Page 10 of The Devils They Are

"Regardless of your father's position," Bexley says with a scoff. "We don't answer to him or anyone from Willowbrook. You're merely a means to an end."

"While you're on our turf, you'd do best to follow our rules," I answer first. "That goes for all of you," I add, glancing at the group.

Bexley laughs, dropping her arms as she steps closer to us. I watch her carefully, interested to see how far she's willing to push back. My eyebrows raise when she finally stops, inches from my chest as she glares up at me. "You can take your threats and shove them into your rectal cavity, Rylan. They are as empty and vapid as you are."

I lower my head, bringing our faces closer. There are more murmured whispers from the crowd, gawking at our close proximity. But to Bexley's credit, she doesn't flinch or pull back. We're locked in a game of chicken with neither one of us backing down.

"This is your only warning," I tell her loudly, addressing her peers as well. "We came here to give you the opportunity to fall into line before wemake you."

She smiles sweetly at me, no doubt ready to defy my words. Most people shy away from us, fearful, but I wouldn’t expect the same from Bexley Savanna Spencer. In fact, I’d be disappointed if she did.

"He," she pauses, pointing toward Tai without breaking eye contact. "Already tried to warn me. And barely managed to leave with his balls intact. For the sake of your lack of comprehension, I'll repeat what I said to him; We're not bowing down to you. We're notfalling into line. You can save your breath because nothing you say or do will change that."

I grin at her, flashing my teeth as I run my tongue along the back of them. "I hope you realize that we're going to enjoy breaking you, Bex. You're at a disadvantage here. A good leader tries to save their people, not send them into the wolf’s den. I guess I mistook you."

"You did," she agrees. "But don't you for a second make the repeat mistake of assuming you know us. We might be at adisadvantage, but don't underestimate us. That will be the last mistake you ever make."

A few people yell 'Yeah' and 'That's right!' but I pay them no mind. My attention is locked on the woman in front of me. Even with my 6’2" frame, she’s not that far off me, maybe four inches, if that. It’s tempting to close the gap and leave a bite mark on her pale skin to show who's in charge here. That guy behind her is still watching us with wild eyes, obviously hating how close I am to what's his.

But if this is the game she wants to play, I'm more than happy to participate. Because by the end of it, she'll be nothing but a product of my destruction—a broken, soulless mess. But I like it better when they fight back. It's the sweetest victory, breaking someone who acts like an untamable mare.

Everyone is tameable though. She has weaknesses and I'm going to find it, exploiting them one by one until she cries for the mercy that will never come.

"Best of luck tomorrow," I murmur with a tight smile. "You're going to need it."

I step back, turning and pushing my way through the crowd of people with Hunter and Tai close behind. As I reach the parking lot, I dare a glance over my shoulder, giving her a wink before we climb into my black Chevy Silverado and peel out of the beach entrance.

"Any more comments in that Facebook group?" I ask Tai, stepping out of the truck as I shield the sun from my eyes.

He's parked next to me in our reserved spots, Hunter lingering on the pathway in front of the cars as he waits patiently.

It's still about fifteen minutes before other students start to arrive, but we agreed to meet early to go over our plan for today.

"Just a bunch of nonsense about our visit last night," he answers, swinging his bag over his back. "Idiots still haven't figured out we're in their little secret group."

Amused, I laugh, giving Hunter our usual handshake and fist bump as I approach. "Typical. Keep it on the down low though."

As soon as we heard from Hunter’s dad that they were heading to Willowbrook, Tai did some digging around on social media. After all, that's how everyone communicates these days, so I figured that Cedar students would do the same. And wouldn't you know it, I was correct.

They run a closed group on socials, but after doing some investigation work, Tai set up a fake profile of a student who is listed in the Cedar Heights system but doesn't appear to have social media. As long as he doesn't draw attention, they won't know that the profile is fake unless they investigate or ask questions.

Tai’s a bit of a tech genius. While I like to run, he spends his free time coding and ripping apart computers to put them back together.

Hunter, on the other hand, loves his music. The guy can play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and not hit a single wrong key. To be fair, he only mastered it because I made a bet that he couldn’t. The competitive shit just had to prove me wrong. I’ll never admit it, but I was probably never going to win that bet. Hunter’s been playing piano since he was seven. I don’t know how he can read all that gibberish sheet music, but props to him.

“Dad said they’re trying to incorporate some of the Cedar staff to assist with teaching pressures,” Hunter says. “Most have been making a fuss about not being able to work so the State suggested that Willowbrook cooperate to ease the burden on both sides.”

I snort. “Ease what burden? The curriculum is nearly identical. A few extra kids here and there won’t kill our teachers. As for the Cedar staff and their money woes, it sounds like their problem. We don’t need any more of them hanging around here. Even one brainless Cedar student or teacher is overkill.”

“Did your Dad say much on the matter?” Tai asks me. “I bet he’sreallypleased.”

I can’t help but laugh at his sarcastic tone because as usual Tai’s right. My father was pissed when he found out it was his responsibility to handle the Cedar mess. As mayor, he’s been ordered by the State to help.

“His office is helping with organizing repairs, contacting builders… that kind of thing. He’s not thrilled.”

Hunter nods. “Our dads are meeting tonight for drinks to try to work out a solution–get them out of here as fast as they can.”

“Good,” I say shortly as we walk through the entrance. “The sooner they are out of our hair, the better. Though, it is fun toying with them.”

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