Page 1 of Pretty Lethal
Prologue
ANONYMOUS
After lingering in the shadows all night, watching the debauchery from afar, I ease open the porch doors and quietly slip into the house. The stench of weed hits me immediately. Scrunching my nose against the harsh smell, I scan the room. Some advertisement blasts from the TV, providing the only light now that it’s pitch black outside. It casts a phosphorescent glow over the six sleeping forms sprawled out on various chairs and sofas.
All of them have passed out from the dope and alcohol, utterly unaware of my presence.Bunch of degenerates.They could do absolutely anything with the privileged lives they’ve been given, and instead of ensuring their families’ continuation, they drown their inconsequential sorrows in illicit substances. What a waste. Families like these will be our downfall if we don’t rectify the situation. Just because you are at the top of the food chain doesn’t mean you can afford to become complacent.
So many families just like these have lost sight of the costs required to obtain their wealthand maintain it. They’ve allowed their children to become arrogant and parasitic. Taking and taking without understanding the significance of the sacrifices required by their forefathers.
While I’m here for a particular purpose tonight, it’ll also serve as a lesson to these people of what happens when you allow yourself to get too comfortable.
Careful not to disturb the empty beer cans spread across the table or the bottles lined up along the side of the couch, I scan the faces of each of the teenagers, ensuring all of them have actually passed out while searching for a particular one.
I slowly round the room until I reach the armchair where Wilder is currently slouched, his head tipped to one side, and his eyes closed. His ruffled chestnut hair has fallen forward, obscuring part of his face, and his mouth is agape, drool tracing a path down his chin.
My face scrunches in distaste. This is the first time I’ve officially met the son of the family degenerate.Good to know he turned out exactly like his father.My time spent watching him has left much to be desired. He’s just like the others passed out around him—soft, spoiled, weak.
His pathetic life is so inconsequential. This world won’t miss him. If anything, he should be honored to be the catalyst that will spark the change we so desperately need. From his ashes, a new King will rise. The rightful King. One who will bring us into a new era of greatness.
If things had been different, he could have been invaluable, but his father ruined him. Allowed Wilder to lead this life of indulgence while he focused only on himself. Selfish. Wasteful. But then, that’s why he was disowned—and Wilder along with him. If you can’t trust the tree, you can’t trust the apple.
Hence, the reason why I’m here—to enact phase one of our plan.
Not only will we initiate change, which will bring about a new era, but my actions tonight will prove my undying loyalty to the King and my fellow Elites.
Tearing my gaze away from the slack lines of his face, I run my eyes along his arm hung over the side of the chair, noticing the unlit joint dangling from his fingers mere inches above the carpet.
Perfect.
One side of my lips quirks as a plausible theory forms, and I step away, ready to get to work.
Once I’ve doused the room in gasoline, I cast a final look around. Everything is ready, and the fire marshall will be bought off with a story that paints the incident as a foolish accident by inebriated teenagers. No one but me and the King will know I was here. ThatIwas the one who instigated everything that is to come. I’m standing on the precipice of greatness, and with the strike of a match, I propel us into a more prosperous future.
Novus ordo seclorum
Chapter1
EMILIA
“Happy Thanksgiving!” we all cheer, glasses clinking across the table overloaded with home-cooked food.
“Here’s to planning the wedding of the century,” I tease, smirking at Hadley while she grimaces at the thought of such a wedding.
“Here’s to offing Mel—and not even inviting me to the party,” she retorts with a broad grin, letting me know she’s only teasing. I roll my eyes, even as I return her smile. Damn woman has been as put out as Wilder to have been left out of everything. It doesn’t matter how many times Hawk and I tell her we were trying to obeyherrules of wanting a normal life—plus, none of us wanted to include her and put her in harm’s way. Mel was one psychotic bitch, and while Hadley can more than handle herself, I would never have put her in danger like that. And neither would Hawk.
Her stink eye is replaced by a softer expression as she adds, “And finally finding your way home.”
Kai slings an arm over my shoulder and pulls me into his side while Hawk stares at me with unshielded adoration, and the others holler, “Here, here,” as we all clink our glasses again.
I can’t contain my sappy smile; I haven’t been able to all day. Even though everything is far from perfect, knowing Mel is no longer a threat and finally having all my men by my side makes me feel more optimistic than I have in a long while. Hadley’s sentiment rings true. Idofinally feel as though I’ve found my way home.
As I look around the dining room table at Cam riling up Hawk, Kai talking to West and Mason about some case he has at work, and Beck rolling his eyes and suppressing a smile at whatever story Wilder is regaling him with, I realize that the people at this table are my family.
When I first crash-landed back in their lives, I felt like an interloper, yet finding my place amongst them was easier than I had expected. All of them—well, Hadley and her guys—welcomed me back effortlessly, and it was no time at all before it felt as though I had never left.
Ridgeway College’s dining hall could easily have been replaced with the one at Pacific Prep all those years ago as I found my footing among them all once more, and now look at us. Even Wilder appears more at ease than when we last got together.
“At least you’ve never had to get in a cab with your ass hanging out,” I overhear Wilder saying. “And to go through all of that humiliation just to get home and find out I missed out on the opportunity to kill that psycho.” He shakes his head, and I catch Kai rolling his eyes from where he’s sitting beside me.
