Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)

“What?”

“Yep.” She nodded, only half focusing on me. There were a lot of kids getting out of cars, and I guessed she was trying not to kill anyone. “People from all over the world want to send their kids here. We have a boarding facility in town for those who don’t live locally.”

She said we, like the school was owned by her… or her family.

For all I knew, it was.

Eddy continued to weave in and out of the massive lot, which was legitimately filled with the sort of cars I could only dream of owning. And of course, my absolute top dream car was there, with four rich fuckers standing beside it.

“Holding court, as always,” Eddy murmured lightly, but with undertones I wasn’t even going to try and unravel.

“You hit any of them?” I asked, and she actually shuddered.

“God no! Discounting the fact that I grew up with all of them, they never bring chicks into their inner circle, and I wouldn’t want to fall for someone when I’d always just be a screw in the back room.”

No chicks? “Are they gay?”

I was trying to get their story, but it was as confusing as everything else in this town.

Eddy laughed loudly. “Holy shit. Not even remotely; they go through women like you wouldn’t believe. But it’s always just fucking them, you know?”

Yeah, I knew the type very well.

Eddy flipped her brother off as they passed, and I really wished she hadn’t done that, because suddenly four sets of eyes were on me. Swallowing hard, I tried not to drool at how good they looked. Every tailored line of their suits were molded to their muscular frames, and somehow they looked less like students at school, and more like rich playboys, heading to work in some big business venture.

Lifting my eyes, I flinched at the darkly captivating gaze that caught me. Beck’s eyes were locked on me, the icy stare sending shivers down my spine. I turned away from him with a jerk, because he was making it hard to breathe. Jasper, who was at his side, caught my stare instead. He gave me a smirk and small salute, like we were old friends now. Only I didn’t trust anything about the look on his face.

There were two others there I didn’t recognize, but they had to be Evan and Dylan.

“You already know Jasper,” Eddy said, slowing even more. She shot me a sly grin. “Jasper Eugene Langham, since you seem to love middle names.” I tried not to blush, because I couldn’t quite make myself care as much about Jasper’s middle name.

“Eugene,” I said with a laugh.

She laughed too. “He hates it, and it’s totally not worth the stress to use it. Trust me.”

Advice I probably wouldn’t be taking.

“The one with the facial hair is Evan,” Eddy continued as she stopped near the front steps of the impressive building. “Evan Lincoln Rothwell. His family owns half of Europe, and they fund most of the big businesses in the world.”

Evan was a little shorter than the other three, but still well over six foot. His hair was blond and brown, streaked together and styled messily. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, rather than was trying to grow a beard, and he wore the look well. He was almost as broad as Sebastian, his thick muscles near exploding out of his white button down. Just like his friends, he was watching us closely, and I wanted to scramble out of Eddy’s car to escape, but that would require me to walk in heels in front of all of them.

“The last one is Dylan. Dylan no-middle-name-because-his-parents-are-assholes Grant.” Eddy said that really quickly before her voice softened. “His family is also involved in finance and banking.” She shot me a wry smile. “And if I was ever going to love one of those fucking assholes, it would be him. He’s not a bad guy, actually, and he has a soft spot for women. Which is a nice change.”

Dylan was tall, like uber tall and beside Sebastian, he was the one which made me feel the least at ease. There was nothing in his dark stare that told me he was a lover of women, except if they were naked in his bed—all dudes loved that. His hair was as dark as Sebastian’s, and his skin was darker than the other three, speaking of a mixed race background. I didn’t touch on the asshole parent thing, just gonna assume he had a pair of Catherines raising him too.

“I appreciate the heads up on them,” I said softly, like they could hear our conversation in the car. “I’m going to go out of my way to avoid all four.”

Eddy patted my arm. “You and me both. And we’ll be the only chicks in the school to do so.”

As if to reiterate her point, I noticed that on both sides of them, there were groups of girls, all of them inching as close as they could in the hopes of being noticed. I narrowed my eyes on one in particular, who was doing her best to catch someone’s attention. Her skirt was definitely signaling the available thing.

When she turned, I recognized that swing of flawless hair, realizing it was the one Beck had in his car that night.

“That’s Brittley.” Eddy sneered. “She’s their pass around girl when they have nothing better to do. She’s been trying to claim one of the guys for years, but they just use her like the whore she is.”

Brittley. I added her to the list of people to avoid in this school. Pretty soon I was going to have to hide every second I wasn’t in class.

A bell rung in the distance, and Eddy straightened. “You better head into the office,” she said, her hands on the wheel again. “Text me your schedule when you get it, and if we don’t have any classes together, I’ll meet you at lunch.”

Lunch. Shit. Would be hard to hide in a room filled with students, but at least it looked like I wouldn’t be alone.

“I’ll text you soon,” I promised, and then taking a deep breath, opened the door and swung myself out. I made sure I was steady on the heels before I stood, bringing my bag with me. “It’s the first door on the left when you step inside,” Eddy said loudly as I closed the door.

I waved and then turned to face my new school. Nothing like starting second term of your senior year at a new school. I mean, what could be easier?

As I walked forward, I tried my best to ignore the stares I was getting. Eddy hadn’t been kidding about the new girl thing, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I’d already suffered through the worst tragedy of my life, I’d have been feeling very intimidated.

It was all about perspective. I really couldn’t give a fuck what a bunch of rich kids thought of me. What did I have to lose now?

The inside of the building was as fancy as the outside, with marble floors, and the sort of decadent downlights one usually didn’t see in a school. No metal detectors in sight; it was clear no one was worried that a disgruntled student was going to shoot up the place.

Following Eddy’s instructions, I poked my head into the first door on the left—and almost turned around and left. It was nothing like any office I’d ever seen. But there were no other doors nearby, so this had to be the place.

I ventured in, heading toward the glass topped desk. Behind it was an immaculately dressed woman. She was typing away on a fancy computer, only glancing up when I stopped before her.

“Yes,” she said, not warmly.

“I’m new here,” I started slowly. “I’m supposed to get … my stuff.”

She barely even looked at me. “Name?”

“Riley Jameson.”

She hit a few keys on her computer, and then glanced at me before hitting a few more keys. “I don’t have you in the system.”

This time there was outright hostility and judging by that look, I wondered if she was planning on yanking the uniform right off me. I let out a sigh. “Try Deboise.”

Debitch.

That caught her attention, and wariness washed over her features. She was suddenly very interested in her computer again. A moment later: “Yes, we do have a Riley Deboise in our system.” Well, at least she hadn’t changed my first name yet.