RIOT HOUSE (Crooked Sinners #1) - Callie Hart Page 0,159

are not moving out,” Dashiell hisses from the other side of the room we use to play Call of Duty. I was dragged up here by the collar of my shirt the moment people started filing out of the house to begin the hunt. “What the hell’s gotten into you, man? You’re not the guy we started this thing with. Frankly, I don’t recognize you anymore. If you hadn’t thrown in that last clause with the wolf masks, there was gonna be fucking hell to pay.”

God, he’s so fucking predictable. A Riot House party isn’t a proper party unless there’s a whole fuck-load of anonymous sex. “I wasn’t going to add that part.” I shove Pax away. “But I knew you’d both feel cheated if you didn’t get your dicks wet.”

“We’re all gonna get laid tonight, Jacobi,” Pax spits. “You, included.”

Laughter bubbles up the back of my throat again. “What, are you gonna make me fuck a conga line of girls? Seriously?”

Pax wheels on Dash, throwing his hands in the air. “Goddamnit, you deal with him. I’ve had enough.”

Dashiell doesn’t say anything. He stands with his hands in his pockets, watching me quietly for a second. Then he says, “This is about Elodie, isn’t it?”

I stare back at him defiantly. “Yes. Of course it’s about Elodie. Who else would it be about?”

“You’re in love with her.”

“Yes.”

“God save us!” Pax roars. “You are not in love with that girl, Wren. She’s fucking nothing. She’s just some little French who—”

Pain rockets up my arm, screaming in my shoulder joint. Pax hits the ground ass-first, sliding across the floorboards. In half a second flat, I’m on top of him, grabbing him by the throat, winding up to hit him again. I’m deadly calm. “Say it. Go on say it. Finish that fucking sentence.”

Pax throws me off him, scooting out of my reach as he scrambles to his feet. “This has gone far enough. We agreed. No girlfriends. Ever. Is that what you think she is, Wren? Because you know neither of us are gonna stand for it.”

I look to Dashiell, waiting for him to back up Pax’s threat. He remains noticeably silent.

I am so fucking done with this. Riot House used to be a sanctuary for me, back when Dash, Pax and I became friends, but it’s been nothing more than a prison these past few months. “Yeah. Elodie’s my girlfriend. There. I fucking said it. And you two can either accept it with good grace and move the fuck on, or you can find yourselves rooms at the academy post haste. Act accordingly.”

I go to leave, but Dashiell grabs me by the arm. “You think it’s so easy to sever this friendship, Wren? It’s not. There’s a fucking army general in a coma on the other side of the world right now, because we agreed to do something that could get us all put away for the rest of our natural lives. If not executed in a fucking firing squad.”

“Is that supposed to be some sort of threat, Lord Lovett? Because I’ve done plenty for you that would result in the same outcome and then some.”

“And what about Mara?” Pax adds.

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT MARA!” My vision’s blood-red. I swear to god, I’m gonna lose all self-control in a minute. I take a breath, reining in my fury. “Mara is not my problem. I didn’t hurt her. I did nothing to her. She’s long gone and there’s nothing any of us can do about it. So stop bringing her up.”

I’m out of the door and down the first flight of stairs when Pax calls after me. “You’d better hope that girl of yours doesn’t go out into the forest tonight, Jacobi. You know the rules. If she does, she’s fair fucking game!”

He’s looking for a reaction. I don’t give him one.

He won’t fucking touch Elodie.

I jog down the stairs with my stupid wolf’s mask hanging from my hand, dreading the kind of trouble the rest of this night may bring.

44

ELODIE

The night air is cool and crisp. The trees rustle, whispering amongst themselves as I skirt along the edge of the forest, walking up the road back toward Wolf Hall. I lasted all of fifteen minutes at a Riot House party and now I need a shower. I feel dirty. I feel tricked and deceived, and I want my mother, but I can’t have her because she’s fucking dead.

“I can keep up with you, y’know,” Carina mutters behind me. “Doesn’t matter