Page 131 of Remi's War (Four Dark Horsemen 2)

At the rate he’s going, he’ll be having a foursome soon.

“What assignment?” Santiago asks, and here we go.

The reason I went to him in the first place. “That’s what I mentioned earlier. The principal has ordered us to make a presentation on The Four Riders of the Apocalypse as a punishment for our nickname.”

Florian elaborates on this idiotic idea. She couldn't come up with anything else? “She didn't like us destroying the cafeteria.” He chuckles. “Raged and screamed, to be exact, but your father took care of it. We do the assignment, listen to her crap in front of the whole school, and she won’t put it on our records, screwing our paperwork.”

“What happened in the cafeteria?”

“David made a comment to Remi that he shouldn't be in our school, since we don’t accept charity cases, and of course our friend here punched him in the nose.” He winks at me. “He’s good with his right hook.”

“Shut up, Florian,” I interrupt and continue the story. “His friends joined the fight, and Octavius rushed to my defense to help me out. It got messy.”

Octavius is the only stable guy among my friends, always stoic and silent yet will always save your ass if you need it.

He doesn’t have mood swings or changes of heart like these two assholes.

Florian puts his hand on his chest. “I couldn't stand not helping Octavius, so I rolled up my sleeves and beat some asses. Before security showed up, we destroyed a few tables, cracked a window, and some other shit that requires renovations. Your dad will pay for that as well.”

“What does it have to do with me?”

I rub my chin. “The school kept on saying the dark four did it, started by the dark four and shit, since you know they called us this back in the day. Anyway, the principal just assumed you were there, so you’re guilty by association.”

Santiago barks a laugh. “Fuck that. I’m not doing this assignment. Buena suerte.”

With this, he strolls to his car. He’s about to hop inside when Florian’s words halt his movements.

Locking my arms behind my head, I tilt my face to the sun and listen to their conversation, not daring to come closer. My friend would run for the hills. “She’ll kick Remi out of school. You know David’s dad and his power. It will affect his scholarship if it goes on his record.”

Ah, Florian has so much duality.

He cares about my scholarship but still fucked me up. It’s not even the betrayal; it’s how the whole school knew, and some snickered that he would have never done something like that to Santiago or Octavius.

Because they were of pure blood.

No matter what happens, though, I don’t regret David’s pain. That bastard has begged for my fist since first grade, and I’d restrained myself enough. He better never cross paths with me in the future. Nothing will stop me then from inflicting pain for every insult thrown my way.

I barely hold my laughter back when my friend poses a question to him, distaste lacing his tone, which speaks volumes. He disapproves of what Florian did, which shows me he still considers me a friend. At least there’s that. “Did you care about Remi this much when you fucked his girlfriend?”

“I’m surprised myself.”

“Remi!” he calls me for the first time since he came back, and I snap my head in his direction, shocked to hear my name from him after all these years. He motions for me to come to them.

I jog toward them and end up next to them, when he announces, “Let’s finish it quickly, and hopefully I won’t have to see any of your faces for a long time.” Yeah, that’s not going to happen if I have my say about it. He zeroes his focus on Florian. “Where is Octavius?”

“He should have been here.” He frowns, snatching out his phone and dialing him. A beat passes before he says, “He’s not picking up.”

I speak up, worry climbing up my back. “He went home after school.”

Florian dials again but has the same result; the tension between us rises, as probably a similar thought settles in our minds.

His stepfather has returned home after a long absence, and if he knows about what happened in school… repercussions might be severe.

With Octavius not picking up, we might need to act fast. My hands fist just imagining what he might do to him. Sometimes, I want to strap him to a pole and beat him to his last breath, so then he’ll know nothing but pain and fear for the rest of his life, because that’s what he’s subjected my friend to. Life trusted him with a child, and instead, he not only ruined that child but continues to use his goodness against him.

“We need to go to his house. Florian, ride with us,” Santiago orders, and I understand why he says it. Octavius’s stepfather cares about image so much he won’t dare hurt him in front of us.

Or rather he is afraid to touch him with the guys present, because they will tell their dads.

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