Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,148

jump in if I need to. This is fucking insane, I think, remembering how I agonized all summer about my choice to approach Havoc.

And this is where it’s gotten me.

“Hey, bitch,” Billie says, appearing behind me and lifting her mask up her face. She’s got that knife of hers back in hand. My lips purse, but I’m not afraid of her. I’ve kicked her ass before, and I’ll do it again. “Mitch thinks I should leave you alone, but I’m tired of seeing you strut around Prescott like you own the place.”

“I do own it,” I say, my voice cool and even, the air pulsing with music, fog drifting around my ankles. “Because I hold Havoc’s leash.” I shrug my shoulders, giving off the air of nonchalance, even if my heart is thundering, and I want nothing more than to glance back and check on Aaron. But no. I have to prove that I’m in control here. Fighting is one-part physical prowess and two-parts bravado. “If you hurt me, they’ll kill you. You know that, right?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Billie says as a crash sounds from behind me, and I finally lose my own inner-fight and glance back to see Aaron struggling on the ground with a guy whose arms are the size of tree trunks. Danny Ensbrook, Kyler’s brother. Speaking of …

My head whips around just in time to intercept Billie as she comes for me, swinging that knife of hers in an arc. It isn’t hard for me to grab her wrist and drag her in close. It’s much harder to use a blade in close contact like this. As soon as I’ve got Billie in range, I lift my knee up and slam it into her crotch as hard as I can. Not as effective as kneeing a dude in the balls, but it still hurts like hell. My next move cracks Billie across the wrist, knocking her blade loose and sending it sliding across the floor and into the fog.

Teeth gritted in anger, she comes at me like a whirlwind, fists flying, throwing herself at me with reckless abandon. And this is one of the reasons why she’s so easy to beat. Not only is she thin and slight of frame, but she just goes into rages and stops thinking. I let her throw her entire weight into me and then duck low, slamming my shoulder into her stomach and tossing her over my back.

Billie hits the floor with a grunt, but as I’m turning to go for her, Kyler appears, his mask hanging around his neck. His yellow bruises flicker red in the dancing strobe lights as he sneers at me. There’s no hesitation when he comes at me, and I have to at least give him credit for trying to defend his girlfriend.

His much larger form slams into mine, but I’m used to this. I’ve been fighting off grown men for years.

I let his weight throw me to the ground, turning the move into a roll that puts some space between us as he stumbles and does his best to recover his feet. As Callum mentioned earlier, one of the pluses of being smaller is being faster. I’m up before Kyler is, throwing my elbow down on the back of his neck as hard as I can.

With a growl, he shoves his shoulder into my stomach, sending me stumbling back into another one of the funhouse mirrors. Glass shatters, littering the floor beneath my feet. Thank fuck I’m wearing these stupid white tennis shoes with the ribbons instead of heels or I’d be on my ass in no time.

Kyler throws a hard punch at my face, but I duck low and he ends up hitting the wood frame of the mirror, knocking it to the floor and sending the fog fluttering around us. I can see Aaron from here, fighting desperately to get to me, but he’s quite literally fending off three big dudes—including Danny Ensbrook—with another on the floor in front of him. Even with the face paint, I can see that he’s pale, that he’s hurting, and that he’s running out of energy.

We don’t have a lot of time here—especially if one of the Fuller High or Oak Valley idiots calls in the cops. Prescott kids know better, but those pretty, privileged assholes don’t know how we handle things in Southside Springfield.

I duck under Kyler’s next swing and dart past Billie as she comes at me, reaching up and grabbing onto