Devil Incarnate (Boys of Preston Prep #4) - Angel Lawson Page 0,180

watching the unbearable mating dance of Hestia for months. For the record, that office you use isn’t nearly as insulated as you seem to think it is.”

“Wait, who’s Hestia?” Ansel asks, looking lost.

Most everyone else has already caught on.

Georgia groans. “I could do with approximately twenty less Devils in my business!”

But Sebastian is looking straight at me, those wild eyes of his filling with rage. “You seriously have the fucking nerve…with her?”

Georgia goes instantly to grab his arm, tugging him back. “Bass,” she warns, throwing me a helpless look. “Don’t, okay? Let’s just—”

It’s not that I don’t see that way his face hardens, or how he’s suddenly hurtling toward me. It’s that the only thing I can focus on is the way he jerks violently out of her grip, wrenching her forward into a stumble that sends her crashing gracelessly to her knees. I see it coming, though. This is the thing about Sebastian. He’s all heat, no head, uncaring of who he hurts in the process. He’s the living manifestation of the saying ‘when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail’.

I’ve watched my brother hit a lot of people. Hell, I’ve been some of those people. For all that he’s an impulsive meathead, he’s good at it. He’s always made it look easy, effortless.

Tonight, I discover that it actually hurts like a bitch.

Sebastian’s jaw is like pure steel, and that’s exactly what it feels like when I slam my fist into it.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Despite the pain shooting up my arm, I find it almost impossible to stop. But there are a lot of edgy Devils hanging around, and they’re there in a flash, ripping us apart before my brother can even get a hit in. I try to break out of someone’s grip, but it’s like iron.

Ben’s grip, I find out. “Whoa there,” he grunts into my ear. “Come on, everyone chill. Georgia’s fine, look! Everyone chill!”

It takes Reynolds and Emory to push Sebastian back, but once it’s clear he’s not getting through, he lurches away, not breaking my gaze.

“I will bury your ass, Heston! So help me fucking god, I’ll—”

“Enough!” Georgia howls, clambering to her feet. I only get a moment to verify that he didn’t hurt her before she throws us both a tight, red-faced scowl. “We’re down here to pull off this prank, not re-enact the last episode of Lakevale! If the two of you want to wrestle like fucking children, then be my guest. I’m finishing the job.”

With that, she marches off to the dock, ignoring Vandy’s pointed look when she storms past. Caroline calls her name and chases after her.

“You good?” Ben asks, giving me a slap on the back that’s a little too firm to be called friendly.

“Sure,” I answer, jaw tight as I flex my fist. Behind me I hear the motor crank and turn to look, but I feel a sharp tug on my shirt. Looking down, I see Vandy below me, eyes bright with anger. I grimace. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“I don’t think I care.” She gives me a long, baffled look. “You know I defended you? Well, not you, but ‘the guy’ I told her might be worth another chance. The guy I mentioned might have some good in him.”

I look over her shoulder. McAllister is only a few feet away, waiting to pick up where my brother left off. “Guess you want to take that back now that you know it’s me?”

“I don’t know what I want, and I suspect she doesn’t, either.”

Caroline walks back up and shoots me a glare. “She’d already left by the time I got to the dock.”

“All she has to do is put the head on and toss the match,” Vandy says, looking exasperated. “She should have just let Bass do all of it, but she was insistent about doing the head herself.”

I turn, staring out into the blackness of the lake. The only light comes from a lantern someone left on the platform and a small light on the boat. This prank is so overly complicated and ridiculous.

I keep waiting for the flames in the distance, the chill cutting through my jacket as I stand there, watching. There’s the sound of a boat zipping by in the distance, but it’s going parallel to the shore—not Georgia.

The longer I wait, the more my eyes adjust to the darkness. I can see the lights of Preston, way out there above the trees. Houses on the south shore. Boat