As we got back outside, I struggled in my brother's unbreakable hold, but he didn’t let go immediately.
“Get off me, Nix,” I barked. My patience with being restrained was running out.
“Are you good?” he questioned, flexing his brawn. A threat that he’d keep hold of me if he thought he needed to.
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“You sure?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah.”
Nix untangled his arms and stepped back with his hands in an I surrender motion.
I then turned, drew my fist back and rammed it into Phoenix’s jaw. He fell back, holding his face, and Reed jumped between us.
“Enough, now!”
I caught sight of the girls with their arms around each other, both with horrified expressions.
As I glanced back at Phoenix, the cocky fucker was grinning. There was blood on his nose, yet he still goaded me. “You hit like a grandma.”
As I turned and started walking down the driveway, I saw Xander’s car, that white Audi Q5 with blackout windows. I felt smug as shit when I saw he’d left his headlights on. Fishing in my pocket for my keys, I withdrew them and ran the tip across both his doors. The sounds of metal cutting into the paintwork were satisfying.
Everyone else stood at the bottom of the driveway and watched.
“Is he OK?” I heard Molly’s voice, full of worry, and it lifted some more of my ire. I had scared her, and yet she still cared. Her comment about me not recognising a genuinely caring person burst through my brain.
“He will be. Look, everyone, cool it. I’ve got an Uber on the way,” Reed, Mr. Fucking Fix-it piped up.
As the cab arrived, we left the party I felt as wired as fuck.
No one said much on the drive home, and the atmosphere was tense. You could tell the driver felt it as he soon shut his mouth after moaning about the pitfalls of electric cars.
I couldn’t even look at Molly. She had seen me for the psycho I was, and shame thrummed through me.
The last week had been torture, and I knew that the news about my father had added extra fuel to the fire Creed had started tonight.
Ma had contacted the warden’s assistant, who had explained that I needed to collect Callum Gage’s belongings within thirty days or they would be incinerated. I’d already agreed to his body being destroyed without a funeral. The thought of driving over there to pick up my father’s shit was constantly on my mind. I could leave it, but thoughts of there being something in there that had belonged to my mother kept me rethinking that decision.
Ma had suggested I homeschool myself the whole week, knowing that the slightest hiccup at school could send me over the edge. She had also offered to collect Callum’s stuff herself. Everything he owned was sitting waiting in a banker's box. Ma also explained that there was some money, as the remains of Callum’s bank account would be made out into a check once his death certificate was issued.
The thought of takinganythingoff that cunt, made my skin crawl.
I had told her to hold off. I could always pick up his meagre shit and then burn it.
“You shouldn’t have touched him,” Reed unhelpfully admonished, breaking through my reflexions.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I muttered back, the muscles in my jaw tensing.
As rational thought entered my head, I knew I shouldn’t have attacked Xander. If he told his father, there was a chance Anton would retaliate. Thoughts of being taken into the woods and kneecapped swam around my head.
I glanced at Molly, who had remained silent during the entire journey. She stared out of the window with a vacant look. It felt awkward, I’m not going to lie. I was desperate to speak to her and find out if she was OK, but not in front of everyone.
“Fuck me. It’s not even ten thirty. Can’t we go into the city?” Phoenix whined from the back.
“I’ll go into the city,” Harper said brightly, but was instantly shot down in flames.
“You’re going nowhere but bed,” Phoenix blasted back.
