Page 75 of Revenge At Raleigh High

I will not.

I will not.

I land a knee in his side.

Feel his skin break beneath my nails.

Hear his spit and curse as he wrestles with me, hoisting me up his body, his arm locking around my throat.

I can’t…

I can’t fucking breathe…

The thick rope scrapes against my skin again as it slips over my head.

“Quit flailing, Silver. It’s done. It’s fuckingdone.”

Jake’s voice is harsh. It also carries within it a note of relief. Like he truly is experiencing a moment of catharsis, now that the hard part is done. His arms loosen, releasing me from his vise-like grip, and as I slide down the length of his body, the rope tightens around my neck.

“JACOB!”

The roar fills the gymnasium, loud and furious. I can barely see out of my swollen eyes, but I’d know that voice anywhere. It’s Alex. He’s finally here…and he’s going to be too late.

32

ALEX

A piercing, high-pitched scream cuts through blistering quiet.

The halls of Raleigh High whip past in a blur as I fly toward the sound of the panicking screams that come one after the other.

She’s alive.

She’s fucking alive.

“Sbrigate, Passerotto! Hurry! Faster!”

The double doors to the gymnasium slam open with a deafening crash as I hurl myself through them. In the middle of the large, open space, right on top of the midcourt line of the basketball court, the captain of the Raleigh Roughnecks football team is trying to fight with a bloody creature in a Siren’s cheerleader uniform, threading a fucking noose around her neck.

I don’t recognize the girl in his arms.

Her face is a mess of split skin and bruises. Her hands are bleeding, her knees and feet cut open. I only know that it’s Silver because of the way she’s fighting him like a possessed hellcat, battling for her life.

My vision turns crimson red.

Death red.

“JACOB!”

Silver’s eyes open, startled, bloodshot but still blue. They meet mine, and I see her abject terror, her fear, and worse—her resignation.

Jacob turns, pivoting at the waist, his face marred by two long, deep scratches down his cheek. He snarls, showing me his teeth…as he lets Silver go.

Her body immediately goes stiff, her back bowing, hands reaching up to claw at the fat rope that’s pulling tighter and tighter around her throat. She didn’t fall far from his arms, but it’s enough. Not enough to snap the vertebrae in her neck, but the tips of her big toes are hovering an inch from the lacquered floorboards. She can’t relieve her weight from the rope.

“Well, fuck me,” Jacob hisses. He takes a step forward, putting himself between me and Silver’s convulsing body. “Looks like you’re a little late, Moretti. No way you’re gonna fight your way past me before she’s out of time.”

“Are you fucking out of your mind?”