Page 7 of Merciless

Releasing his wrist, I step back to put space between us before taking a seat at the table.

The others take their seats as well, spreading out.

Derrick breaks the tense silence and pats the sleeves of his uniform jacket, then smooths the flyaway strands of blond hair. “Anyway, is anyone else jonesing for some pretzels and cheese after the bullshit that happened this morning?”

I raise an eyebrow. “What happened this morning?”

Heads turn toward me, and they all share the same confused look.

“I was busy.” By being balls deep in some pussy, but that’s none of their business.

Derrick clears his throat. “This might be an off-the-wall question here. You don’t think your brother would side with the Walker brothers, do you?”

“You think my brother is a rat?”

“I think nothing of that sort.” He shrugs. “But Asher never speaks, and he gives off the vibe that he would rather be anywhere else but with us. I mean, shit, he’s not with us right now. For all we⁠—”

“My brother isn’t a rat,” I say. “What happened this morning?”

“They left a message. It’s been the talk on campus.” He pins me with a somber expression. “They etched something into Grayson’s car. It said rich boys don’t belong.”

My back straightens. “And you think it’s the Walkers?”

“Come on, man. It can’t be anyone else, given that they’ll be at the competition tonight.”

The act screams Walker brothers, that much I know for sure. They’ve had a stick up their ass ever since my group joined street racing with the occasional drifting. Then everything went to shit when I won a race fair and square. They accused me of cheating. Over the time that we’ve been racing, the Walker brothers sent messages in the most dramatic ways. Each one escalated from the last, becoming more brutal. They don’t think we belong because of our money and their belief that I cheated. They’re spoiled rich boys as well, but their pride won’t let them accept money from their daddy. They would rather “work hard for the money they get.”

“We’ll send a message back to them tonight,” I say.

My gaze drifts from my friends to the busy bar, where a crowd gathers to get their booze and food.

Eden works behind the counter, pushing sodas to waiting customers. The bartender huffs when Eden doesn’t move fast enough. She points to my table, most likely telling her to get our order.

The corner of my lip twitches.

Eden glances our way, her gaze sweeping over the backs of my friends’ heads before landing on me. Her eyes narrow, and she whips around, shaking her head at the bartender.

“What’s that look for?” Derrick’s question drags my attention to him when I’d rather watch my stepsister being scared to get our orders. Specifically, my order.

“What look?”

“Like you’re about to snap someone’s head off.”

I slowly blink and focus on relaxing my muscles. A figure approaches us. Leisurely, I turn to Eden, right as she stops beside the table, notepad and pen in hand.

“What do you want?” she says, her voice flat.

Well, this is going to be fun.

CHAPTER 4

EDEN

“Oh, look,” Derrick says. He rests his elbow on the back of his chair. “The freak is here. Are you stalking us now?”

“Maybe she wants something of yours for that curse I told you about,” Katie says with a laugh.

I glare at her and bite my tongue. She seems to know a lot about curses for someone who wears a small cross around her neck. Or maybe she’s scared that I really will put a curse on her and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.