Wicked Mercy Read online

  An enormous chandelier hung from the ceiling. Fluffy white throw rugs on the floor would feel amazing under my feet in the morning, and the four-poster bed was huge, with pillows, a fluffy cover, and extra blankets for snuggling on cold nights. In the bathroom there was a claw foot tub and incredible white and gold tile.

  In short, it was the nicest room I’d ever been in. “Are you sure that I get to live here all year long?” I asked my friends, slowly turning in a circle. “Because this is seriously amazing. Is this what your rooms look like too?”

  Maggie giggled and sat down on my bed. “Pretty much, but my rugs and covers are all pink, and Harper’s are gold. I think they went with really soft colors for the girls. Wish we could see what the boys rooms looked like.”

  Yeah, I did, too. Glancing up, I wondered who was right above me, and, more importantly, where exactly all of my rogues were. It sucked that we were all so close together but still far enough apart that I’d never get to see their rooms.

  “I had no idea that seniors got such nice rooms.” There was even a huge desk tucked in the corner of my room. As soon as I had big projects to work on I would pull it out so that it was in front of the window and I could look outside while I was studying. “It’s dreamy, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” Harper agreed, sitting next to Maggie and patting the bed for me to come sit down. “But we don’t want to talk about our rooms, Rose. We want to talk about why in the world the rogues came to bring you to school today and I wasn’t allowed to!”

  I grinned and launched myself to land between my two best friends. Immediately, we all stretched out on the bed, staring up at the chandelier. “Well, you’ll never believe it. It was amazing, you guys. They came to get me just because they wanted to spend some alone time with me and talk about last year.”

  “You mean how they weren’t super nice to you, but by the end of the year they were all trying to get in your pants?” Maggie was laughing while she asked the question, but it was obvious that she was still partly serious.

  I smacked her with a pillow. “Yeah, pretty much. So we all talked, just one-on-one and figured everything out. We’re all on the same page now, guys, so you don’t have to worry, okay?”

  Harper propped herself up on her elbow to look at me. “How does it work, though? I’m sorry, I’m just curious because…I mean, for me…one guy is a lot of work. But don’t get they jealous of each other? And how do you make sure they all get the time they need from you?”

  Not having enough time for my rogues was definitely something that was I a little nervous about, but so far, I’d managed to balance everything. The thing that made it all work the best was that they all wanted this as badly as I did, which meant that we were all willing to work hard and make some sacrifices. I explained this to my friends, who just nodded.

  “So you don’t have a favorite, then?” Maggie sat up as she asked the question, stretching.

  “Not a chance.” The words were out of my mouth before I’d even had a chance to consider them. “No favorites, nope. They’re all so different. Like, okay. Kaleb is so kind and thoughtful. He’s the most gentle one. And Jackie always makes me laugh, no matter what’s going on. He’s so funny and can always look on the bright side of things.” I paused for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts about Brett.

  “And Brett?” Harper elbowed me in the arm. “What about him?”

  “Brett and I go so far back that it’s almost impossible to explain or describe what we have. There’s this passion there that I’ve never felt with anyone ever before, but there’s also this incredible level of comfort because we know each other.” I felt like I was getting all of the words wrong, and I wasn’t sure if my friends understood, but I was doing my best. Taking a deep breath, I continued. “Brett knows my soul, and I know his. I don’t know how else to put it, really.”

  They were both silent for a moment and I was sure that I’d said or done something wrong, but then Harper grabbed my hand. “That is the most beautiful thing that you can say about someone.”

  I was nervous, but I forced myself to look at my friend. Her eyes were bright but she had tears glimmering in the corners. “You really think so? I just don’t know how to put into words what Brett and I have. It’s so difficult at times, but sometimes it feels so easy. It’s like we’re on two different sides of the world but we’re pulled together. We’re magnets, you guys, but I think we’re finally learning how to attract each other, not repel each other. And, honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Maggie grabbed my other hand. “Rose, seriously. If anyone can make it work with the three of them, it’s you. I don’t know what the four of you have, but it’s incredible. They love you more than I’ve ever seen anyone love another person. We just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

  “I am. I’m better than okay, you guys. In fact, I think that it’s all going to work out. I have you two, and you have Woods and Everett. I also have the rogues, and knowing that they are all on my side is what I need to make sure that I can handle anything this year throws at me, okay? It’s all going to be fine.”

  I wasn’t lying to my friends, but even as I spoke, there was a part of me that worried about the harpies. It was easy to think that they wouldn’t be an issue and that everything would work out in my favour when I wasn’t face-to-face with any of them, but that was all about to change, and I knew it.

  Chapter 6

  New year, new schedule. Thanks to Kaleb, I’d managed to pass algebra 2. There was definitely a pattern about me needing his help and him coming through in a pinch, and now that I was in statistics and probability, that wasn’t going to change. After homeroom I went to math, then Spanish, voice, and physics. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I had philosophy, creative writing, international business, and accounting.

  One thing that you couldn’t say about Taylor Prep was that they didn’t prepare you for the world. I had no idea how I was going to handle all of my classes, but I would know a little about everything when I graduated, even if that meant that I only knew that I didn’t want to continue with something. Like accounting. I mean, really? Who in the world wants to put numbers and check marks in little boxes? Not me.

  “Accounting?” Brett dropped my schedule onto the table and raised an eye at me. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Rose. How in the world are you going to handle that?”

  I scoffed and took a bite of my all-organic zucchini breakfast muffin. “You don’t know. Maybe I’m a whizz at accounting.”

  Kaleb snorted into his juice and I shot him a dirty look. “Hey, I’m not saying anything,” he told me. “Just be glad that I’m your math tutor, that’s all. If it weren’t for me…”

  “I wouldn’t even be here, I know.” Sighing, I pushed my plate away. “You guys, these classes are ridiculous.”

  Jackie grabbed my schedule and read through it quickly. “You’ll be fine, Rosita. The only classes that you have by yourself are voice and creative writing.”

  “No, I’m in that with her. I switched from business proposals and grants.” Kaleb waived his cup at me. “I think that my gifts are better suited to poetry from the heart, not trying to get people to donate money for something, don’t you?”

  I did. I had kept every single poem he’d written me over the summer. Even though I had them all memorized, I’d brought a notebook of them with me back to school. They were tucked in the bottom of my trunk, and not even Harper or Maggie knew that they were in my room.

  We got up and walked to homeroom together, talking as we cut through the quad. It had rained the night before and the grass was muddy, but we were all careful not to slip. Before we made it to the building, however, something came flying at my head.

  Screaming, I threw myself backwards and tried to duck, but my feet caught a slick of mud and I fell down, hard, on my ass.

  “Rosita! Are you okay?” Jackie was by my side in an instant, but Brett and Kaleb looked around to see what had happened. Before I could answer him, anot
her thing came flying at us, this time smacking me on the shoulder and breaking apart with a splat. The stench that came from it made me gag. Something smelled horrible, and there was a slime oozing down the sleeve of my jacket.

  “Shit that hurt!” I rubbed my arm and picked up the broken eggshell. “Eggs? Who in the world is throwing eggs at me?”

  I shouldn’t have had to ask. Jackie reached for my hand to pull me up to stand, but another egg flew at me, then another. The rogues ducked, trying to block me from getting hit, but they couldn’t stop the attack.

  Eggs pounded the ground around me, some of them smacking me in the hair and on my body. I shrieked with each hit, the smell of rotten eggs making me feel like I was going to throw up.

  “Stop it!” Brett’s voice was loud and commanding, but even he couldn’t make the person attacking us stop. The eggs kept coming until I was covered with dripping yolks and whites. Jackie pulled me up to my feet, my three rogues flanking me.

  “What the hell, Amelia?” Jackie stepped in front of me and, for the first time, I noticed that my boys were all covered in egg, too. They’d tried to save me but just ended up putting themselves at danger. We were all dripping with egg and I was covered with mud.

  What a fine way to start the first day back as a senior.

  Amelia was laughing so hard that she could barely speak. She was bent over, clutching her stomach, with Sara and Kelly at her sides. They both held empty baskets and had looks of triumph on their faces.

  “You should have seen your faces!” Amelia crowed, finally straightening up and wiping tears from her eyes. “You guys were terrified!”

  That was it.

  She could attack me. I’d already survived one year of her bullshit.

  But attacking my rogues? Not gonna fly.

  Ignoring the way that Kaleb grabbed my arm to stop me and how Brett tried to get in front of me so that I couldn’t keep walking, I pulled away from my rogues and marched up to Amelia. She was still grinning when I walked straight up to her, pulled my arm back, and landed a slap across her face.

  “You bitch.” My voice was quiet, but the smack across her face was loud enough to silence the quad. Everyone who had been standing around laughing when we were being egged turned to look at us. “You need to back the fuck off.”

  Amelia rubbed her cheek and grinned at me. “Big words from a little gutter rat who has a dirty stripper for a mom.”

  “Shut up.” My teeth were clenched together and I felt my hands form into fists but I couldn’t move. If I moved, then I knew that I would attack her. The last time the two of us fought in the quad she definitely came out on top. Even though she didn’t have a staff to use to beat me now, I didn’t trust that I could win in a fight.

  Amelia barked out a laugh. “Shut up? Is that the best you’ve got? God, Rose, you are as lame as your mom. No wonder she sent you off to school as soon as your stupid dad died.”

  By now it was hard for me to see straight. My head was starting to ache and I felt a terrible twisting deep in my stomach that I knew meant I was going to be sick, but there was no way that I wanted to throw up here. Not with everyone watching.

  “Take it back.” My fingernails were digging crescents into my palms. She was my complete focus. I had my eyes locked on her, pinning her in place, but she merely laughed and tossed her head, making her long hair flow around her shoulders.

  “I don’t have to, Rose. You already know that you’re nothing compared to me. Not only would your dad rather die than continue to be your father, but your mom spends time with strange men instead of you. But with that janky haircut and shitty attitude, it’s really no wonder why nobody loves you.”

  I couldn’t control myself any longer. I could hear my rogues calling my name and one of them reached out, putting his hand on my shoulder, but I wrenched myself away from him and launched myself at Amelia, reaching for her neck.

  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if I actually got her. Strangle her, maybe.

  She threw up her hands to stop me but was too slow and I hit her hard, both of us falling to the ground in a heap. Unlike our last fight, however, she didn’t have the automatic advantage. I pinned her down, my legs squeezed tightly around her middle as she squirmed.

  “Get off of me, you whore!” Amelia lashed out at me, trying to push me off of her, but she couldn’t grab me to throw me off. I took her by the shoulders and slammed her down into the ground before grabbing her neck.

  “I hate you, you bitch.” The words felt foreign coming out of my mouth, and her eyes widened. “All you’ve done since I got here was make my life a living hell!”

  Before I could do anything more, however, someone pulled me back. “Let me go!” I screamed, kicking out to try to stop whoever had their hands on me.

  “Jesus, Rosita, are you trying to get killed? Chill the hell out!” Jackie had his arms around my waist and hauled me back, practically tossing me to Kaleb and Brett, who wrapped their arms around me and held me in place.

  I was panting and lunching against their arms, trying to get them to let me go, but they just squeezed me tighter. Jackie was facing Amelia, and while they didn’t say anything at first, I suddenly realized that I wanted to hear what they were saying. Their faces were both white, and Amelia was rubbing her neck where I’d hand my hands clamped around it just a few moments before. It was going to bruise, I was sure of that, but I didn’t care about that right now.

  I had to know what my Jackie was saying to her.

  Kaleb and Brett noticed that I was no longer fighting them and loosened their hold on me while still keeping me with them. I leaned against Kaleb and he slipped his arm around my waist, supporting me while we all listened.

  “You’ve got to cut it out, Amelia.” Jackie’s voice was low and a warning, but his cousin just shook her head.

  “Why? So you can continue to hang out with your little slut? You do know that your friend Brett is the one who called the council on her, right? He’s the one who started this, and now it can’t be stopped.”

  Jackie clenched his fists and I could see him suck in a breath, but he didn’t turn around to look at us. Instead, he just shook his head, his eyes still locked on Amelia. “It doesn’t matter how it started. What matters is that it needs to end. Now.”

  She laughed and reached out to flick a bit of eggshell off of his jacket. “You and I both know that that’s not how it works, cousin. If she’s going to stay, which I think is a mistake, then someone else will have to pay the price. Are you willing to do that?”

  Jackie didn’t answer and she chuckled to herself, wiping her fingers on her skirt. “I didn’t think that you were. Always so noble, right up until it’s time for action. That’s just who you are, isn’t it?”

  “You’re an evil bitch.”

  “Yeah, I know. Whatever. Now you guys better take your little slut and go get changed before you’re late for homeroom.” Before she finished her sentence, the bell rang, echoing across the quad. She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “Nevermind, you’re too late. Good luck, and when you’re ready to be on the winning side for once, you just let me know. I still have a bit of a soft spot for you, cousin, even though you’ve been acting like a royal fuck-up recently.”

  Before he could respond, Amelia turned and joined her friends. They walked away from us, arms linked together, Sara and Kelly swinging their baskets. Jackie turned back to look at us, disappointment splashed across his face.

  “I’m so sorry, guys. I thought…well, I thought that my cousin was in there somewhere, but she’s just turned into a heartless bitch.” He swallowed hard, looking like he was going to cry, and I ran over to him, throwing myself into his arms.

  “It’s okay, Jackie, you tried. Thank you for trying.” He slipped his arm around me and pulled me closer, but I wiggled away so I could look at him. What I saw almost tore me apart. His light blue eyes were wavering and glimmering with tears. When I caught his gaze, he looked away from me, staring off into the distance.r />
  “No, look at me. Jackie, you have to listen. She’s your cousin, right? But she’s a bitch. I’m sorry that she won’t listen to you, but that has nothing to do with how I feel about you.” He glanced down at me, and when he looked away again, I took his chin, turning him to face me. “Now we all need to shower, right? Get cleaned up? It will be okay.”

  It will be okay.

  I had to just keep telling myself that.

  At the same time, I had to think about what Amelia meant by someone else paying the price if I were to stay at Taylor Prep. In my mind, I was already paying the price. Honestly, what else could they have tried to do to me?

  Chapter 7

  Although Amelia kept her distance for the rest of the week, I always knew that she was close by, watching. Senior classes at Taylor Prep were significantly harder than they had been our junior year and I figured that everyone was trying to get into the swing of things before the shit really hit the fan.

  Other people may have been more scared, but I was just planning ahead.

  Once we made it to graduation I knew that I probably wouldn’t have to see any of these people ever again. For me, that was a gift, but it also meant that there was a timer on how long I had to handle everything with Amelia and the rest of the harpies.

  I wasn’t about to let them graduate Taylor Prep without knowing what it felt like to be attacked. I didn’t tell the rogues or my two best friends what I was doing, but I made a list.

  Amelia. Sara. Kelly. Those were the main ones, of course, but there were more.

  Everyone who laughed when we were attacked by the harpies. Everyone who may have been working with the council to drive me out of school.

  I wasn’t planning on leaving, and I sure as hell wasn’t okay with them making someone else pay the price so that I could get the education that I deserved. I just had to think, and that took time, but luckily I had plenty of it at night.