Victory at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #5) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,171

new scars she probably has.

Her face pales, as if she already knows what it is that I’m going to say.

“You owe that beautiful trip to Havoc.”

Another pause. Brittany stumbles forward and just barely catches herself on the raised portion of the counter where a line of tall-backed stools sits. She drags herself into one, clutching the baby monitor to her chest while she stares at me like the devil I know I am.

“Did you not assume there was a reason Havoc would take on any request—no matter the content? That our prices mean nothing, that our rules are nothing. Brittany, the one currency you can carry is truth, and you spent all of it. You owed us in blood.”

“You did that,” she whispers, beginning to shake. Her hands tremble as her white-knuckled grip hugs the baby monitor even closer to her chest. “You and Hael. Hael …” She trails off and a slight sob comes out on the end. “All along … oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my fucking god.”

“You betrayed us, Brittany. You sent daddy Forrest to the school to drag my boys out in handcuffs, even though we’d fulfilled the end of our bargain. You were the one that failed to pay, and we were owed our pound of flesh.” I take a second iced tea out of the fridge before moving over to stand in front of her. The top makes a gentle popping sound as I twist it off and Brittany jumps like a startled deer. “So this is us, collecting on our debt. You are not to see Hael or speak to Hael. If you pass him in public, you will keep walking and you will think about how cheating on him royally fucked your life up in so many ways.”

I take a sip of my drink as Brittany squeezes her eyes shut, salty tears escaping to run down her cheeks.

“The reason you are lucky is this: Hael is a genuinely good and wonderful human being. Even though you would’ve deserved having us take bolt cutters to your pretty fingers”—Brittany makes a choking sound and I wonder if she isn’t putting together Vaughn’s accident with the words I just said—“Hael doesn’t like to see women suffer. Actually, he can’t stand it. So instead of physical pain, I’m leaving you with the emotional scar of knowing that you had him for a short while and you screwed that up.”

Of course, knowing Hael as I do now, and knowing that the two of us are inextricably entwined, that we both belong to Havoc first and foremost, I’m aware that Brittany never could’ve had Hael to begin with. If she hadn’t cheated on him, then he would’ve broken up with her when I called Havoc and became a Havoc Girl for real.

Still, Brittany broke her deal with us and so this is what she deserves, the loss of a beautiful and poignant possibility, one that would’ve changed her life for the better. Despite everything, I do honestly believe she was in love with Hael Harbin.

“You lost Hael to me through your own, ugly actions, and now here you are, covered in fresh scars and with the daunting task of starting all over again with a new baby daddy.” The edge of my lip quirks up in an almost-smile. A devil’s smile. The smile of tricksters and mischief-makers and Havoc wreakers. “You’re also not fully off the hook just yet.”

Brittany lets out another hiccupping sob, eyelids still firmly squeezed shut, arms still clutching the monitor to her chest.

I take the card from the bouquet of flowers, the one that says We’ll be in touch with soft, feminine letters, letters that I wrote while thinking of Penelope and trying to imitate her inimitable handwriting. This I lay on the counter in front of Brittany.

Slowly, nervously, she parts her lids, flinching as I draw my arm back, as if I’d actually hit her inside this house or say anything that could ever be used against me in a court of law. Not that it really matters because Oscar hacked into the Burr’s security system and stopped it from recording temporarily.

Still, it never hurts to be too careful.

“If we call and ask you questions, you answer them.” I level my gaze on Brittany’s and the threat is clear: you belong to us now. Just like Vaughn. Just like Vera. Another person in the swirl of planets and stars that is the city of Springfield. Eventually, every part of this solar