"W-what's going on?" Mallory whips around to face me as Riette closes the door and flips the lock.

Bailey and Zane stand with their backs to the bathroom where Reynold is hiding out. Connor is on the other side of the room, hunkered in a chair, looking reserved and bored. I thought he was supposed to be downstairs, swiping the video off Cassie.

"I really doubt she needs to explain why the fuck you're in this goddamn room," Riette growls.

Mallory whimpers in her throat and returns her gaze to me, "Max? What's going on?"

"It's your turn to find out what it feels like to have a guy take advantage of you..."

"Excuse me?" Her eyes flit around the room like one of the guys will dare to fuck her without approval, "which one is going to do that? Him?" She glares at Riette behind me, then turns to Zane, "or him? That's hardly a punishment. I doubt you'll allow Bailey to screw me." Then she turns to Connor, "Him?"

"None of us will be sticking our cocks in your rank cunt," Connor snarls, glowering.

Mallory spins back, "how did you find out?"

"Cassie said there is a video," I never got the video from her or watched it.

"How did she get...?" Her eyes widen and then she hisses, "fucking Reynold. Can't trust that dumbass to do anything right. He is a sap for that bitch."

"Why did you even want me on your side?" I cross my arms, unconcerned.

I don't have to second-guess my posture since the room is filled with four other bodies that will take her down if she tries anything. Bailey keeps glancing at the bathroom door where Reynold is listening to the conversation. He's agonizing over how I will react when he appears. I don't have a clue if I can handle it, but he's here to help. It wasn't hard to convince him that he doesn't have a choice or we'll turn him in for raping me.

"It's not like I targeted you for the rape, Max," Mallory groans, "the plan was to do that to Cassie, but she was too willing for him. She said she wanted Bay, but really, she wanted anyone who would fuck her."

"Don't call him Bay," I hiss, "That's Dark Prince to you."

"Oh, are they all going by their little titles now?"

"When you're facing us down in a dark room, there are no real names, Mal..."

"Whatever you say, Blood Princess," she rolls her eyes.

"What made you decide to go after me instead?"

"Cassie left the party once Bailey and... I mean, the Dark Prince and her had that fight. I got you up to the room, and while I went for aspirin, I came across Reynold still hanging around. He wanted payment for our agreement." She shrugs like this is no big deal, "I was prepared to take care of it myself if things didn't work out right, but I had a body here," she gestures to me with a swing of her hand, and Riette presses into my back, "I told him you like it rough, and he can't scare you."

It's true...?

She's not hiding the fact that she sold him out. Something about this still stinks like fish, though. I won't let her think I buy into any bullshit she is selling.

"Yeah, Reynold filled us in on this part," Zane saunters in behind Mallory, as Riette grasps my shoulders, shifting me out of the way cautiously, "she ran into him for the first time at his party. The one where you were with Memphis and then you disappeared again... You do that a lot, Mallory. Max recognized Reynold and after a good beating from the Dark Prince, we let him speak. He told us what you said to him about her liking it rough, Mallory."

"We were all ready to kill the son of a bitch for putting a hand on her whether he knew how he was taking advantage of her or not," Riette adds, closing in on her front.

"Hell, even I was ready to put a gun to his head," Connor finally stands from the chair, joining the conversation again.

Mallory lets a whine escape her and eyes me hopefully. She thinks I am still soft, but doesn't know what falling in love with a Ghost Rider will do to you. It opens your mind and heart to the darkness and you let it swallow you up.

"Don't look at her," Riette sidesteps to block her view, "she's not going to help you now."

I move around, "you threw me to the wolves, Mallory. You thought you could use me as you saw fit and threw me to the ravenous wolves."

Mallory's face contorts either with pain, regret, or annoyance. None of it is for me, but herself. She is pissed that we figured out what side of the game she is on. She is even more furious that we caught her off guard and have trapped her.

"We're the wolves," Zane clarifies for Mallory as I witness the fear pass through her expression.

"You served me on a goddamn platter to them," I carry on as Bailey places a hand on the bathroom doorknob, "but I came back leading the pack, Mallory."

Now, she's aware of the bathroom as the door swings open and light filters into the otherwise gloomy room. Reynold stands there dressed in regular clothes and looking all normal. It's clear he is prepared for tonight, and is excited to play a part. He might have once thought he wanted to be a Ghost Rider, but now he's just thrilled to be on the same side as them.

"Him?" Mallory squeaks.

"He was good enough for me," I spit venom, glaring at her bright red lipstick and huge, brown eyes, "now he's the perfect fit for you. It's only fair that he gets a small bit of a revenge, too."

"No... You don't understand..."

"That's right," Riette sounds more gleeful that she is afraid.

"No, wait..." Mallory backs up until her back slams into Zane's chest.

His hands dig into her arms and throws her onto the bed. Mallory flips over, straightening, and fixing her skirt. She's not even wearing panties under the black leather skirt. Connor's upper lip tugs up in repulsion, inching toward me and Riette. Reynold is thrust across the room by Bailey as if he's hesitating too much.

"Are you all going to watch?" Mallory's eyes scan all of us.

"Voyeurs, if you will," I remember the word Riette used before.

"That's revolting!"

"Oh, that reminds me," Zane fishes out his phone, and opens the video recorder, "we're recording this, so we have proof."

"What!"

"You didn't give Blood Princess a choice," Zane doesn't bother to face her, setting up the camera on the dresser near the door, "that will do." Zane peeks at me, winking, and then spins to face the rest of the room, "are you going to make it easy on Reynold and participate, or is he going to have to force you, Mallory?"

Mallory's eyes widen as she watches Reynold closing in. His eyes are dark like he's turned on being watched. It wouldn't surprise me after discovering, I myself, enjoy being watched. I don't like the idea of being anything similar to someone like Reynold, but he's not actually guilty. He was used as much as I was. I have to keep reminding myself of that, whether my memories feel different or not.

Reynold places his hands on Mallory's hips and flips her to her back with ease. She squeaks and turns brick red, realizing that not only will she be stripped of this choice, but we are all going to watch it. I thought this part would make me feel sick, but she did the same thing to me. I cross the room, wobbling, but Bailey envelopes me, and digs in his pocket for the Ibuprofen.

"Your knee?" He presses his lips to my ear.

"Yeah," I breathe when he passes a pill to my mouth.

"No!" Mallory shrieks before Reynold can cover her mouth with his hand, and smothers her in his weight.

Connor is the only one who looks perturbed, but even he doesn't tear his eyes away as Reynold strips Mallory down to nothing. Reynold seems to be more willing to do this than he let us see when we drove to his place to force him to help us. He really argued with Bailey over the issue until Zane threatened to turn him in if he didn't help. Now, it's like he's been a willing participant from the start.

The original plan wasn't to actually have her raped, but to drug her and make her think that's what happened. We were going to record it just to prove she was never raped, but that's counterproductive. She took the choice from me and stripped my trust, so she deserves this...

Reynold jerks out of his shirt and pins Mallory to the mattress easily, jamming fingers inside her. She cries out, thrusting her head back, looking for some relief and give. Tears leak down her face, but they only fall for the pain between her thighs and nothing else. Just as Reynold is about to removes his jeans and free his rod, Connor's face lights up from his phone. Reynold lets out an exasperated grunt and glares over at him for disrupting the assault.

"Hold up," Connor growls, "everyone check your phones."

Noise instantly plays from his phone, but it doesn't make any sense to my ears. I've let them fall deaf to any other sound than the music pounding the walls for the party. Zane ends the recording and flips through his phone as Bailey digs his out. I don't even bother getting my phone as Bailey shows me the text that Cassie sent out to the entire school.

"It's a video..." Bailey's voice is barely audible.

"Bitch," Riette snarls already playing it on his phone, "oh fuck..."

"Fuck is right," Connor growls.

Bailey presses play and I lean forward to watch.

The screen is dark for a long moment, but it's easy to pick out the party music. Then it brightens as the camera adjusts to the darkness in the room and my naked body is on display on this very bed. My breath snags in my chest and I inhale like I can't even breathe. Bailey covers his mouth like he's afraid someone will hear the string of curse words tumbling from his mouth.

Mallory is already on the floor, but she wiggles a little back and forth to get comfortable. She wasn't actually harmed and they only acted enough to convince me that I was alone. My chest heaves as I put the pieces together and Reynold's naked body covers mine. I squeeze my eyes shut, burry my face into Bailey's chest as he continues to watch the video. I don't need to relive this part.

"The fuck...?" Zane barks.

"What the fuck is it?" Reynold doesn't move from restraining Mallory on the bed, but all hear the distress.

"Motherfucker," Riette clicks off his screen.

"Hold up," Connor holds him back before he can attack Reynold, "this is Sawyer's call, brother."

"That's right," Zane agrees, setting his phone up again, but not recording yet, "Blood Princess makes the decision."

"What decision?" Reynold almost sounds panicked and Mallory twists away, crawling off the bed.

She settles in a corner, "you thought he was tricked, too? You're all so fucking stupid."

"You're the stupid bitch," Connor snatches her off the floor and shoves clothes at her, "get dressed, Mallory. You're still not getting away with this."

"Looks like we might get a taste for real revenge tonight, Con," Zane agrees with him once again, "but it's still Sawyer's call."

"Baby, watch this part," Bailey pries me off his chest to show me the end of the video, "the assault is over... Watch, baby."

My naked body is still on display, but now Reynold is dressed and fresh from the bathroom. He helps Mallory to her feet and they whisper to each other. Bailey turns the volume up all the way, so we can hear them.

"When do you and I get together?" Reynold laughs.

"You got your payment," Mallory snaps back, glaring, "wasn't she better than Cassie's tired pussy anyway?"

"She was nice and tight, but she wasn't a virgin."

"Neither am I," Mallory hisses, holding her ground, "she hasn't had sex since freshman year, Reynold."

"She wasn't bad," Reynold peeks a glance at my exposed body on the bed.

My heart clenches and aches beneath my sternum, and my grip tightens on Bailey's shirt. He secures me to his side, glaring at the video with me as it becomes clear that Reynold knew about the whole thing. I already figured this out from the way Mallory spoke, the gut feeling that wouldn't let go, and the eager look in Reynold's demeanor tonight. He is exactly the kind of guy to relish fucking a girl without her damn permission.

"Smacked her ass enough," in the video, Mallory rolls her eyes at Reynold, "I would say you enjoyed her plenty."

Reynold chuckles, returning his gaze to her, "maybe one day I can throw you on a bed and fuck you."

"You'll never get your rapist hands on me," Mallory starts shoving him toward the door, "she's stirring. You need to get out..."

"What about Cassie?"

"Bailey finally dumped her skank ass. I'm sure she'll be calling you up soon enough, Reynold."

"She better or I'll want compensation."

"I'll serve you another girl if I must," Mallory shakes her head, snapping the door shut and returns to her place on the floor.

Suddenly a hand reaches forward, and Mallory glares at the screen. We can hear Reynold laughing before the video abruptly cuts out. I swallow hard, wanting to throw the fucking phone at his face. I don't even give a shit about getting back at Mallory at this point.

Once she knew that I was aware what she had done to me, she didn't try to deny it. She owned up to it and told us what happened. I don't know why she continued to use my friendship after that, except that it helped her pull petty pranks on Cassie. Maybe she is using Reynold more than it seems to distract Cassie, so she can come up with a better plan. It makes plenty of sense to me. She's conniving that way.

Reynold is the one that lied about his part in the rape. He tried to convince us that he was just as innocent as me. I almost believed him and even tried to defend him to the boys. I can't believe I ever fell for that line.

Bailey drops his phone, and charges Reynold, thrusting fist after fist into his face. Reynold doesn't fight back, knowing that he deserves this. Everyone could hear the video we were watching. It's not like he stands a real chance in a fight with Bailey when his three brothers are here to back him up.

"Sawyer?" Zane looks to me.

I flick my eyes to him and nod.

That's it. There's nothing to say. He knows what I mean with that simple gesture. His eyes darken, and Riette vibrates with adrenaline. Connor gathers Mallory and removes her from the room.

After what feels like an hour, Zane and Riette peel Bailey off Reynold's beaten body. His chest heaves up and down, and he collapses on the floor. I move up to Bailey and he latches around my waist, careful of my knee. He buries his face in my tummy, and I curl fingers into his thick, silky coal black tendrils.

"Are you okay, Max?" Zane's mossy green eyes blaze with rage.

"Just end it," I whisper.

Riette smirks proudly, "about fucking time."

"We'll wait for Connor," Zane shoves him back, "but you can keep an eye on Reynold. I've got to shut the party down, so we can do this without any issues."

"The party is a perfect alibi," I point out, "we should do this somewhere else."

Zane beams, "smarty pants. How are you not valedictorian?"

I tug on Bailey's hands and he starts straightening himself, "let's get out of here."

"I've got this douche," Riette tosses Reynold over his shoulder, who groans, but remains unconscious.

"You good, bro?" Zane claps Bailey on the shoulder.

"Fuck off," he jerks free and encapsulates me, lifting me into his chest, and murmurs, "I'm sick of this shit, baby."

"We're ending it," I whisper against his neck, tightening around his shoulders as he anchors my legs painlessly around him.

Zane snaps the door shut behind him and we descend the stairs. The music thrums, bodies jostling, and the party continues unaware of the disturbance tonight. None of it matters.

"I love you," I kiss Bailey's neck.

"I love you, princess," Bailey growls quietly, fastening his hold on my thighs.