Devil Incarnate (Boys of Preston Prep #4) - Angel Lawson Page 0,63

him come back on campus.” Caroline shudders. “He’s such a creep. How does he get away with it?”

“Have you seen his face? Or his body?” Vandy asks. Her eyes dart to mine in the rearview mirror. “That level of hotness sways a lot of people.”

Caroline bitterly adds, “And a powerful father who has a lot of money.”

I know that’s probably a part of it, but I can still remember the scene between them at the club that day. Heston and his dad are just as at odds as Sebastian hoped they’d be. It’s not like Heston doesn’t deserve his epic fall from grace. Seeing him completely shunned by his family was undeniably satisfying.

But sometimes, I think of him standing there on that veranda, all tired and rumpled, looking like his father just ripped his heart from his chest, and satisfaction isn’t what I feel. Not exactly. There is a sense of justice, but beneath it lurks something sadder. It’s far too cynical to be called pity. It’s just that Heston has always been this enormous, untouchable, superhuman force in my life. It’s almost as if seeing him so diminished, tossed aside like the Club’s trash, makes everything seem a little more vulnerable now. A little less radiant. After all, if a Wilcox can reach such lows, then can’t we all?

I tune them out as they go off about how Heston is a monster. He is a monster. A manipulative, narcissistic, sociopath. I’ve yet to see a single redeeming quality from the guy. And here I am thinking about feeling sorry for him.

Even worse, here I’ve been thinking about his offer—dick on tap—and how badly I want to accept.

I dig my fingernails painfully into the soft pit of my elbow.

I’m half-expecting I’ll need to use my silly AcadaNeeds name to get us in, but true to Buck’s word, we’re let in with nothing but a glance at our very fake IDs.

Inside, I’m met with the same energy as the first time I came here. The fast, bouncy music engulfs us as we walk through the door, Vandy and Caroline both taking it in wide-eyed and over-alert. We’d all done some pretty wild stuff last year, but it’s our first time really out in the thick of it without the older, far more powerful Devils at our backs, nudging us forward, shielding us.

For the first time, I’m kind of glad they’re not here. I look at Vandy in her sexy dress and Caroline in her skin-tight pants, and I think to myself, We are going to own this place.

It’s crowded, but I can already see people I recognize from school. There are clumps of other people, like overly made-up college girls that I assume are from Saint Mary’s. Guys clustered by the bar. All kinds of couples on the dance floor—guys with girls, girls with girls, guys with guys—every possible combination.

“This place is awesome,” Vandy cries, her face lit up by the flashing lights. “Hey, do you wanna dance?”

Caroline wrinkles her nose in response, but Vandy is having none of it. She grabs Caroline’s hands and pulls her toward the dance floor, laughing in delight. This is another change in the last year. With her injury, there’s no way Vandy would have done something like this, but everything is different now. She’s different.

They wave me over but I point to the bar, calling out, “I’m going to need a drink first!”

I don’t want to admit it, but I’m not in the mood for dancing. If it weren’t for watching Vandy and Caroline have a good time—a new experience—I wouldn’t really want to be here at all. Like so many other times, I just plaster a smile on my face and ask the bartender for a drink.

Leaning back on the bar, I get a good look at the club. There’s the dance floor and tables along the sides. There’s an elevated area at the back, surrounded by a curtain to provide privacy. I assume it’s the VIP area, because what club would be worth going to if there wasn’t an air of exclusivity?

I’m taking a picture of Vandy to send to Reyn when loud voices catch my attention. I glance over to the door just in time to see Buck and a few other guys from school walk in. Buck looks good, tall and athletic, but I’m not even feeling that tonight. I grab my drink and slip away from the bar, making an escape to the staircase before he sees me. I