Page 57 of Rebel

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

REBEL

I hated nothing more than telling Storm she couldn’t come to the party tonight. She’d been in the hospital only days ago. I understood that she wanted to be involved, but she wasn’t ready. She couldn’t even sneeze without screaming in pain because of her ribs. I wasn’t taking any chances.

My friends and I had a plan in place for River. If Storm was present, she would only serve as a distraction. That might put us all in danger. It was a risk I wouldn’t take.

She’d done her best to change my mind. Pouting, pleading, and batting those long lashes at me. Because she was my weakness, I had almost succumbed. Putting my foot down on this one hadn’t been easy. All that mattered was keeping her safe, and I couldn’t do that if she put herself in the line of fire. Anything could happen tonight.

I made sure that news of the party had spread around campus. People loved our graveyard parties. Venom attended more than they missed. I knew there was a chance River would stay away after what he’d done to Storm. However, I was banking on his ego convincing him otherwise. Staying away would make him look like a coward, and he wouldn’t allow me to think that of him.

I thought much worse of him than that. He’d always been a slimy little shit, going out of his way to get my attention and prove himself to me. Back in high school, he’d seen me as competition, which led to his creation of Venom. Needing to establish himself as some kind of badass had made River pathetically predictable and desperate.

Going after Storm had been the one mistake I would not overlook. Surely he understood that was an act of war. Trying to frame me for Chase’s murder was one thing. Touching my girl was another.

Since River had not yet gone to the cops with Chase’s phone, he must have realized that such a move would come back to haunt him. Not only would it prove nothing, the entire thing was fake. My own personal phone records would show no such interactions. Once the cops determined I didn’t send those messages, they would look harder at River. He really hadn’t planned this as well as he seemed to think he did.

“Do you have the stuff?” I asked Dominik as soon as he arrived at the graveyard.

The five of us had shown up early. I wanted to be there before the party got underway. My plans for tonight included plugging River full of enough drugs to get him spewing the truth while I recorded his confession.

“Yeah, I’ve got it. Enough to drug a horse.” Handing me a bag containing a vial and a syringe, Dom nodded at the row of kegs I’d had delivered. “Really going all out tonight, huh?”

“Fuck yeah. The party needs to be sheer chaos for us to pull this off. We can’t have any witnesses.” I sat down on a crumbling headstone, scratching my chin as I went over my plan in my head.

Dominik pulled a cigarette from a pack in his pocket, tucking it between his lips. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Nobody stays sober enough at these parties to know what the fuck is going on.”

“What about the rest of Venom?” Auryn asked. “No doubt they’ll be sticking close together tonight.”

I snickered. “That’s where Tessa Baker and the other campus cheerleaders come in. I made a little arrangement with them to get cozy with the Venom guys. They’re going to slip some GHB into their drinks. Turn the tables for once. That should keep them out of the way.”

It hadn’t taken much to convince Tessa and her friends to help out. A few hundred bucks and they’d been all too willing. Venom had more enemies than they did friends. Since I didn’t hang with Tessa much, Venom shouldn’t have a clue she was working for me.

“Damn, that’s devious,” Dom laughed. “You really did think of everything.”

“Can’t be too careful. They’re just lucky that I only want River tonight.”

As the hour grew later, people began to show up. Music blasted from car stereos as people littered the graveyard. By midnight there had to be almost two hundred people on the property and inside the church, as well as a few who snuck off into the forest to fuck.

Needing to keep a level head, I didn’t drink much. I did, however, help myself to a few tequila shots to take the edge off. Keeping to the shadows near the church, I watched party goers arrive.

The first Venom guy I spotted was Damon. To my absolute delight, he’d arrived with Tessa. So far so good.

My impatience grew despite my efforts to stay calm and cool. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on River Harris. When I finally noticed him across the graveyard with a group of people, I turned to Auryn for help.

“Whatever you do, don’t let me attack him in front of everyone. All I can think about is choking the life out of him.”

Auryn clapped a hand on my shoulder, holding tight in case I tried to take off. “No worries, bro. I’ve got you. Focus on the long game. This all ends tonight either way.”

He was right. I could bide my time for a few hours, if that’s what it took. Rushing things would only fuck up my perfect plan.

River wasn’t a complete idiot. Every now and then I caught him glancing around, looking for me. Our eyes locked. He had the audacity to nod as a huge grin spread across his face. Motherfucker really thought he was untouchable.

When at last I saw him slip into the trees with one of the cheerleaders, I almost burst with excitement. Soon. This would all be over soon. I was going to enjoy every damn second of making him sorry that he’d ever come for me and my girl.

“Almost showtime, boys,” I said, making sure my friends were ready to take action any second. “One of the cheerleaders just took River into the forest.”

Casper puffed on a joint, nodding to where Tessa sat next to Damon on the ground near a few headstones. Damon’s eyes rolled in his head as he slumped against a headstone. Good. We wouldn’t have to worry about him interfering.

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