In Peace Lies Havoc (Midnight Mayhem #1)(44)

“So?” Mischa further forces.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Mischa. Shut up and leave her alone.” Maya puts a joint between her lips and lights the tip, inhaling. She passes it to me, but I decline.

“Oh, come on.” Maya smirks. “I just put her in her place. The least you can do is have a puff on me.”

“Trouble,” Killian teases, and instantly Maya’s face drops. “Leave Dove alone. You know how King likes his toys untarnished.”

I laugh this time, flipping onto my back and relishing in the sun. “Well, then he better find a new toy, because I’m definitely a shade darker than tarnished.” I wiggle my fingers toward myself without even looking at Maya, gesturing to the joint. I want to say that it’s partly because of what happened in the cell, but I don’t. I don’t want them to know anything about what happened, because that’ll probably just give them more satisfaction to my pain. My chest tightens with that knowledge. My crush on Kingston Axton is poison, but apparently, I’m willing to die for it.

I feel the smoke between my fingers and bring it to my lips, inhaling deeply. I hold it in my lungs for a beat longer before blowing out. Once I give it back to Maya, Rose has finally stopped fighting with Mischa about the music before a song starts playing. One I don’t recognize.

“I’m serious, Dovey,” Rose whispers. She’s on her stomach now, her head resting in her arms and her face toward me.

I exhale, turning onto my stomach and turning my face to hers. No one can hear us because the music is loud, and we’re so close we don’t have to yell. “Why?”

“Me being here?” she whispers. “It was part of their initiation. Everything that Delila had explained—was why I was here.”

“Okay.” I search her eyes. “And me?” The heat is not helping my buzz. In fact, it’s intensifying it. A lot.

“You were not a normal recruit, Dove. That’s why you were there for so long. Why you’re with them and not on your own or with another family.”

“And what is it that I should be worried about?” My heart pounds in my chest. I’m not na?ve. I know there’s something else. It’s why King likes to tell me that I’ve done something to warrant his wrath. It’s why he apparently hates me and that I took something from him.

“Do not fall for King—”

“Am I interrupting something here?” Val drops down in front of us, the sand kicking up and flicking me in the face. I actually want to kill her.

I sit up, shading the sun from my eyes. I’m feeling a range of emotions, but one that trumps them all is the lack of control that I have. I’ve lost my life to four men, and they haven’t even killed me yet.

I groan, standing, and make my way back to the water. King and the rest of The Brothers are up by the truck, but Jack is still in the water with the people he came with.

“So…” he starts, his head bobbing in the water.

“Nope.” I laugh, shaking my head while sinking in. “If you’re going to ask me about King, the answer is no.”

Jack laughs, which makes me want to laugh. I realize I genuinely enjoy his presence. I’ve known him for all of twenty minutes, but I feel at ease around him. Like I know him or have met him before. I know that I haven’t, though. I’d remember his face. I haven’t met such kindness since Richard.

“I’ve known King for a while, and I’ve never seen him like that before,” Jack further says, swimming closer to me.

“Oh really,” I dig, kicking out to the deep. He follows closely behind me, while still keeping a safe distance. I appreciate that.

When I’m far enough out, I turn around, and he’s a few steps in front of me. My eyes go over his shoulder and to the truck, where the boys are now all watching us. “How well do you know him?”

Jack runs his hand through his hair. “Well, since I was nine. His family is close with my family. You know, that sort of thing.”

“Ah, right.” I don’t want to sound nosey, so I change the subject. “And what is your act or role in Midnight Mayhem?”

He pauses. “You mean aside from the final act?”

I tilt my head. “I don’t think I’ve fully experienced the final act.”

He chuckles. “No, you haven’t, and the way things are looking,” he turns his head over his shoulder, “you may never.”

“Can you tell me a bit about it all?”

He swipes his hair again. “Well, it’s for us as much as it’s for the audience.”

“It’s live sex.”

He laughs, his head tilting back. “Yes and no.”

I shake my head. “Is all the crazy crap that you guys do not enough?”

“It’s more of a reenactment. You’ll see tomorrow. Whether you’re involved wholly or partly like before, I’m sure you’ll see.”

“And who is all in the final act?”

He smirks. “Everyone.”

A whistle breaks through the air, interrupting our chat. King waves us to the shore.

I grumble, “We’ve been summoned.” We both start swimming back.

“Is he always moody?” I ask, just as my feet touch the sand again.

“Nah,” Jack says. “He usually has a coping mechanism.”