Devil's Pass (The Harlequin Crew #.5) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,1

find to date and I was quite happy to never wear any shoes but them ever again. I looked like a badass about to go stomp some zombie heads in – or possibly like an idiot wearing boots in the summer but I didn’t give a shit because they were the coolest thing I owned.

I eased the door open, glancing out into the dark hallway. It was five past nine but Mary Beth was a total nazi for early bedtimes because she liked to sit and get stoned while watching old re-runs of Sex and the City. She liked to think of herself as a total Miranda, whatever the fuck that meant. I didn't know why the rest of us had to suffer for that. I was perfectly happy to rock up here at some time past midnight every night, fall asleep and then fuck off again the moment I woke up. But apparently she liked to play pretend at looking after the kids in her care when it came to certain things and the nine o'clock lights out wasn't negotiable. Not that I ever hung around long after making a show of heading to bed, but still.

I crept down the hallway, hopped over the squeaky floorboards and opened the door which led to the closest boys' room without bothering to knock. They knew the drill by now.

"Hey, Rogue, big night tonight?" Clive asked hopefully and I gave him a dismissive glance.

The dude was a year older than me and you'd think being seventeen would mean he'd have a bit more of a clue about how to sort his own life out. Apparently he'd just decided he wanted a piece of mine instead though. He was one of those kids who got an early growth spurt but instead of embracing it he’d adopted a hunch and his dirty blonde hair was always falling in his eyes and making me wanna get the kitchen scissors on it.

"Sure," I replied vaguely.

"Mind if I join?" he asked predictably. The guy was a level five clinger with no shame.

"Not a chance in hell," I replied which was actually pretty polite for once because he was seriously getting on my last nerve.

"Can you grab some jelly beans if you see them somewhere?" Jake asked me, shifting aside and pushing the window open for me while ignoring my interaction with Clive.

"I got you," I assured him. I'd just steal some somewhere and if I couldn't tonight then I'd do it tomorrow. It was the price of my freedom and their silence and I was happy to pay it. Jake would beat the shit out of any of the other guys if they didn't go along with the arrangement so this way, we all got to win. Well, me and Jake did anyway.

"I'll just tag along," Clive insisted.

I huffed irritably but just ignored him. Maverick would have his bike anyway so Clive could follow me down the road if he liked but he wouldn't be coming any further than that.

I squeezed out of the little window and onto the top of the porch outside before tiptoeing along the creaky wooden roof while hugging the wall all the way to the apple tree at the far end of it.

Clive was still trying to get out of the window when I reached the tree and jumped for the familiar branch before swinging to the one below it and then letting go, dropping to the grass with a solid thump.

The air was still balmy from the hot day and my boots may have been a bit warm, but they were cool as fuck so I didn't care.

I hurried out onto the street, taking the sidewalk past the few houses down this way and hurrying my pace as I came up on my neighbour Axel's house. The guy was a serious perv and it felt like running the gauntlet every time I passed his porch where he liked to sit and drink whenever he wasn't working. And working was a loose term really as he was a member of the Harlequin Crew and I was pretty sure his day job included drug running and beating people up. Whatever else he was, that fact alone made him untouchable and kinda terrifying, so mostly I just tried to avoid him noticing me.

"Looking good, sweet thing," Axel called as I drew closer to his house and I looked up to find him leaning over the railing which lined his porch, smoking a joint as