Kings of Linwood Academy - The Complete Box Set: A Dark High School Romance Series by Callie Rose (sight word books .TXT) 📕

I squeeze Linc’s hand more tightly as we navigate the intricate maze, only letting go when we enter a much smaller bar area. In one of the booths toward the back, Trent tips his head back and laughs at something his friend said. There’s no sign of Savannah, which isn’t that big of a shocker, considering the star football player has a brunette girl who could either be a cocktail waitress, a stripper, or just a very friendly club patron draped halfway across his lap.

Ugh. He really is a disgusting pig.

There’s no love lost between me and Savannah, but I’m pretty sure the two of them are officially dating—or at least, she thinks so. And I don’t care much about whether she gets hurt, but it still pisses me off to see Trent treating her like this. Especially after he did the same thing to Iris.

“There.” Linc jerks his chin toward them, but we’ve all already seen. He turns back to me, raising his voice over the music, which is still loud, though no longer deafening. “Wait here.”

River takes the hand that was just enfolded in Lincoln’s, and the three other boys stride purposefully toward Trent’s booth. When they reach it, Trent’s gaze snaps up to them. Linc says something to the brunette, and her eyes widen. A half second later, she gets up and leaves quickly.

As she’s hustling away, Lincoln grabs Trent by the front of the shirt and hauls him out of the booth. His friends start to rise, but Chase and Dax step forward, their posture clearly threatening. The two other guys hesitate, and the twins don’t wait for them to decide what they’re going to do. They turn to Linc and Trent, and the three kings muscle the blond boy through the dark lounge.

When they reach us, they don’t stop. River and I turn to follow them as they drag him down a hall toward a door with an exit sign hanging over it.

Dax shoves it open, letting a gust of cold air fill the hallway, and then he and the other two boys shove Trent outside. After River and I step through, the blue-eyed boy uses a chunk of wood that’s lying in the alley to brace the door open.

Trent has been putting up a struggle, but he’s only slightly bigger than Lincoln and Chase, and roughly the same size as Dax. And there are three of them and only one of him. Ambient light from the street illuminates his broad features and deep-set eyes as Lincoln shoves him up against the brick wall of the building. Dax and Chase each grab an arm, pinning him in place and keeping him from lashing out.

“What the fuck?” Trent bellows, jerking against their hold.

“I think you know what the fuck,” Lincoln shoots back, and his voice is low and dangerous.

It’s cold outside, but that has nothing to do with the shiver that runs down my spine.

Trent must hear the same edge in Linc’s tone that I do, because he puffs up his chest, trying to hide his fear under bluster. “Whatever, man. You can’t do shit to me. Osterhaut said he’ll come down hard on anybody who steps out of line.”

Lincoln shrugs, and even that movement is predatory. “On school grounds. We’re not on school grounds.”

Trent scoffs again, but I catch his gaze sliding toward the door we all just came through, probably hoping like hell is buddies are about to burst through and help him even the odds out here.

They might. They could any minute.

But Linc doesn’t seem worried about that as he steps closer to Trent, grabbing his chin and squeezing hard, pressing his head back against the wall.

“I want you to tell me what the fuck you and Savannah did to Harlow. And how.”

Trent’s brows draw together for a second, and then realization spreads across his face, followed by fear—the first time he’s let himself show that emotion since the guys dragged him out here.

He shakes his head, or tries to, though the movement is hampered my Linc’s tight grip. “Hey, listen, man! That was Savannah’s idea! I didn’t want to do to it. She—she talked me into it!”

Jesus.

This guy is a real piece of work, blaming the shit he and Savannah pulled with my tests on his supposed “girlfriend”, who’s not even here to defend herself. Granted, I’d definitely believe that redheaded bitch was the instigator, but a knight in shining armor, Trent is not.

“Oh, she just talked you into it?” Dax grunts, renewing his hold on Trent as the football player struggles hard. “Too bad you had no fucking choice.”

“Look, I didn’t—I wasn’t gonna really hurt her, alright? Savannah wanted me to, but I was just trying to scare her! That’s it!”

What?

The three boys holding him against the wall freeze. Beside me, I feel River’s body go rigid, stiff as a statue.

I blink, and the words hovering on my tongue come out of Chase’s mouth instead.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t gonna do anything but scare her! What the fuck do you think I am? And it was all Savannah’s idea. Some other cheerleaders overheard Harlow talking about going to that poker game, and Savannah told me to go after her, to get her back for what happened to Iris. But I wouldn’t try to fucking kill her or anything. Jesus!”

Chase’s face is smooth and hard, anger transforming his features until I almost can’t recognize them. “Oh, shit. You wore a mask—a party mask. Someone else’s face.”

“It was you. Outside the warehouse that night,” Dax growls.

“Yeah—” Trent breaks off, finally picking up on the change in the atmosphere. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Now?” Lincoln’s voice is still smooth and dangerous. “Now we’re talking about how you attacked Harlow.”

“I—I—”

The football star’s face contorts as he realizes he just said way more than he should have.

“You attacked her and then ran like a fucking coward,” Dax grates out, and the tension in the alley grows so thick and