Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,13
and I have to wonder if the cocky dickhead thought to get his boss’ permission before blowing up the principal’s expensive SUV. And before you ask how a principal at a downtrodden public school can afford such a thing, don’t bother. I’ll explain later. It’s one of the reasons he’s on my list. “And excellent work in making it look like an accident. They’ve called off the bomb squad.”
“Whoopee, glad to be of service,” Hael says, grinning and running his tongue across his lower lip as he surveys me with an appreciative gleam in his eye. First chance he gets, he’s going to demand I crawl on his lap, same as Vic. “To be honest, I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. We’ll consider that one a freebie.”
I frown and flip him off, but he just laughs. Aaron scowls, but Callum claps his hands like he’s attending a show just for him.
“I hear you’re one of us now,” he says, pushing his hood back, so I can see his Disney prince blond hair. Only, it’s strange because he’s not the prince; he’s the villain that slaughters the wide-eyed royal and buries his body in the woods. Cal slides a knife from his boot and tosses it to Vic, making me raise my brows. He managed to slip that past security, no problem. It’s a little scary.
“Blood in,” Vic says, slicing his palm and then handing the knife to me, his eyes deadly serious. “Blood out.”
“You’re joking, right?” I ask, looking between him and the other Havoc Boys. Aaron is practically seething, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “You want to make a blood pact? Like some middle schoolers on a tree house dare?”
“Take the knife, Bernadette, or I’ll do it for you.” Vic isn’t threatening me with his cool, dark words. No, he’s simply telling the truth. I swallow hard and look down at the bloodied bit of blade. He could have a disease. Hell, as far as I know, he could have a dozen of them. But this is what I signed up for, isn’t it? To be their plaything. I swallow hard and snatch the knife. The last thing I want right now is for Vic or anyone else to see me vulnerable or unsure.
So I slice my palm with the sharp blade, hissing at the pain, and then gasp when Vic clamps his hand to mine, squeezing so hard it hurts and staring so deep into my eyes that I feel like I’m drowning.
It only lasts a couple of seconds, but as our blood mingles, and our gazes lock, I know that I’ll never be the same again.
Victor releases me, swipes the blood off on his jeans, and then tosses the knife back to Callum who catches it effortlessly.
“Just to be clear,” he continues, his gaze sweeping across the others before returning to me. “You’re on my orders and nobody else’s.” There’s a harsh bite of threat in his words, but I have a feeling it’s not exactly meant for me. He flicks his attention to the other Havoc Boys in warning. “And now that we’ve got our own Havoc Girl, we’ll start dealing with one problem at a time, beginning with the issue of my mother.” This last word comes off his tongue like a curse, like Victor Channing can’t think of anything worse than a mom.
“What issue with your mother?” I ask, wondering if I’m overstepping my bounds here. He said I’d belong to them, to Havoc, but what, exactly, that means I’m not sure. Vic told me I’d have to obey his every word, but he didn’t say I had to be a meek, kowtowing bitch, right?
Vic laughs, and the sound gives me such chills. He almost sounds like I do when I look in the mirror and wonder what the point of all this is.
“She’s gripping my inheritance in her overly manicured claws on some stupid ass technicality.” Vic gets out a cigarette as Oscar scribbles something down on his iPad and Hael gets up to molest the shiny surface of his car. Callum just sits there and eats while Aaron glares at the pavement, his shoulders so taut it almost hurts to look at him. “I have to be married before I can collect.”
“Married …” I start, and then the realization hits me like a freight train, and my eyes go wide. “Wait, what?” I snap, that last word flinging from the tip of my tongue like a rubber