. If we got Wilder and Malic in the basement, bad things would happen in town.
“You know we can’t incite anything on campus,” JJ states, matter-of-factly.
“This entire venture was to create neutral territory for us all to live in peace. Us. Them. The other families that have moved into Syndicate Row. We must maintain a peaceful environment for everyone. Including Malic Monroe and Jackson Wilder.”
“Except fight nights.” I grin, cracking my knuckles and plotting my revenge.
On everyone. Oliver. Wilder. Malic. They’re all on my damn shit list. If only I could hack into their school records or some shit and get them expelled.
That would be fun. Maybe I could flirt my way into the admin building and do a little recon myself.
“Yeah. Except those nights. Call them out, then. Get your revenge in the ring. Leave war the fuck out of it.” Hux gives me a pointed look like I’m a kid who got caught sneaking out.
Fucker. “There’s already enough bloodshed with the fucking bodies piling up at our doorsteps, and we have no idea who is behind it. ”
“He started it,” I grunt, grabbing a few grapes.
“Yeah, well. I’m fucking ending it before it can lead to anything stupid. Now, how about that body?” Hux dismisses me, turning his back and focusing on JJ.
“Right,” JJ says, typing a few things on his laptop.
“A report was submitted this morning. A body was found in a field near the middle of town. A woman, this time. Local. Mabel Evans. Greenwood U Alumni. I’ve been checking surveillance cameras all morning, but there’s nothing there.
” He shakes his head. “It’s all been looped over and expertly concealed.
Whoever is doing this covers their bases carefully. ”
“Same MO?” Hux asks, leaning on the counter with a heavy sigh.
“Missing heart, kidneys, and a liver. Even her eyeballs were taken this time.” JJ wrinkles his nose as he reads off the report.
“She graduated from here two years ago with a degree in business. Had a volleyball scholarship and maintained her grades. Participated in volunteer work and donated to the blood drive every year.” JJ’s eyes scan the words as he reads them aloud.
“It also states that…” JJ’s face twists with concern.
“That her womb was taken as well, and her body shows signs of pregnancy.”
“Eyeballs?” I balk. “Why the hell… You know what? I don’t want to know,” I grumble, putting my grapes back into the bag as my stomach turns.
Ruined my fucking grapes for the day, assholes.
“Corneal transplants are a thing. Even entire eyeballs have been transplanted with success in experimental environments,” JJ so helpfully adds with the cock of his head.
Know-it-all.
“Wonderful. There goes my appetite.” I shove the grapes into the fridge and toss it shut. “Now, onto bigger things.”
“Bigger than a kidnapping and a body with missing organs that fits the crime that’s been happening almost every damn week for the past year?” Hux raises a brow.
No. But I don’t dare utter that word.
“Uh, yeah,” I huff, tossing my arms again. “Someone destroyed the fucking treehouse, and I want to know who. You got cameras there?” I dig out my phone and toss it on the counter, displaying the wreckage someone left behind. They didn’t spare a single one of Olivia’s things.
It’s all gone. Every trace of her. Like someone is trying to erase the remnants we have of her in our lives.
“Cameras in the woods?” JJ levels me with a stupid look.
“You got cameras at the graveyard. Why not the fucking woods?” I growl.
JJ rolls his eyes. “I will look into it more thoroughly, okay? We’ll catch who is doing it.” His voice cracks slightly, catching in his throat. He swallows hard, reaching for his phone and quickly typing out a message to some mysterious fucker and putting it away.
See? I’m not the only one affected by this bullshit happening. What next? Will someone exhume her damn body and take her away completely? Fat chance. I’d never let that happen. Whoever wants to die is slowly taking away the pieces of her, and I’ll find them with or without Hux and JJ’s help.
“And her gravestone. There’s still a crack in it,” I say through gritted teeth. “Why is someone targeting Olivia’s shit?”
Something passes over JJ’s expression. A shuddering look that he tries to conceal, but doesn’t.
“Someone’s obviously out to rattle us,” Hux says, blowing out a breath. “Why else would they wreck her grave and treehouse? They want our attention.”
“So? Let’s give it to them.” A menacing smile crosses my lips as plans form in my mind.
“And who exactly wants our attention?” Hux asks with exasperation. “We have no clue who is doing this. You can’t go after phantoms, Mack.”
Oh, yeah? Fucking watch me.
I purse my lips. “I have a few suspects in mind. Maybe the asshole who kidnapped you?” Or maybe a certain asshole I saw walking out of the woods.
But I don’t say that. Not yet. Oliver and I have beef.
Major beef. Not only did he win a fight that was supposed to humiliate him for going against us—more specifically, against Hux.
Granted, Amanda was crying wolf and making a scene. Per her damn usual.
But now?
That asshole was at the scene of the crime.
Walking out of the damn woods that no one dares to set foot in.
Hello, haunted trees and shit. Tell enough lies about ghosts and phantom jaguars dragging college kids to their deaths, and you tend to keep them out of your private places.
And coincidences don’t happen in my fucking book.
I won’t start a war with Malic or my stupid brother.
But my eyes are peeled for all things Oliver.
Hux scoffs, shaking his head. “Don’t do anything fucking stupid. You got it? You start a war. Franco will have your damn balls.”
Me? Stupid? Well, I never.
I roll my eyes, heading toward the stairs. “Or maybe he’d be happy I finally ended the Shades’ pathetic attempt at being our competition. You ever think of that?” I scoff, not bothering to stick around and listen to another word they say. I have a shower calling my name.
As the hot water pours over my flesh, it cleanses another shitty day off my body. Five-mile run in? Check. Plotting my revenge against a scholarship student who seems to get himself into bullshit? Fucking check.
By the time I step out of the shower with a towel wrapped around my waist, the house is quiet and empty. The other two have classes to attend today. But me? I’m free and clear until tomorrow.
I grin. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I pull out a small box from beneath it. I sigh as my old smartphone sits in my hand, and memories come to life in vivid color beneath the cracked, broken screen.
“I’ll find out who is doing this to you,” I say, scrolling through the old pictures with my heart in my throat. “And I’ll end them.”
Oliver. I’ll fucking end him if it’s the last thing I do. First, I’ll gather all the evidence I can against the fucker and strike when he least expects it.