Broken Empire (Boys of Oak Park Prep 3)

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

Goddamn this fucking bitch.

None of the guys beside me moved. Fury radiated from them like a palpable force, but I knew they’d already been sent to the dean’s office for losing their shit at Adena once before—and given the thin ice they were all on at home, I didn’t want them to risk getting in trouble for going after her again.

We needed to be smarter and more strategic than that.

When she got no reaction from Elijah, Adena turned her gaze on me, her lips curling up in a cruel smile. “Nice cast. I heard about your little accident. Didn’t they teach you how to drive in Idaho? Or are you really so desperate for attention that y

ou’ll—”

Before she even finished speaking, the Princes moved. The tension that’d been held in check by a thread snapped, and all four of them stepped forward, the movement so sharp and synchronized that for a moment, they truly did seem like one being.

None of them spoke or even lifted their hands, but the action was so full of veiled threat that Adena unconsciously stumbled back a step, almost running into Preston and Sable as she did. Preston grabbed her shoulders to steady her, but I noticed with a grim sort of satisfaction that he stayed behind her.

He may have chosen her side, but he wasn’t exactly willing to put his neck out for her.

Not that I blamed him. I’d seen the beating Cole had given him last time they’d fought.

The conversation in the entry hall around us had died almost entirely by now, and everyone watched in silence as the Princes faced off with Adena.

“I said, watch your fucking mouth,” Mason told her, his voice low and smooth. “And that includes talking shit about Talia. In fact, it includes talking to her at all. It includes looking at her. I’ve told you already to back the fuck off. Do it, or we’re going to have a serious problem.”

Real fear reflected in Adena’s baby-blue eyes, but she scoffed to cover it up, yanking herself out of Preston’s grasp—although she didn’t actually step forward. “You don’t get to run this place anymore, Mason.” She squinted at him. “Your family has money problems, right? Damn. For all I know, you’re as poor as she is. Maybe that’s why you like her so much.”

Cole’s back tensed, making his uniform blazer look too tight, and I saw his hands clench into fists.

I had always wondered, when I was at the height of my battle with the Princes, where their line was. I’d never been completely sure, but I had taken some comfort in my belief that whatever else they might do, they wouldn’t hit me.

They wouldn’t beat up a girl.

I still thought that was true… although Adena seemed to be determined to make herself the exception to that rule.

Shifting my grip on my crutches, I hobbled forward. The four boys had all stepped in front of me, but as soon as I put myself in their midst again, I saw some of the tension bleed from their bodies, as if they were remembering where they were.

This wasn’t the time.

It wasn’t the place.

“I’m serious, Adena. Go after Talia again and I will wreck you.”

Mason’s voice was low and controlled and full of a simple promise that made a shiver of fear pass down even my spine. I knew he was thinking of my car wreck, of the cage of twisted steel and shattered glass my body had been pulled out of.

And I’d heard that tone in his voice before. I recognized the dark promise in it.

Maybe Adena did too, because she pressed her lips together, not saying anything else. She didn’t step back or cower, but the smug look on her face had evaporated.

Mason turned his head slightly, catching my eye. “Come on, Princess. Let’s get to class.”

The five of us turned and walked down the hall, and even though the crowd didn’t part for the Princes quite like it had before, no one stepped up to us or got in our way.

Of course, our exit was completely ruined by the plodding pace we set as I moved on my crutches. None of the Princes seemed to mind though, walking slowly alongside me as we made our way down the corridor.

“That fucking cunt,” Finn muttered under his breath. I could feel him seething, and I was sure if I looked close enough, I’d be able to see steam rising from his ears. “I can’t believe she had the guts to make fun of you for almost dying in a goddamn car crash.”

“Even if she didn’t have anything to do with it, that’s a low fucking blow,” Elijah added.

Mason didn’t say anything, but I heard the sharp sound of him sucking in breath through his nostrils, and I didn’t need him to speak to guess what he was thinking. He was sure Adena had done it. It was a miracle he hadn’t gone after her—and although it was hard to wrap my head around, I was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t was because I’d asked him not to.