Page 100 of Disobedient Pawn

“I think you know more than you’re saying.” Ivan took another step, and Ren’s body stiffened. “There is a group in this school that we don’t like very much, and you could be the one to solve all our problems.”

“I don’t understand. I just want to do my schoolwork, get good grades and then get the hell out of this place and leave all of it behind,” Ren said.

Did she not understand that when you were born or brought into a family like ours, there was no leaving unless you were in a body bag? I hated to admit that I thought Myles might be right, but we might as well continue to be sure.

“What do you think, boys? You think she knows anything?”

“I think the bitch is lying,” Cory said, and Myles’s hands balled into fists. I caught his eye and shook my head no, but I knew if Cory were stupid enough to grab Ren for real, he would be a dead mole.

“So do I,” Ivan said, stepping closer until only the table separated them. Ivan stood a solid six-eight and played on the basketball team. Seeing him tower over Ren made her look ridiculously small. “Maybe we should have some fun with you. Maybe loosening up your legs will loosen your mouth.”

Ivan was laying it on thick, but it worked. Ren’s eyes went wide, and she stumbled backward, hitting her ass off the table behind her.

“I swear I don’t know anything about anything. I just learned—”

“You’re fucking lying,” Ivan bellowed, and Ren’s face drained of all color. A tiny ball of guilt formed in my stomach as I stared at her terrified face. Myles was right. If she was acting, she was damn good at it.

“Get her boys,” Ivan growled. “And fuck her up good.”

Ren screamed as she ran around the table and took off into the darker corners of the tall bookshelves. She sprinted for the emergency exit as expected, but I’d already handled that. The bar folded down when Ren slammed into the door but didn’t budge. She bounced off like a cartoon character and landed on the floor. The stupid little thread of guilt bloomed again and tried to worm into my brain, and I had to punt it aside. I needed answers, and she had them.

The guys fanned out, and the game was on. She got to her feet and took off across the massive room toward the stairs. I was pretty sure it was Liam who jumped out of the dark and blocked her route up. Skidding to a stop, she whipped around and ran for the cover of the tall bookshelves, her white hair streaming out behind her like a beacon.

Howling like a wolf, the other guys followed my lead, each making a noise that echoed in the cavernous hall. I jogged softly to the far end of the shelves and started back while the others took different rows. Ren’s scream jolted my heart, so piercing that I was torn between carnal excitement and feeling like this had gone too far.

“Get away from me,” she roared. There was a crash and thudding as books landed on the floor. Bending low, I looked through an empty gap in the shelves as a blur of feet and skirt went running by while who I was pretty sure was Cory curled up in the fetal position on the floor.

Pushing away from the shelf, I ran in the same direction as Ren, impressed with her speed. She reminded me of one of those white rabbits used as bait for greyhounds. Her small body streaked out of the cover of the shelving. I chased her, watching as she looked back and tripped over a chair. She screamed as she sailed through the air and landed with a bang on one of the many tables in the center of the room.

The first time I’d been forced to chase down prey like this was shortly after my tenth birthday. My father felt it was time I learned what the grown men needed to do to hold the reins of power. I remembered that night so clearly.

They pulled a girl out of a cage. She was dressed in all white, and her blonde hair fanned out around her as she ran. I felt so empowered. My father trusted me with knowledge the others wouldn’t understand this young. I was special, I was important, and she was the enemy. Then I learned that she was just some girl, a waitress at a diner who didn’t have much money and was offered the chance to make enough to pay her rent in the building owned by one of the other Kings. She was no enemy, and we weren’t doing anything for the greater good. It was all for sport. That was the first time I saw my father beat and rape a woman.

As Ren’s pain-filled scream reached me, my body shook, but not with pleasure or a sense of power—not this time.

She rolled off the desk and kept running, despite the obvious pain as she held her arm and limped like she’d banged her shin or maybe her foot. Myles looked over at me, and even though I could only see his eyes, he was telling me to stop this shit.

I opened my mouth to call off the chase when Ren ran into one of the dark rows on the other side and began screaming hysterically.

“We’re going to fucking kill you,” I heard Ivan say, and in a blink, Myles was whipping past me like I was standing still. The other guys and I ran toward the screaming, stopping at the end of the row. The scene unfolding before me was something I hadn’t expected, and now that it was happening, I didn’t know what to do.

Ivan and Myles stood back as Ren screamed at the top of her lungs. She was clawing at the bookcase, books falling to the floor like rain, but what she was saying hurt parts of me I thought were destroyed.

“No, let her go! Don’t hurt her. Let go of my mum, please, let go of her. You’re killing her! Mum! Let me out of here!”

Ren slammed backward into the shelf behind her and rammed forward at the unmovable wooden tower in front of her with a loud thud. She was going to hurt herself while caught in a memory, something about her mum so traumatic she was in a full dissociative meltdown.

I only recognized it because I had a few myself until my heart hardened and my mind locked away traumas I never shared, not even with the guys. My father said I was weak, and piece by piece, I locked it away until my mind and heart were steel vaults and my fists just as hard.

“No! Stop it! You’re killing her! I’ll kill you! Let me out of here, and I’ll kill you, you fucking assholes,” she shrieked. Ren’s nails scraped down the wood, leaving grooves in their wake. Her eyes were wild as she screamed and thrashed back and forth like she was trying to break out of something. Her hand clutched at her heart, and she stopped.

Ren looked right at me. Silver eyes filled with a twisted and toxic combination of fear and hate burning in their depths before rolling back in her head as she collapsed to the floor.

Myles was fast and caught her before she could hit her head. My own heart felt like it was trapped as it pounded out of control. My ears rang with the sound of her voice.

Myles gathered her into his arms and marched toward me. I knew before he reached us that he was furious, and the only thing stopping him from jumping on me was Ren in his arms.

“I told ya this was a waste of time. I told ya I didn’t want ta do it. Ya forced me, and ya did this ta her. I will no do it again fir ya,” he growled, his accent thick with his rage. “If dat means I’m out, den I’m out. But don’t ya fuckin’ dare do somethin like this ta her again, or I swear on me mother’s cold dead body, I will come fir ya.”