DARE SERIES COLLECTION Page 2

  I frown. “Where are we going?”

  She smiles brightly. “Church.” Then she shuts the door.

  I fall onto the bed and close my eyes. My mother ships me to my dad’s, and he has his young teeny-bopper wife babysit me. My life can’t get any worse.

  I pull my cell out of my back pocket to see if I have any messages. Nope. I have a feeling my friends have already forgotten about me. I didn’t have many to begin with anyway. Digging into my purse, I pull out my journal. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. It was like my therapy back when I needed someone to talk to but no one was there. The older I got, the less I wanted to talk to people. Kids my age don’t want to hear about my problems.

  I sit up when I hear engines roaring and loud bass from outside. Making my way over to the window, I look out to see headlights back in the trees. There’s a dirt road that runs parallel to the house. I remember it from last time I stayed here. It used to lead up to the cemetery on top of the hill, a couple of hundred yards away, but now it dead ends down at the bottom of the hill. By the house.

  A white SUV of some sort comes to a stop first, and the front two doors open. I can’t make out the people—too far away and too dark out—but they’re tall. The second car to pull up is a little black two door.

  I quickly count five bodies and watch as they all make their way around to the back of the trunk. They pop it open, and one guy leans over, reaching down into it. He pulls out a man. He falls to the makeshift gravel road and tries to scurry away.

  “What the …?” I trail off as two men grab him, picking him up. One at his feet, the other by his head, and they start to walk away with him.

  The one man slams the trunk while another grabs a black duffel bag out of the SUV. And then they start to walk off. I duck to make sure they don’t see me, which is stupid. They don’t know I’m up here, and it’s after midnight.

  Do they know my father lives here? Although trees cover most of this side of the house, you can still see it from where they are now. Do they just not care?

  Going over to my suitcase, I yank out my black hoodie and slip it on before leaving my room. I quickly make my way down the staircase and to the back foyer.

  I crack the back door open just enough to squeeze through, and then I crouch, going over to the far corner of the terrace. I peek over the railing and see the five figures walking. Two still carry the man, two others have flashlights in their hands, lighting their way, and the fifth trails behind them. Hands in his black jeans pockets, head down. None of them seem to be in a hurry.

  “I didn’t know …” the man they carry wails while some of the others laugh at him. “Please,” he begs. “She never told me.”

  “Lying?” one asks with a snort. “Have some fucking balls to admit it, man.”

  “You’re gonna kill me,” he cries.

  They don’t respond to that statement.

  With leaves and branches crunching under their weight, they walk farther and farther away from the house and up the hill toward the cemetery.

  I squint and can barely make out their flashlights anymore. Where are they going? Do they really plan to kill him? Or just fuck with him? I can’t not know.

  Making up my mind, I stand, pulling my hoodie up and over my head, and take off after them.

  I follow their lights, making sure to stay far enough behind them so I’m not seen. I only run into a couple of trees along the way. By the time we come to the top of the hill, I’m sweating and panting for breath. The cemetery finally comes into view, and I look back over my shoulder, but all I see is darkness. The house is no longer visible.

  CHAPTER TWO

  COLE

  “HERE SHE IS,” Deke says as he drops the man’s legs.

  Shane drops his arms, and Jeff lands face first in front of the pile of dirt. A grave he knows all too well.

  “What?” he asks, doing the crab walk backward, but my legs stop him. I kick him forward. “Why are you doing this?” he cries.

  “Because we believe in an eye for an eye,” Bennett answers. “And I wanna see you fucking blind.”

  He places his hands up. “You guys are just kids …” My friends laugh at that.

  “And you’re just a sorry piece of shit.” Deke spits on him.

  My four friends circle him. Like sharks. I stay where I’m at, facing him and the cemetery. I take my hands out of my pockets and place them behind my back, watching him size us all up—weighing his odds. They’re not in his favor. They never are when it comes to us. No one can get past the GWS unless we all agree to allow it. And walking away comes with a price.

  That most can’t afford.

  “Just please … let me go.” He swallows as the others shine their lights on him. “I won’t tell anyone …”

  Their laughter grows. I step up to him, and he looks up at me. His tear-streaked face makes me sick. “Every action has a consequence,” I begin. “You can deny it all you want, but we all know why you’re here. And we believe it’s time for you to pay up.”

  “What about your consequences, Cole?” Jeff yells at me, and I stiffen. “Huh? You killed three of your best friends, and I don’t remember you having to pay up!” he snaps.

  I pay every day.

  Deke takes a step toward Jeff, but I place my hand on his chest to stop him. “It’s okay, Deke. Let the man speak. They’re his last words, after all.”

  “You’re not fucking God!” he shouts, pounding his fists into the wet ground. The earlier drizzle now falls steadier, soaking us all. I smile. Find that fight, Jeff. You’re gonna need it. “You guys can’t do this to people.”

  I look around the dark, abandoned cemetery where the dead are laid to rest and then forgotten.

  You can’t see the cliffs to the right, but you can hear the ocean hitting the jagged rocks below. There’s blood in that water. “Who is here to stop us?” I ask simply.

  “Cole!” He growls my name. I tilt my head to the side. “I knew your mother … She would be so ashamed of the man you’ve become.”

  A slow smile spreads across my face as the air around us thickens like fog. My friends take a step back from us, knowing that I’m going to need a little more room.

  “Goddammit …”

  “You shouldn’t take the Lord’s name in vain,” I muse.

  “You shouldn’t murder people,” he snaps.

  “I’m going to give you a chance,” I tell him. “A chance to win your freedom.” We both know that’s a lie. He can’t beat me. No one can.

  His eyes dart from me to my four friends who still circle us. Their flashlights shining on him allow me to see. “Is this some sick joke?” he demands.

  “Not at all,” I say, reaching up behind me and grabbing the back of my black t-shirt. I rip it over my head and toss it to the ground away from us. Now shirtless, I’m ready for a fight. Then I remove my flashlight from the back pocket of my jeans and toss it as well. “I hope you don’t faint at the sight of blood.” I can already smell the copper, and my mouth starts to water. Fuck, it’s been too long since I’ve had a good fight. I roll my shoulder, trying to release the tightness.

  “You’re just like your father,” he shouts. “Fucking taking anything that you can get your hands on.”

  I hear something behind me. A faint sound of branches snapping. But I don’t turn around. Not yet. “Get up and fight me,” I order.

  Jeff shakes his head.

  “He doesn’t want to play,” Shane says with a chuckle.

  “I’ll let you have the first hit. More than fair.” I can’t help but smile.

  I hear that sound again behind me, and it’s closer. I take a quick look—on purpose—and Jeff takes the cheap shot I knew he would.

  He jumps to his feet and lands a hit on the side of my face. I hit him back with a fist to his jaw. His head snaps to the side, and I pound my other fist into his nose. His hands come up to cover it as he stumbles back. I grit my teeth when my knuckles crack as I hit him in the mouth. His teeth rip
my skin open like a knife to butter.

  I love it!

  He falls into Deke, and he holds him up while I hit him over and over. My fist connects with his stomach, face, and head. My skin continues to split. Blood pools down my fists, making them slippery. Deke gets tired of holding him up and pushes him toward me. I swing, hitting him one last time, and he falls back to the ground.

  I stand over him, breathing heavy, and sweat covers my body as the rain comes to a stop. My hands are down at my sides, and I can feel the blood dripping off them like a faucet left on—mine mixed with his.

  Jeff starts to cough.

  “I dare you to get up,” I growl.

  “Is that … what this … is?” Jeff gasps for words. “Another dare?” He coughs. “You guys … and your sick … fucking pranks …”

  “No!” I snap. “This is you paying for the life you took.” My voice grows louder, and I clench my fists, wanting to hit him some more. My shoulder throbs, but I ignore it.

  “When will you get what you deserve?” he whispers roughly. “Huh, Cole? What is your price …?”

  I drop to my knees, straddling him. My balled fists rise and then come down on his already bloody face. I scream out of frustration when he just lies there and takes it. I want the sting of a punch. I want the feel of skin breaking. I need to feel it. Need the pain. I deserve it, after all. He was right. I killed my friends.

  I fist his shirt and yank his limp head off the ground, my legs still straddling his hips. His eyes black and blue, face split and bloody. Lowering my face to his, I growl. “Give me what I deserve! Why don’t you get your sorry ass up and hit me?” My voice rises. “Why don’t you be a fucking man and fight me?”

  He doesn’t respond. His head falls back, and I shove him down, causing his head to hit the ground with a thud.

  Deke slaps me on the back. “Go walk it off, Cole. We got it from here.”

  I stand and take a step back from them as they pick him up off the ground.

  I fist my hands, loving the feel of the split knuckles. The wind picks up, and it makes my blood-covered body shiver from the chill.

  Fuck, I love a fight!

  My father says I was born a fighter. He would say if a man can’t use his hands, then what is he good for? The only difference is that my father pays to use someone else’s hands.

  A tree branch snaps behind us, and we all turn around to look. Four flashlights dance in the darkness. “Did you guys hear something?” Deke asks.

  “I thought I did. But I don’t see anything,” Shane answers him.

  “I’ll go check it out,” I say, walking away from them. “And hurry it up.” I grab my flashlight off the ground and shine it ahead of me, listening to them laughing behind me as they finish off the sick bastard who deserved every little thing he got tonight.

  My tennis shoes squelch along the muddy ground, and I come to a stop to just listen. I shut my light off and stick it in my back pocket. I know this land like the back of my hand. And no one is ever out here. No one who is up to any good.

  The Lowes estate is down at the bottom of the hill, but they’re never home. And if for some reason they are, they’re already in bed.

  My hands hang by my sides, the blood slowly dripping off them and falling onto the leaves. My body craves more.

  Slowly taking one step after another, I tune out the guys behind me as their voices grow quieter the farther away from them I get.

  A sound to my right has me smiling. Whoever it is, is close. Very close. I stand and wait, not making a move. They’re in the dark just like I am because I don’t see any light. Then I hear it again. It could be an animal, but it doesn’t sound like one. I hear two distinct sounds—a pair of shoes.

  I take a step to the right, and I hear an intake of breath. So close.

  Then they take off. Their shoes pound the ground, and I run after them. I run into a small frame, wrap my arms around it, and tackle it to the ground. It makes a noise of annoyance and two hands slap at my face unable to make contact. I grab the wrists and shove them down to their sides and then straddle them to pin them down underneath me.

  I yank my flashlight out of my back pocket and turn it on, shining it down onto the intruder.

  Dark green eyes look up at me, framed by long dark lashes. Soft pink lips are parted, and she has a small diamond stud piercing in her button nose. Dark brown hair covers half her face, and she growls, “Get off me.”

  She blinks several times, the light blinding her, but I don’t move it. It keeps her from seeing me.

  “Get off me,” she demands this time, panting.

  I tilt my head to the side, just watching her squirm under me. I’ve never seen her before, and I know every woman in this town. I know every woman within thirty miles. But not her. Not this face. She starts fighting harder, but I hold her easily. She wears a black hoodie, and it’s up, covering the top of her head and side of her face. I reach down and yank it back, causing her to twist her neck.

  “Don’t touch me!” Her voice snaps.

  “Cole?” I hear Deke call out.

  “Over here,” I answer, not taking my eyes from her.

  “You sorry son of a …”

  “What did you find?” he asks as he comes up next to me. He shines his light on her, and she turns her face from him, closing her eyes. Six earrings run up her ear in various colors. “Oh, a toy. Where did she come from?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Are there more?” he asks.

  “Fuck you,” she spits out while her body nervously shakes under my weight.

  How much did she see? Does she know I almost beat a guy to death? She should be afraid of me. My demons like the rage. Feed off it. And I’ve never been one to starve.

  Deke laughs. “I like when they have a dirty mouth.”

  She arches her back and delicate neck, letting out a scream of frustration that rings out in the dark night.

  “No one can hear you out here,” I tell her, my free hand coming up and wrapping around her throat but not choking her. The blood on my hand covers her sun-kissed skin as if I’m painting a picture on her body. She swallows hard against it. “There’s no one to come save you.”

  She whimpers.

  “I love it when they scream. Go ahead, sweetheart,” Deke says softly. “Scream for me,” he says, kneeling next to us. He wraps her long dark hair around his bloody fist, and he jerks her head to the side to face him.

  She bares her perfect teeth, sucking in a breath, but she doesn’t cry out from his force. Both of our lights stay on her face, and she squints, trying to see.

  In the distance, I hear an engine roar as Shane, Kellan, and Bennett leave. “What were you doing out here all alone?” he asks her.

  “Watching you murder someone,” she snaps.

  He throws his head back, laughing at her honesty. “Like to watch, do you?” he asks.

  Her hips buck under me, but I keep her down. I’m well over twice her size, so she isn’t going anywhere. She can wear herself out all she wants.

  “What a coincidence. So do I,” he tells her with a dark laugh.

  She stiffens, and he looks at me. “Go ahead, Cole. Give me a show. I earned it. We gave her one, after all.”

  “Don’t,” she whispers as her lips part, and she sucks in a ragged breath.

  I smile down at her even if she can’t see me. My hand loosens around her slender neck, and I run my fingers down her skin and along her collarbone, pulling down her oversized hoodie in the process. The blood trail I leave behind makes my cock harden inside my jeans. I can feel her pulse race, and I like it. The fear in her green eyes. The sound of her ragged breathing and shaking of her body.

  “You know how much I love to perform,” I tell him.

  “Please.” Her body trembles with the plea while my fingers run over her shoulder, pushing her black bra strap off and watching it disappear into the sleeve of her hoodie.

  Deke slaps me on the back. “She’s begging you already, Cole. Fu
ck! That’s some kind of record, right?” He whistles.

  The wind picks up and tosses her hair around her face, causing it to stick to the blood along her neck and chest. “Red is your color,” I tell her.

  “Orange is gonna be yours,” she growls, lifting her chin.

  I smile at her words.

  Deke just laughs it off. “She may have recorded it,” he says, getting serious.

  I sigh as if that thought is disappointing. “That would be very stupid of you.”

  I drop my flashlight beside her head. Letting go of her, I sit up, and just like I knew she would, she yanks her arms out from underneath me and lifts them to my chest, trying to shove me off her. I don’t budge. Then she runs her nails down my skin. I feel it break at her force, and I refrain from moaning at the pain.

  I wrap my hands around her wrists and push them above her head, holding them against the wet ground. Then I scoot my body up to her chest and sit down on her. “Check her pockets,” I order Deke.

  She screams out as she tries to fight me. Her hips buck, and she kicks her legs out, but Deke pulls a cell out of her back pocket. “It’s locked.”

  “What’s the passcode?” I demand.

  She clamps her mouth shut, and her eyes narrow. I like the fight in her. Most women would already be sobbing. I lean down and give her a threatening smile even though she still can’t see me. Lowering my voice, I say, “Either you give me the passcode, or I take it from you. What’s it gonna be, sweetheart?” A part of me wants her to make me take it. I love it when someone forces my hand—making the decision for me.

  “I didn’t …”

  “That’s not the only thing we’re gonna take,” Deke says, cutting her off, and then I hear him undoing her pants behind me.

  “No!” she cries out. Her hands fisting as I hold them down above her head. “It’s retina … it’s a retina scanner,” she says in a rush.

  “Fucking technology,” he growls. “What happened to the good ole days where you just flipped the phone open, and it fucking worked?”

  He holds it up to her, my flashlight lies on the ground next to us, shining on her face. It must open because he pulls it back and starts to go through it. He grunts.