Chapter 0002

“So who’s the mom?”

“What?” Kathy says over her shoulder.

“Of the baby that the Hayes brothers have?” I add. “Seems like an angry mistress just dropped it there out of spite.”

Kathy stops and turns back to sneer at me. “She,” Kathy emphasizes. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Has unknown parentage. No one knows where or why she came to be. All we know is that she exists and has been adopted by the biggest, most powerful house on campus. Even the inner ring of the brothers knows nothing beyond that.”

I snort. “They don’t have girlfriends of their own to take care of her?”

“They do,” Kathy drawls. “But that seemed inappropriate. So they expanded the search to the whole school.” She stops and cocks her head, eyebrow flying into her blonde hair. “Though with your mother’s childcare history, maybe you’d be a good fit.”

“Isaac didn’t pay to tuition for me to babysit,” I say, sharply.

“Suit yourself,” Kathy says. “As lovely as it’s been showing you around, my own interview for caretaker is coming up. Too-da-loo.”

Without even a second glance, she turns on her heel and marches back towards the ominous looking pyramid and it’s gaggle of hysteric women. I watch in disbelief. This school is full of crazy people! I can’t imagine I will do anything else here besides study, train and try and become an even better candidate for warrior. Speaking of which, I should scope out the training facilities and see what they look like here. I start towards a building marked “Combat Center.”

I go for the doors then stop short when I realize I can’t get in. There’s a card reader. I frown and turn around to head back to the student center. I run into something wide and hard and “oof” slightly as my face collides with it.

“Sorry,” I mumble, swiping a hand over my face.

“No worries,” the voice chuckles. It’s low and deep and lights a sort of spark in my gut. I snap my eyes open.

In front of me is a tree of a man. He’s strikingly handsome, wavy brown hair and yellowed eyes. He rakes over my entire figure and I’m immediately self-conscious of the ratty shirt I put on that morning.

“I haven’t seen you before,” the man goes on. “Freshman?”

“Yeah,” I find my voice, lodged in my throat. I motion over my shoulder slightly. “Trying to check out the combat facilities but my guide didn’t give me my ID. Do you think you can let me in?”

The man’s eyes do another skim over me, lingering on my breasts and hips. His gaze feels like lightning and I’m immediately twitchy. I cross my arms over my chest. He snickers.

“You want to go to the combat facilities?” he says. “Shouldn’t someone like you be more interested in flirting with boys and making a home?”

“I have no interest in flirting,” I snap. I’m completely over this man’s shit and this fucking school’s nonsense. “I’m here to become a warrior.”

The man stares at me for a moment. He blinks a few more times, eyes locked with my mine before he arches an eyebrow and speaks, low and soft.

“You want to be a warrior?”

“As I just said, yes,” I say.

He looks over my shoulder then back to me. Another sweep of my body, this time lingering on my arms and legs. Finally, he pushes past me and taps his wrist against the card reader.

“Thanks,” I mumble.

We walk inside. He sticks a hand towards me.

“Archer.”

“Chloe,” I say slowly. I ignore his hand.

“Chloe,” he repeats. He pulls his hand back and clears his throat. “That name sounds familiar.”

I freeze. I close my eyes and breathe slowly. Here we go again. “Yeah,” I say. “My brother Wyatt goes here. I’m Isaac Jones’s stepdaughter.”

Archer raises an eyebrow. The rest of his face is set in a hardline. “Oh so I’ve just let the most infamous transfer into my gym?”

Fuck.

I bite my lip. I look up at Archer and see no malice, just curiosity.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about our campus’s new little bundle of joy,” he says. “Maybe you should try and apply for the mother role. Maybe those nanny skills of your whore mother are transferable. It’s be a far better use of time than coming here to train to be a warrior you’ll never become.”

Rage seethes across my body.

How dare he?!

“Fuck you!” I spit. I jab my finger at his chest. “Where do you get off?!”

He holds his hands up and laughs a little. “Ooh, what’re you going to do warrior girl? Poke me to death?”

I shove my palm against his chest. He barely moves, a hulking mass of dick-ish muscle. Instead, he looks shocked I touched him.

“Everyone at this goddamn school is obsessed with this stupid fucking baby!” I shove him again. “Just because my mother was a nanny does not mean I am one! Nor does it mean I should be the one to take care of the fucking brat!” I shove him once more. This time he steps back a bit. More shock comes across his face.

At the end of my tirade, we’re nose to nose. I’m heaving breaths that send my chest further up against his. The rubbing against each other is making my nipples pebble. That, coupled with the fact that Archer is looking at me like I’m prey is making my stomach feel like lightning has rippled through it. He tips his chin higher before he wraps his hands around my biceps.

In one second, he’s whipped us around and pinned my back to the wall. His leg slots between mine and he uses his hips to pin me into place. I try and fight back against him but I’m barely able to move against his grasp.

“Let me –” I wriggle again. “Go!”

“No,” he roars. “Listen to me, little girl.”

He pulls me away from the wall and slams me back against it. My head bounces and my vision goes slightly blurry. Archer shakes me and the two of him I’m seeing become one again. He looks enraged. His nostrils flare and the honey I saw in his eyes turns into a fire.

“You’re new, I get it,” he snaps. “But you have no idea who you’re dealing with. You have picked the wrong asshole to fuck with. I get what I want at this school and I do what I want. People like you don’t so it’s best you start to learn that.”

I get one arm free and shove his massive chest. He barely moves and continues to glare down at me before snatching my wrist in his massive hand. I whine as he twists his hand and the skin on skin burns.

“This school isn’t for little sluts like you who come in looking for someone’s money to spend,” Archer hisses. “I don’t know how your mother seduced Isaac but I do know I won’t let you get your claws into any of the people here. I’ll let you off with a warning, but if I ever see you in my gym again, I’ll tear you to shreds.”

He drops my wrist and pulls away from the way. My body staggered and I almost slide to the floor. Every cell in my body is aching. Archer glares down at me.

“Got it?” he snaps.

I nod once, trying hard to not whimper. My arm feels numb and I rub at my red wrist. I watch Archer storm off into the gym. His fists are balled at his sides and his spine is arched in contempt. I look down at my aching hand and flex my fingers. They’re stiff but nothing seems broken. I look back up and Archer is gone. I’m left in the entryway of the combat facilities with a throbbing wrist and a bruised ego. I let my head rest against the wall and close my eyes.

Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Sure, life in Greendale wasn’t great. But at least rich assholes wouldn’t spend their days making my life miserable.