Page 16 of Wicked Royals
“Huh?”
Marissa’s voice turned snide. “Think about it. Her shoe just conveniently broke? Bullshit. I bet she decided to hang back and let us go ahead so she could ditch us and gohome.”
“Why would she do that?” Simone asked. She was walking right past us now, her voice clear asday.
“Because she’s a self-righteous cunt,” Marissa replied. “She probably thought getting us lost down here would be a fitting punishment for our behavior. I mean, look how she made us apologize to Rowan before. Who the fuck does she think sheis?”
“Ugh, I know. She’s been such an uptight bitch lately. It’s so freaking annoying,” Kate said. “Like, okay, we get it, Willow, your mom is the vice president! That doesn’t make you freakingroyalty!”
Marissa laughed. “Exactly. She thinks she’s sogreat.”
“To be fair, the president and vice president are kind of like royalty in this country. I mean, it’s basically our version of it, right?” Simonesaid.
“Whatever. That doesn’t give Willow the right to order us around.” Marissa’s voice rose in pitch as she adopted a mocking tone. “Ooh, I’m Willow Rhoades, and I’m the queen of the world. By the way, in case you hadn’t heard yet, I go toGeorgetown.”
Kate snickered. “As if Georgetown is eventhatgood. It’s not like she got into Yale orMIT.”
“Didyouget into Yale or MIT?” Simone asked, seemingly the only voice of reason in this nasty littleexchange.
“Shut up,Simone.”
The voices drifted away as the girls headed farther back up the tunnel. Soon, their conversation was no longeraudible.
“Lovely friends you have there. But that’s not exactly surprising, is it?” I murmured in Willow’sear.
I’d watched her for a while now. She acted like she was different to the snobby bitches she hung out with, but I knew who she was deep down. I knew all the dirty, dreadful secrets she kept locked up in the deepest and ugliest parts of her soul. Out of all the catty D.C. princesses, she was theworst.
Byfar.
Once her friends were out of range, I pushed her out of the alcove and took my hand off her mouth. When I brought my phone light out again, I saw her eyes dart over my shoulder in the direction her friends had gone in. I stepped back, squared my shoulders and widened my stance to blockher.
“Not this way, princess,” I growled, shaking my head. “I told you, your friends won’t help youtonight.”
She turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, violent sobs shaking her body as she veered all over the dark path ahead. I didn’t let her get very far this time. I grabbed her hair and yanked her back, relishing the scream that burst from her lips, and then I pulled her against my chestagain.
This time, she dropped like a dead weight, slipping through my arms to the floor. I chuckled. “Smart girl,” I said, stopping and watching as she got up and tried to run again. “Survival instincts finally kicking in,huh?”
I lunged after her, wrenching her back into my grip. She thrashed around to no avail, and then she went limp and began to cry in earnest. I pulled her around so that she was facing me again, aching at the sight of her helpless, quaking terror. She was close to giving up and letting me haveher.
Soclose.
“Who are you?” she asked in a ragged whisper, hands shaking by her side as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Why… why are you doingthis?”
“Because you asked forit.”
She stopped, every part of her freezing except her chest, which continued to rise and fall in heavy, shaky breaths. “No,” she whispered. “I didn’t. Please, just let mego.”
I let out a low, rumbling chuckle. “You know, because you asked so politely, I’m going to do exactlythat.”
I took a step back, watching as confusion knitted her brows. She had no idea if I was fucking with her or not. For all she knew, I might grab her at any second and slam her up against one of these cold stone walls before tearing off that sexy dress and violently assaulting her. Orworse.
“Next time I might not be so nice,” I said to let her know that I was serious about freeing her. I’d already brought her to the point of near-paralysis. There was no more fun to be had tonight without actually hurting her, which I couldn’tdo.
Six months from now, however, it would be a differentstory.
“Go, before I change my mind,” I added, just to give her one more littlefright.
She gulped down a deep breath and ran away. Every few seconds, her head whipped around to check if I was still stalking her. I raised one black-gloved hand and waved, wishing she could see the satisfied grin on my face. Then I pretended to lunge in her direction, watching with delight as horror twisted her delicate features. She screamed and burst forward, rounding a corner where the tunnel branched off. I laughed and stayedstill.
