Page 53 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

LILA

The dildo and strap landed on the ground with a plop. I waited with my breath held, but nothing happened.

"That was anticlimactic." Parker sounded disappointed. "I guess it's safe to go that way."

"Everyone wait here," Slade said. "I'll check it out first." He slipped past us and disappeared into the shadows.

"Assassin mode, activated," Parker said. "I need to learn me some skills like that."

"Just what the world needs," Hunter said. "Parker in stealth mode." His grin was a flash of white teeth in the dim light.

"Exactly," Parker agreed. "I'd be even more epic than I already am."

Chloe snorted.

Everyone's watches lit up simultaneously. Bathing us in light from a text message.

"Fuck." I cupped my hand around my watch to block the light while I quickly read:

Brutham Academy alert, level five. All students shelter in place. Suspected incursion. More orders to follow.

"Well, shit," Hunter said.

I pressed the crown on my watch to darken the screen. It would suck if a message meant to warn us, drew attention to us.

"It took them long enough," Dane said with a grunt. "We could have all been dead by now."

"Lucky for them, we're not," Parker said. After a moment he added, "Lucky for us too."

"That's a matter of opinion," Chloe muttered.

"My heart wouldn't break if you were dead," Parker told her. "But it seems like we might need each other to stay alive, so maybe we can stop being shit to each other for five minutes."

She gave him a scathing look but fell silent.

I peered out into the darkness. Every so often, I caught sight of a flash of light. Each time it was gone before I could pinpoint its location, but they seemed to be getting closer.

"There's at least a dozen out there," Slade said.

I jumped as he appeared in front of me suddenly. My heart thundered for a few moments, once it got going again.

"Fucking hell," Hunter whispered. "I need you to teach me that."

Slade gave him a quick glance, then said, "Follow me."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Chloe asked.

"You don't, but I don't want to end up dead," Slade told her. "You can follow me or you can stay here. That's your call."

"Personally, I'm not going to fuck around and find out," Hunter said. He put a hand on my lower back and moved forward slowly.

"Me either." Parker crawled along beside us until Slade gestured for us to stand.

"We're headed over to the sheds," Slade whispered. "If that text message was right, we will need those weapons."

I assumed by supplies, he meant guns. I'd feel better if we were armed with more than a couple of tequila bottles.

We kept to the side of the steps, where the shadows were deepest, and moved down in single file. I winced as our footsteps crunched on the gravel at the front of the building. Each step sounded like a clap of thunder.

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