Wicked Mercy Read online

  For a while, I stopped sleeping. It was easier for me to stretch out in bed and run through the list of people who had hurt me and had hurt my friends than it was for me to try to close my eyes and get some rest. While that meant that I was getting dark circles under my eyes, it also meant that I was awake when the shit really hit the fan in the middle of the night one night.

  We’d been back at Taylor Prep for just one week. Boys weren’t allowed in the girls’ rooms, but Harper and Maggie had been hanging out until late. We all had huge projects to work on and sometimes just sharing space when studying made the whole ordeal less painful.

  “You know,” Harper said, closing her laptop with a loud click, “chocolate cake sounds good, right? You girls want to get out of here next weekend and get some? I can have my mom make sure that we each have our own when we get to the house if you really want to indulge.”

  Maggie sighed and threw herself back on her bed. “That sounds…amazing. Do you really think we could do it? I’ll get my parents to call in permission for me to go with you. Friday night.”

  Harper nodded at her and then turned to me. I was stretched out on my bed, almost asleep but still trying to fight my way through a statistics problem. It was hopeless, and I tossed my notebook onto the floor. “I’m there. I’ll call my mom tomorrow, but now you guys have got to get out so we can all sleep.”

  “You sure you’re getting any sleep, Rose?” Maggie looked concerned and leaned over me. “You’ve look exhausted since we all got back.”

  I nodded at her and rolled over, pulling a blanket up my body. “I’m just having trouble sleeping,” I told them. “That’s all.”

  Harper helped Maggie off of my bed. “Just be careful, Rose. You have to be refreshed if you’re going to make it through your classes and if you’re going to survive the harpies.”

  Yeah, like they needed to tell me that. I waved at them as they left, locking the door behind themselves and turning off the light. I’d kept my curtains open so I could see the moonlight coming in my room. It played on the quad and made funny shadows, but at least it kept me entertained.

  Except that night something wasn’t right. The shadows in the quad were moving, which is something that I hadn’t seen before.

  “What in the world?” I sat up, pushing my blanket off of me and swung my legs out of bed. Trying to stay in the shadows, I crept to the window to look outside. Slowly I leaned over, peeking through the window, but I jerked my head back as quickly as possible when a huge rock came flying through the glass, splintering it and sending shards everywhere.

  The shattering sound was so loud that I immediately gasped and covered my ears, shutting my eyes in fear. The glass shattered, huge chunks and tiny pieces flying into my room as the entire pane of glass slipped out of the frame and smashed to the floor.

  The shards of glass flew all over my bed, some of them breaking apart so that they lodged into my arm. I screamed and jumped back, but not before hearing laughter and seeing two shadows run away.

  It was Amelia. It had to be.

  Before I could stop and think clearly, I knocked the rest of the glass out of my way and jumped out of the window. Since the window was so huge, there were only a few feet for me to jump to the ground, but I tumbled and fell, landing sideways on my ankle.

  “Stop!” My voice echoed across the quad as I struggled back to my feet and started to chase after them. “Stop where you are! Who are you?” My ankle throbbed but I tried to run, hobbling after the people who had attacked me. I didn’t make it more than fifteen feet before I fell again, my ankle throbbing and hot under my touch.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” I lightly touched it, jerking my fingers back with a hiss at the shooting pain. I glanced up but the two people running away were gone. “Shit. What do I do?”

  A light in the room next to mine clicked on as I watched and I felt my stomach drop in horror as the curtains twitched open. Amelia stood there, backlit by her room, watching me. I knew that she could see me in the moonlight, and there wasn’t anything that I could do. I couldn’t get away from her and I couldn’t hide.

  Even though I couldn’t see her eyes, I stared at her. I wasn’t afraid of her. In fact, I was coming for her.

  ***

  “I was really hoping that you and I weren’t going to get to spend so much quality time together this year, Miss Bennett.” Mrs. Dimitri was examining my ankle and ignoring my gasps of pain. “Just thought that you’d go for a job and ended up slipping? What in the world were you doing out of your bed so late last night?”

  I’d managed to crawl back to my bedroom last night and haul myself up into the window without any help, but in the end, I’d texted Brett to let him know what had happened. I just wanted him to be aware, but all of the rogues ended up taking turns sitting in the quad outside my window last night to keep me safe. It should have made me feel better, but it actually made me a little more worried.

  If they were worried, then I thought that I should be worried, too.

  “Something like that,” I told the nurse. She wrapped my ankle quickly and efficiently before handing me some painkillers.

  “These will take the edge off, honey.”

  I hesitated and then shook my head. “I’m sorry, I don’t take any medication like that. I’d just rather…”

  “Be in pain?” Kaleb’s voice made me whip my head around. He was leaning casually in the doorframe, his arms crossed as he watched me argue with the nurse.

  “No,” I countered. “I just don’t like taking things that I don’t need to. What are you doing here? Won’t you get in trouble for missing homeroom?” The bell had rung a short while ago, but I had an excuse since I needed medical care.

  He shrugged. “No. Mr. Taylor wanted someone to bring you to his office and I volunteered, so let’s go.”

  Shakily I stood up, taking Mrs. Dimitri’s arm when she offered. She then handed me crutches, which I hesitated to take, but finally slipped under my arms. The last thing that I needed was anything slowing me down, but I knew that if I didn’t use crutches at all that I wouldn’t be able to get around on my own.

  “I could just carry you, you know.” Kaleb mimed throwing me over his shoulder, and I laughed.

  “I’m good,” I promised him, then turned back to the nurse. “Thanks again, Mrs. Dimitri. You’re a gem, you know that.”

  She nodded. “I do. Come back if you decide that you want something for the pain. Otherwise, see if you can avoid my office the rest of the year, okay, Miss Bennett? You’re becoming quite the frequent flyer around here.”

  We left and Kaleb helped me down the stairs. I expected him to launch into a full lecture, but we were almost to Mr. Taylor’s office before he spoke. “You know, Rose, it’s bad news that someone attacked you last night. We’re worried about you.”

  I didn’t have to ask – I knew exactly who he was referring to, and I nodded. “I know. Thanks.” It took most all of my focus to operate the crutches, and I carefully swung them forward, trying to keep my balance.

  “We don’t want you to get hurt.” Kaleb stepped in front of me, blocking my path down the hall. “We don’t want you to end up…dead. Rose, what are you going to do if Mr. Taylor suggests that you study somewhere else?”

  I frowned at him. “You don’t think that he would, do you? That’s insane. My money is just as good as yours, Kaleb.” I tried to move around him, but he didn’t budge.

  “I know that, Rose. I’m just thinking about what he could want from this meeting. The other rogues and I were talking and we’re not sure if he’s working with the council or not.”

  I shivered at those words. “What does that mean for me?”

  “We don’t really know. Just be careful, Rose, and know that I’m going to be waiting right here for you.” He gestured at a huge chair across the hall from Mr. Taylor’s office before opening the office door for me. The secretary looked up as I walked in. She had short blonde hair and popped her gum at me, which made me raise my eyebrows
in surprise.

  Mr. Taylor didn’t seem like someone who would let their secretary pop her gum.

  “Rose Bennet?” When I nodded, she glanced at the clock over my head. “He’s been waiting on you, so go on in.”

  Taking a deep breath, I opened his office door and made my way in. Mr. Taylor sat at a huge wooden desk, watching me as I slowly picked my way through the door and then turned, shutting it behind me. It wasn’t until the door was shut and I was turned around, facing him, that he finally spoke.

  “Rose Bennett. You’ve been the absolute epicenter of a lot of problems since you came to Taylor Prep. I was really hoping, when we accepted you here, that your more diverse background would be a benefit to the school and not a hindrance, but now I’m beginning to worry that I was wrong.”

  He didn’t offer me a seat but I still sat down across from him. My leg ached and my ankle throbbed, and sitting sounded amazing.

  “And I appreciate your offer to study here, Mr. Taylor.” My mom had always told me to try to butter people up when they were pissy – that it was a good way to start out the conversation rather than being hostile. “As you know, I’ve been the victim of some bullying from a group called the harpies.”

  He waved my words away. “All in fun, my dear, all in good fun.”

  “Good fun? They threw a rock through my window. Last year they cut off my hair and put kiwi in my water, which they knew I was allergic to! I do not see how you could possibly think that this was all in good fun. Sir.”

  Mr. Taylor’s face was red. “Are you finished, Miss Bennett? Do you have any proof of these allegations? Any way to show for certain that it was, as you say, the harpies who did these things to do? Because it sounds like the rock was probably an accident and the water was from someone who wanted you to feel better but who made a mistake. You’re going to punish people over a mistake? That’s not the kind of student we want here at Taylor Prep.”

  Kaleb had been right. He was going to ask me to leave. The realization flooded through my body, making me feel panicky and hot. “You think that everything was an accident? What about my hair?” I ran my hand over my head, feeling the soft and short hairs.

  He shrugged. “Students are often making poor fashion choices. It’s nothing new, Miss Bennett, but it’s time that you accept your responsibility for what you are dealing with here.”

  My responsibility? I was so angry I felt like I could choke.

  “So what do you recommend we do? Sir?” My teeth were gritted together as I spoke, but I knew that I needed to try to be as polite as possible or I wasn’t going to get any help from the man. It’s not that I expected a lot of help, but some would be better than none.

  He templed his fingers and looked over them at me. “I will make a concession for you so that you’ll see that you, Miss Bennett, not other people, are the problem. There are a few empty rooms on the third floor of the dorm, and you may move into one of them. In fact, I’ll send porters to take care of that while you’re in class today. Of course, the same rules apply. No boys in your room, and you’ll be the only one on the third floor. Is that what you would like?”

  The thought of being moved away from Harper and Maggie filled me with dread, but, at the same time, I’d also be farther from the harpies. I nodded before giving myself too much time to think about it. “That is very helpful, thank you.”

  He nodded and stood up, planting his hands on his desk as he did and signifying that the meeting was over. Hurriedly, I put my crutches under my armpits and stood, trying to ignore the throbbing in my ankle.

  “Is there anything else?” When I shook my head, he sighed. “Good. Then go to your classes, Miss Bennett, and keep your grades up. If I hear from your teachers that you are not taking your time here seriously then there really is no reason for me to allow you to continue to study here. You’re being a distraction, and at Taylor Prep we do not allow or encourage that. Do you understand?”

  I nodded. Oh, I understood all right. I understood that only one of us could stay here at Taylor Prep and that I wasn’t going to let it be Amelia. I understood that she was out for me and had her money and the prestige of her name making Mr. Taylor turn a blind eye to what a bitch she was.

  Ignoring Mr. Taylor’s secretary, I made my way out of the office, grateful to see Kaleb sitting in the hall, just like he had promised. He stood up quickly, coming to wrap his arm around my shoulders, but before he could speak, Mr. Taylor called to me from his office.

  “Remember, Miss Bennett. I do not give chances lightly, and I certainly don’t give second ones. Shape up or you will be removed from campus, no matter how much money your dead dad left you.”

  Chapter 8

  “So, this is nice.” Harper sat on my new bed and looked around the room, trying to keep a smile on her face. I appreciated it, especially because all I’d wanted to do since I saw the room where the porters moved my things was cry. There were only a few finished rooms on the third floor, like Mr. Taylor had said, but there wasn’t anything about them that made them seem as nice as the ones downstairs.

  Rather than a huge floor-to-ceiling window, my room now had a small one that I could force open by pushing on it with my shoulder. The bed was a twin bed on a rickety metal frame, and the bare floor was cold under my feet.

  “Do you think they remembered to put in insulation up here?” I hadn’t stopped shivering since I got into my new room. It would probably be blazing hot during the middle of the day with the sun beating down on it, but when the sun wasn’t out, it was freezing.

  “I think there’s probably some.” Maggie leaned out from the bathroom. “No claw foot tub, I’m afraid, but you do have a window over the sink so you can look outside while you brush your teeth.”

  “That’s…not really what I would choose.” Sighing, I threw myself back on my bed. It groaned loudly under my weight. Great. I could already tell that it was going to be a nightmare trying to get to sleep and stay asleep when it was squeaking all night long.

  Not only did changing my room mean that I had to take the stairs up two floors, my room was tiny, cramped, outdated, and away from my friends.

  “We’ll come visit you, we promise.” Harper threw her arms around me and pulled me to her. “But right now I think that you have another visitor.”

  I struggled out of her grasp and sat up, gasping when I saw Jackie in the doorway. “What in the world are you doing here? You’re not allowed in my room, you know.”

  He grinned and walked in before turning around in a circle. “I didn’t catch on fire, though, so I don’t see the big deal. I wanted to see the girl I love.”

  Harper and Maggie giggled and scooted out the door. “We’ll just let you two have some time alone.”

  I shot them both a look, but they were gone before I could say anything.

  “So, how do you like your new digs? I can’t believe that Mr. Taylor moved you up here all by yourself.” He jiggled the door handle and checked the lock before shutting it and coming to sit next to me on the bed. “You really had us worried, Rosita. What’s with someone throwing a rock through your window in the middle of the night?”

  I sighed and leaned against him, enjoying how he pulled me close with his arm around my shoulder. “It was Amelia, Jackie, I’m sure of it. I saw her and someone else running away after they threw the rock, but Mr. Taylor thinks it was some kind of a misunderstanding. Like…how they can misunderstand the treatment I’ve dealt with is beyond me, but…”

  I would have kept talking, but Jackie’s mouth on mine shut me up. He leaned me back on the bed, sliding his body over mine. His kisses were scorching hot and I felt each one of them burn through me and settle in my core. After a moment, he pulled back, his lips still grazing mine.

  “I was so worried, Rosita. I can’t handle the thought of anything happening to you.” Slowly he traced a finger down my cheek, parting my mouth with his thumb. I squirmed under him, all of my nerves on fire. Being alone with Jackie like this made me suddenly want
ed him more than anything.

  No, that’s not true. I needed him. I needed Jackie to love me and be with me.

  “I love you.” I didn’t want to talk about what had happened to me or how worried he was. It didn’t change a thing about the way his cousin and her friends treated me or the fact that Mr. Taylor himself didn’t really think that I belonged at the school. There was only one thing that I could control right now, and that was being with Jackie.

  If he wanted me as badly as I wanted him, that was.

  “Oh, Rosita.” He planted scorching kisses down my cheek and neck, tugging on my shirt to run his tongue along my collarbone. I arched my back, pressing my hips up into him, and he responded by leaning back and reaching for the hem of my shirt. “I want you, Rosita. Do you…”

  Did I want him? Was he kidding?

  “I need to be with you, Jackie.” I practically panted the words, I was so filled with need for him. There wasn’t anything that could stop me from wanting to be with him right then. He was the only person who could fill the void that I felt and make me feel human again.

  Make me feel loved.

  Luckily, I didn’t have to try to explain any of that to him.

  “I’ve wanted this since I met you, Rosita. I’ve wanted you and I can’t wait to have you.” Sitting up, he helped me out of my clothes then stripped, climbing back onto the bed with me. Slowly he traced a line down my side, making me shiver. “You are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, Rosita. Everything about you is perfection.”

  Even though Jackie usually was funny and made me laugh, there was nothing funny about what he was saying or how he was touching me. I felt myself melt under his fingertips as he ran his hands down my ribs, grabbing me by the hips.

  In one smooth motion he leaned to the side, rocking up and settling me on top of him. I planted my hands on his chest and could feel his heart pounding under his hot skin.

  “Are you ready?” As I asked him this, I kept my eyes locked on his. He nodded, a small movement that I would have missed if I hadn’t been paying attention.