BULLY KING Read online

  “Really? Damn. I thought everyone was kidding when they said you stole Lacy’s scholarship. Well done, Cades. Well done.”

  “I didn’t steal it. The Chairman offered it to me.”

  “Hmm. Also interesting. Since you’re living at his house and I saw Cooper go into your bedroom last night.”

  I shake my head, so annoyed. “Mona, if you want to spread that rumor, I can’t stop you. And I’m sure it will really piss Isabella off. But nothing happened.”

  “Oh, now come on. No one will believe that. You sucked his dick all year when he was a senior in Prep.”

  I go red with heat at these words.

  “Not just him, either. Oh, hey. I have a question for you. Did you guys like… take turns or something? Or was it just one big sloppy orgy with their cocks stuck into every orifice of your body?”

  “You’re disgusting.”

  “Well, I’m disappointed. I had been picturing it as an orgy for three years and you just burst my bubble.”

  I walk faster when the Glass House comes in to view.

  “Byeeeeee!” Mona calls. “Good luck today!”

  I cannot believe I thought she would actually be on my side. She might be worse than Isabella.

  I slip into the kitchen and find all the servers putting on their aprons and bustling around.

  “You’re back,” Victor says.

  “I’m back.”

  “Glutton for punishment, huh?”

  “I’m just here to do my job.”

  “Good news. Your duck costume went missing. Did you burn it?”

  “No. I took it off and left it in the laundry basket.”

  “Well, it’s not there. And Isabella is pissed.”

  “She’s already here? Why is she so early? Coffee doesn’t even get served for another hour.”

  “She’s checking up on you. If you did burn it—”

  “I didn’t.”

  “I’m just saying, if you did, you should just own up to it. She will at least just hand out your punishment and move on.”

  “She probably burned it. She’s setting me up.”

  “Probably.”

  “Bitch. I hate them.”

  “Not all of them.” Victor smirks as he fills the massive commercial coffeemaker with water using a stainless-steel pitcher. “Not Cooper.”

  “Especially Cooper.”

  “Whatever, Cadee.”

  “Whatever yourself.” I stand there for a minute, my apron tied on. “Now what do I do?”

  “Better go ask the queen. She’s your boss, Fugling.”

  I turn on my heel and push through the kitchen doors, then mutter, “Asshole.” Because I thought Victor was going to be my friend. And he’s clearly not interested in getting involved. He only shows up to save his own ass. Just like all the rest.

  “There she is,” Isabella sneers as I walk out into the main room. “What did you do with it?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Isabella.” I say it sweetly. Like hurt-your-teeth sweetly. Which only makes her more suspicious.

  “I’ll get you another one. You will wear that costume all summer.”

  “Or,” Selina chirps, “until she quits and runs away crying.”

  I just smile at Selina Reyes. I don’t know her. Like at all. But I don’t need to know her to understand what and who she is. She is one of Isabella’s best friends. Enough said. That’s all there is to it.

  “She’s not going to wear the costume anymore.”

  We all turn to find Cooper, Ax, and Lars walking towards us.

  “What?” Isabella is pissed at being challenged about this.

  Ax dances up to me shaking a white t-shirt at me like he’s giddy. Or high. Probably high. “You have a new uniform, Fugling.” He drops it over my head. “Put it on.”

  I yank the shirt off my head and force myself to smile. They will not win. I will not give them that satisfaction. Ever.

  “Sure thing, my prince.” I wink up at him and he stops his dancing to frown at me. Then I whip my shirt over my head and toss the pretty pink gauzy blouse on the ground.

  I’m sad that I don’t get to look cute all day. But my ‘uniform’ is just a white t-shirt. It could be a lot worse.

  They all stare at me as I stand there in my pretty pink bra and start slipping the new shirt over my head.

  “No.” Cooper grabs the shirt from me. “Take off the bra too.”

  “What?”

  Those dangerous blue eyes are locked on mine. “You heard me. No bra.”

  I glance at Isabella and her friends. And now more people are here. Three more guys and two more girls. And they are all watching to see what I will do.

  I reach behind my back, unclasp my bra, let it slide down my arms. And I stand there with my chest out and my nipples all peaked up and perky.

  Cooper is staring at me. But he’s not taking in the view. He’s gritting his teeth in anger.

  Oh, did I disappoint you, big strong man? Was I not properly embarrassed?

  Like I care if these people see my body. I’m not ashamed of it.

  Mona bursts out laughing on the far side of the room when she walks through the door. “Get ’em, Cadee!” she yells, kinda… cheering me on. Maybe. Probably not. Whatever.

  Cooper throws the t-shirt at me. He’s had his eyes locked on mine this whole time. But now he lets them slide down to my bare breasts. And they linger there until I pull the shirt over my head and straighten it out.

  I look down at it, realize someone has written ‘Call me Fugling’ across the front in thick black marker, and just… let it go.

  Play the game, Cadee. You’re a winner.

  I curtsey. Bow my head at Cooper Valcourt. “Thank you, Your Highness.” Then I look at Isabella. “My queen, how can I serve you today?”

  “Coffee,” she barks. “Now.”

  I curtsey again. “It will be my pleasure.”

  Then I turn on my heel and walk back to the kitchen, passing Victor, who watches me with an open mouth, then follows me. “Oh, Cadee,” he says when we’re safely in the kitchen and they can’t hear him.

  “What?”

  “You’re just making it worse. Trust me. All you have to do is cry a little, be ashamed when they tell you, and hate every minute of this.”

  “That’s giving up.”

  “No, Cadee. It’s giving in. And that’s what it takes to win the games they play.”

  I feel sorry for Victor. Because he’s a quitter. He’s willing to let these elite assholes run his life and determine his future and I’m not. We are two very different people. I look him straight in the eyes. “I’m not giving in.”

  He puts both hands up in the air like he’s surrendering. “Fine. Do it your way. But they are gonna make it so much worse now.”

  I ignore him and start filling up a silver coffee pot.

  You will not give in, Cadee. You will not.

  You did that already. You let these boys run your life three years ago. You surrendered to them. Fell for them. Believed them.

  And all they did was lie and abandon you when you really needed help.

  You will fight back this time.

  You will show them you don’t need them, you don’t want them, and you will win this time.

  They will be the broken ones left behind.

  Not me.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN - COOPER

  “Hear ye, hear ye!” Ax is strutting back and forth across the front of the Glass House great room wearing army-green cargo shorts, Doc Martens, and a white t-shirt with a black double-ended arrow pointing up at his face and down at his waist with the words ‘TWO-SEATER’ in the middle.

  That t-shirt is so… Ax.

  There’s a chain wallet in his back pocket, his buzzed brown hair has a pentagram shaved on one side and an all-seeing eye on the other, and his colorful full-sleeve demon tattoos really pull the whole look together and give off an anarchist vibe that screams ‘Chaos is mine, motherfuckers!’

&nbs
p; I put a hand over my mouth to hide my smile.

  “Welcome to the one hundred and forty-seventh Fang and Feather Summer Rush!” he growls, still pacing across the front of the room.

  The pledges are seated in a sloppy semi-circle in the middle of the space. Boy, girl, boy, girl. All ten of them are staring at Ax like he’s a freak show.

  And he is. I know Ax Olson better than anyone but Lars and he’s walking the edge of insanity on most days. How he ever graduated from Prep, I’ll never understand.

  Oh, wait. I know exactly how he graduated.

  We made Cadee cheat for him. She did all his homework his entire senior year.

  That’s how this whole thing started. Ax and his inability to complete even the simplest of assignments.

  Ax stops to hiss out some fake audience roaring noises in his cupped hand. Like he’s a rock star playing a stadium and there are a hundred thousand people in the audience.

  Sometimes I just can’t with that guy. But I enjoy him anyway. He stayed up all night to pull together the opening day challenge, it’s practically my job to be supportive.

  He moves on to the rules.

  It doesn’t matter how unprepared everyone is for this camp and their lack of appreciation for Ax’s theatrics will have no real bearing on the outcome. Because Fang and Feather Summer Rush is actually just a series of four challenges that last two weeks each.

  They are not complicated tasks. They are really nothing but a way to figure out which of these kids can follow directions and which of them can’t. It’s that simple.

  The ones who can will come out the other end with an invitation to the tomb. Then it’s just… well. More of the same, only then we’ll all be playing for real.

  Fang and Feather isn’t looking for out-of-the-box thinkers. We’re not looking for people who want to change the world and we’re not impressed by progressive ideas.

  We’re here to choose the next crop of minions and that’s it.

  “Listen up, you little pissant rank-and-file commoners!” Ax is clearly enjoying his role as MC this morning, because he’s pacing back and forth across the room with a wild gleam in his eyes. “Your only purpose here is to prove your worth and you don’t fool me!” He extends his arm with one finger pointed at the girl on his far left. Her blue eyes go wide and her too-fair skin turns blotchy before my eyes. Sophie Bettington. She points to herself, and starts to squirm in her chair. But Ax’s finger moves to the right and points at all of them in turn. “I know you think you’re somebody! And you’re not! You. Are. Nobody!”

  He’s screaming now.

  Lars and I are standing behind the ten pledges on opposite sides of the great room and when I look over at him, he’s rolling his eyes at Ax’s theatrics. I shrug at him. Hell, if Ax wants to play the part of carnival barker this summer, I’m fine with it. Someone has to be the asshole. And this act kinda fits him.

  “Well.” Ax lowers his voice. “Not all of you are nobodies. Six of you will get through. But only six.”

  “What?” a girl in the middle exclaims. I recognize her from the folder my father gave me. Maddie Lancaster. “What do you mean? There’s a quota?” She looks around at her friends. “That’s not fair! My father told me—”

  “Your father is a nobody just like you, Maddie.” Everyone turns in their chairs to look at me. “And if you don’t want to get thrown out on your ass before the first challenge even starts, you will shut your fucking mouth and do what you’re told.”

  Ax laughs. It’s borderline maniacal and they all turn back around and start to get nervous. “You’ve all been lied to.” Ax continues with the laugh. “Whatever your parents told you about summer rush, none of it was true.”

  “But don’t feel too bad about it,” Lars says. “In fact, you better get used to the lies. Because from this moment on, you’ll never know what’s true and what’s not.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and nod my head at him. Because he’s right. This whole club we have here is all based on perception, and loyalty, and secrets, and lies.

  But mostly, it’s about consequences.

  That’s what we’re here to teach them this summer.

  Consequences.

  Valentina saunters up front and stands next to Ax. She’s wearing a costume, just like Ax. But her attire doesn’t have anything to do with anarchy and chaos.

  She’s dressed like a slutty little princess.

  A very rich, slutty little princess. Because she’s practically dripping with diamonds.

  There are at least four carats hanging from her drop earrings. Another three on her wrist. The rings on her finger come in at a solid eight, at least. And who knows how much that choker of hers weighs.

  She looks at each of the five Feather pledges—Mona Monroe, Maddie Lancaster, Natasha Waring, Sophie Bettington, and Elexa Simpson—and smiles at them. It’s an evil smile. “Look at me,” she coos. “Do you like?” She tilts her head. Angles her body to show off her bare shoulders. Bends one leg at the knee and puckers her lips. Her tank top is glittering with crystals, her silver skirt so short, I can practically see her white panties from here. And her long, black hair is piled up on her head in a way that almost looks messy. A very just-fucked look about this girl.

  She wiggles her fingers at the girls. She’s wearing dozens of rings. The sunlight beaming in from the windows catches hundreds of facets and a lightshow of sparkles dances across her face. “You want some? I have plenty!”

  Two of the girls, Maddie and Elexa, actually sigh as they look at her. Their mouths drop open as they tally up just how much money Valentina’s jewels are worth.

  Then she places two fingers over her lips. “Ooops. Sorry. Getting ahead of myself. This is the prize,” Valentina whispers. “For winners only.”

  Then she clicks her tongue and winks at Ax. She saunters up to him, wraps her hands around his waist and presses her hips into his as she gazes up into his eyes. He pulls a diamond-encrusted leash out of one of his many front pockets and clips it to Valentina’s choker.

  She looks at her initiates, her shoulders rising up as she smiles like she’s the luckiest girl in the world. “He’s my master,” she coos. Then she looks back up at Ax and licks her lips.

  The gleam in Ax’s eyes brightens for a moment. Then he looks at the dudes as he pushes Valentina down on her knees in front of him and grabs her messy hair as he thrusts his hips forward. “You don’t need diamonds. Your prize isn’t money, it’s the girl wearing it.”

  Valentina starts unbuckling Ax’s belt and every single pledge gasps.

  Will she?

  Won’t she?

  Valentina winks at them, then rises to her feet and Ax lets go of her hair. “It’s up to you.” She says this in her normal voice. “You have to choose this life, ladies. And if you do, then you have to deal with the consequences.” She paces back and forth, then stops at the girl on her far left. “You want the diamonds?” She continues to the next girl. “You want the mansion?” She moves on to the third girl who protested about the quota. “You want the lake, and boats, and the cars?” She moves on to the girls on my side of the room. “You want the security?” Then the final girl. “And the man?” She pauses then walks back and stands next to Ax. “Then you do what you’re told.” She shrugs. “If that’s not what you want, then walk out any time. It’s. Your. Choice.”

  “But let me just be clear here,” Ax says, pushing Valentina away and pointing at the boys. She stumbles across the room dramatically, gasping and whimpering. He points at each of the boys in turn—Michael Gottsworth, Dante Legosi, Roland Blanchard, Jamie Cruz, and Ivan Turgenev.

  “Every one of you,” Ax continues, “will cross the line. You do not get a choice. You’re no good to us if you don’t. Only the girls get to be pussies and walk out.” He yanks Valentina’s leash and forces her back to his side. She’s still whimpering, letting these girls know—it’s not gonna be easy. They will cry. They will be on their knees. And they will do it willingly. “And you will
all be held responsible for your actions. So you had better play the game well.”

  He eyes them. One by one, as his gaze travels the semi-circle. Then he kisses Valentina. He grabs her hair, clenching his fists around it as they make out, moaning and writhing against each other.

  Even I have to admit, it’s a sexy fucking kiss.

  I walk up to the front and push Ax and Valentina apart. “If this isn’t what you signed up for, there’s the fucking door.” I point to the back of the room and find Cadee Hunter staring right back at me wearing her white t-shirt with no bra. Her t-shirt that begs us all to call her Fugling. Silver coffee pot in her hand. Superior look on her smug face.

  We lock eyes. Neither of us daring to move.

  Then I say it again. “There’s. The fucking. Door.”

  She holds my gaze, then all the other servers are there, filing past her carrying trays of pastries and flutes of champagne.

  Ax yells, “Let the Fang and Feather Summer Rush commence!”

  Everyone is still for a moment. Then they repeat it, the boys yelling it with fists in the air, the girls looking at each other nervously, but with just as much excitement.

  Expectations have been set. The rules of the game explained.

  All ten of them are on board.

  These girls want money and status.

  These boys want sex.

  And so does Cadee Hunter, I guess. Because she tilts her head up defiantly. Daring me to knock her down a peg.

  Oh, I will, sweetie.

  Trust me.

  I will knock you down so far, you won’t ever get back up.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN - CADEE

  I will say this about the stupid challenges. It keeps the royal court occupied. All the pledges are excited and happy and pay absolutely no attention to all us servers. Not even me. And I thought for sure that this t-shirt thing this morning was a sure sign that I was today’s entertainment.

  I serve their coffee, then help prepare and serve breakfast, and I play nice. Trying to stay in the background as much as possible. I struggle with this decision internally because it feels like I’m taking Victor’s advice. In fact, he makes a point of nodding and smiling at me all through breakfast, letting me know that this is how you play the game.