Unmasked: A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance (An Evergreen Academy Novel Book 4) Read online

  Unmasked

  An Evergreen Academy Novel

  Ruby Vincent

  Published by Ruby Vincent, 2019.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Mailing List

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Prologue

  “W-who are you?!” The tight band I had not felt in so long constricted my chest. I thought I knew fear, but nothing compared to the terror that shook me and tore my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think about anything other than the horrors I learned that night.

  Were these faceless monsters going to kill me?

  “Let me go!”

  “Let me make something very clear.” That dreadful voice stopped me cold. “You’re done at Evergreen Academy. Goodbye, Valentina Moon.”

  I opened my mouth to curse them when the hands reared up and sent me flying through the air. I screamed as I splashed down. Water rushed into my mouth and nose, choking me as I sank below the depths.

  Chapter One

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go back.”

  I lifted my head and met Sofia’s gaze over the computer screen. If I could see my face, I’m sure it would have the same anxious expression as hers.

  “It’s not going to get any better,” she continued. “We’re looking at the same hell as last year.”

  I lowered my eyes to the Evergreen student portal. It was time to pick our classes for our final year at the academy. No doubt Sofia had the same fleeting thought that I did. I should just put “screw you” in the comment box and move on with my life.

  But I can’t.

  “I have to go back, Sof.”

  “Why? There are plenty of other good schools.” I picked up a hint of desperation in her voice. “None of them are Evergreen, but they would still look great on our college applications. I was reading up on one—Breakbattle Academy. It’s not far from us and—”

  “Sofia,” I cut in gently. “I have to go back.”

  Her shoulders slumped. Sofia dropped down until her forehead rested on the laptop. “I hate this, Val. It shouldn’t be like this. I’m— I’m scared.”

  “I know you are. I am too.” I rose from the kitchen table and went around to my best friend. She let me pull her into my arms. “That place has been a haunted house horror show since the moment I passed through the gates. You’re scared. I’m scared. Everyone is scared. They are afraid of the Spades and always have been. That has to stop. It’s time someone put an end to their reign.”

  She pinned me with a look. “That someone does not have to be you.”

  “They made it me when they bullied, harassed, violated, and marked me.” My grip on her shoulder tightened. “Ace is coming after me so I’m coming back just as hard.”

  “Val, Ace marked the Knights. That has never happened before. They are supposed to be untouchable. Last semester was... bad.”

  “It would have been worse if we didn’t have each other’s backs. We’ll watch out for each other, Sof, and we’ll take down Ace and whoever is left of the Spades so that they can’t hurt anyone else. Alright?”

  Sofia still looked unsure. Tears had collected in her eyes that threatened to fall with every blink. I suddenly had a vision of those tears mixing with dye and staining her red dress. The retribution that came down when Ace marked me and the Knights was swift. It hit just as hard for those that stood with us.

  My heart broke thinking of that day. “Why don’t you transfer?” I seized upon the idea as I grabbed her hands. “This is my fight. It was never yours and it doesn’t have to be. You should leave Evergreen, Sof. You’re a science whiz who invented a new shampoo in middle school. You never needed the academy to be successful. You’ll have your pick of universities. You go to Breakbattle and—”

  “Not if you don’t come with me.”

  I blinked. The tears and desperation were gone. Sofia’s voice was infused with steel.

  “I’m not leaving you to face them alone. We both leave, or we both stay.”

  I tried another way. “I won’t be alone. I have the boys. We—”

  “We’re a team, Val. We were long before the boys came around. You wouldn’t leave if it were me, would you?”

  I didn’t reply, but I knew my eyes held the answer. Never in a million years would I abandon Sofia.

  A look passed between us and, at that moment, I knew we understood each other.

  Sofia took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out slowly. “Okay. Let’s pick these classes.”

  I couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss her cheek. “I love you, Sof.”

  “I know.” There was a trace of teasing in her tone. “I love you too.”

  I stood as I heard the sound of barreling footsteps. I knew what was coming before—

  “Mommy! Mommy!”

  I turned in time to see Adam burst into the doorway. I took in the beaming three-year-old. His perfect head of wild curls, shining green eyes, and complete lack of pants.

  A smile tugged at my lips. “Adam Moon. Did you use the potty?”

  He threw his hands up. “Yes!”

  “And then did you run away before Olivia could put your pants on?”

  “He did!” Mom shouted down the hall. “He was so excited; he had to tell you before he did anything else.”

  I scooped my laughing baby up. “I’m so proud of you,” I said between peppering his face with kisses. I saw Olivia enter the dining room over his head.

  “You get his pants on, Mommy Tina. I’ll start on breakfast.”

  She tossed the thing on my head before I had a chance to reach for it. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “So what classes are you going to take?” Sofia asked as I sat down with Adam.

  “I’d say any class that doesn’t have the new Knights in it, but that’s not an option. I miss when the classes were split.”

  “Any class that you don’t have with me, you’ll have with Zane, Kai, or the boys. You will never be alone with them.”

  “But we’ll still be outnumbered,” I replied under my breath. The thought sent my mind whirling. Even with my friends by my side, it was hard to face an entire school of people determined to take me down. They had destroyed me once and I swore the same wouldn’t happen to my friends.

  I gazed at Sofia while she tapped away at her computer. I’m going to keep my promise. I have a plan, and this time, no one is changing my mind.

  “Mommy?”

  I shook myself out of my thoughts. “Yes, baby?”

  “I’m hungry.”

  “Olivia is making you breakfast right now, Adam.”

  He seemed to accept this. He rested his head on my chest and got comfortable.

  “So now you’re Olivia and Mommy,” Sofia said. “Will your Mom be Grandma soon?”

  I snorted. “I tried calling her Grandma once and ended up with a sore backside for my trouble. As for me, I call myself his mommy so he’s been calling me that instead of Tina.”

  “Aren’t you worried about... being called that in public?”

  “I was,” I admitted. “I was afraid of people asking questions about how I ended up as a fourteen-year-old mother, but now”—I dropped a kiss on Adam’s
head—“I don’t care what people think. I’m his mom. I never want him to think he shouldn’t call me that.”

  “I wish Madame Madeline and I had the relationship you two have. I called my nanny Mom until I was four. I was really confused when she told me the lady that flitted in and out of my nursery every other day was actually my mother.”

  I winced. “Are things still awful with you guys?”

  She didn’t lift her head, but the tapping on her keys got more vicious. “There’s a reason I packed up and came straight to your place after school ended. I never told you this, but Mom and I got into a huge fight after I was— after what happened. The nurse called her because I wouldn’t stop crying. She asked me why someone would do that to me and when I told her it was because I stood up for people who were marked, she flipped out.

  “She started shouting at me and demanded to know why I would do something so stupid. If I was marked too, they might come after the business and destroy what she’s worked for. Everything I went through and the first thing she did was make it about herself!” The keyboard assault got worse until I was sure it would break under her hands. “The worst part is she was right. All of a sudden, Honey Hair products are being flooded with bad reviews saying they make your scalp itch, your hair fall out, and are tested on animals. Awful lies that are hurting sales. Mom is so consumed with damage control; she hasn’t called once since the start of summer break.”

  “I’m so sorry, Sof.”

  “Don’t be. It wasn’t you. It was them.”

  She didn’t need to define “them.” I knew exactly who they were. The new Knights.

  “They won’t get away with it this year,” I stated. “I promise.”

  “I know. We have each other’s backs.”

  Not just that, I thought, but I didn’t correct her.

  “Girls.” Mom’s voice drew our attention. “Breakfast is ready.”

  We abandoned our class schedules in favor of eating. My mind was a tangle of thoughts while I fed Adam his yogurt. I knew what I had to do, but I had no idea if it would be enough.

  There were a lot of people in my way now, but this battle was between me and Ace. Nothing would stop me from finding them. I would bring them down no matter what it took.

  “MOMMY, WHERE YOU GOING?”

  I paused with my hands on the suitcase. It crushed me that my son knew what it meant when I brought it out.

  Adam gazed curiously at me from my pillow. I tried for a smile. “Remember I told you Mommy has to go to school.” He cocked his head. “Today, baby. Mommy is going to school today.”

  “I don’t want you to go.” He said it so matter-of-factly, but it made me feel worse. Leaving him never got easier.

  “I don’t want to go either.” I climbed onto the bed and let him snuggle into my side. Pushing it and trying to convince him I had to leave would only make him cry, which would make me cry. We had to leave in ten minutes. I didn’t want us both to be a mess when we rolled out of the driveway.

  “Val, you’re not going to believe this.” Sofia’s voice preceded her before she marched into my room. “They’re coming. They are actually coming.” She waved her phone at me like that was a clue.

  “Who is coming?”

  “My parents.” Sofia tossed my suitcase aside and took its place. “After months of nothing, Mom just called to say they are coming to College Day. She said we need to present a united front.” She kissed her teeth. “Again, she’s making it about her.”

  “Maybe this will give you a chance to talk.”

  “We’re going to talk alright.” There was a glint in her eye that sharply reminded me of when Sofia punched the crap out of Natalie. “She sent Dad down to pick me up and I’ve got a lot to say to both of them.”

  Sofia dropped the look long enough to give me a sad smile. “He’s going to be here soon so I’ve got to say bye now, but I’ll see you at school. At least no one will try to pull anything on College Day.”

  I had to agree with that. Today would be the one day out of the coming school year that I should be off-limits. The same went for everyone who had been marked along with me.

  We hugged one more time before she went back to the guest/Adam’s room to pack her things.

  Sofia’s dad showed up while I was in the middle of getting Adam into his suit. She shouted goodbye at us as Mom came into my room.

  “How do I look, kid?” She did a little spin. “Do I look like I’m about to send a daughter off to college?”

  “Not at all,” I said to Mom’s crisp white pantsuit. “You look like you’re about to go to college yourself.”

  She winked. “Good answer. I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”

  I laughed as I heaved Adam into my arms. “Is it weird that I’m nervous? I know we’re just meeting the Somerset rep today, but still, I keep practicing what I’m going to say over and over in my head.”

  “Not weird at all. This is a big deal.” We talked while we headed out to the car. “Somerset is your first, second, and third choice university. We’re all praying you get in so you can be close by.”

  “I won’t have to worry about tuition,” I replied, thinking of the bank account Caroline Shea kept healthy. “But the price tag is the least of your worries when thinking of Somerset.”

  “When the rep learns about you, she’ll confirm that you’re a lock to get in. Trust me.”

  I held on to Mom’s encouragement as we loaded the car and set off for Evergreen. Today wasn’t just any move-in day. For the seniors, it was College Day.

  The day when colleges representatives from all over the county came to Evergreen used to be later in the first semester. This fact changed when helicopter, live-through-their-children parents began harassing the former headmasters and demanding they be allowed to come. They wanted to be sure their kids spoke to the right reps and impressed them.

  They made it open to parents, but that led to complaints about scheduling and getting time out of their boardrooms. The compromise was to hold the college event on the day when all of the parents and students were collected on the Evergreen campus.

  If there was one good thing about this nerve-wracking day, it was that no one would mess with me on College Day. Even if they didn’t fear Evergreen’s wrath for embarrassing the school, they weren’t about to embarrass themselves in front of the reps they wanted to win over. The real hell would start tomorrow when everyone was gone.

  Or they will try to start hell. I’m going to put a stop to it before they get a chance. I won’t put my friends through this. I’ll protect them and... my boys.

  Thoughts of Maverick, Jaxson, Ezra, and Ryder flooded my mind as the distance between me and Evergreen grew shorter. I couldn’t wait to see them. Texts and random visits when they could get away hadn’t been nearly enough. I loved that I would get to see them every day now, but I hated that came with a dark cloud over our heads. A cloud named Ace.

  When Mom joined the line of cars in front of the school gates, I scanned the sea of faces. Students in jet-black dresses and blazers mingled on the cobblestones. That was our color this year. Black for seniors. Black for our final year. Black for the painted bells on the joker hat that plagued my nightmares.

  They are here somewhere, I thought as Mom drove past the entrance for the parking lot. Ace is here.

  Mom pulled into a space and we piled out. I steadied my nerves as I settled Adam in my arms. The toddler munched on his cookies without a care in the world. I looked down at him and smiled. I hadn’t told anyone, but there was something else I needed to do.

  “Miss Moon?” I glanced up and landed on two of the school staff. “We are happy to take your bags up to your room.”

  “Thank you.”

  Mom handed them the keys on her way around the car. “This thing doesn’t start for another hour, right? I’m going to hunt down a bathroom and those refreshments the email promised.”

  “Okay. I’ll head up to the dorm with my bags.”

  We spl
it up in the driveway. Olivia went in one direction while Adam and I followed the familiar path to my dorm. As we passed through the side gate, I could see the booths and stalls covering the front lawn. Parents and students streamed around them in their haste to get their things put away, load up on snacks, and get in a few tips before the reps arrived.

  We reached the disused building that had become my dorm and one of the staff opened the door to let us in. A racket of noise smacked me over the face.

  “What is going on?”

  I stepped in and was met with chaos. Staff ran all over the front hall, yelling to be heard over the sound of drilling.

  “There you are, Miss Moon.” I turned as Gus came down the stairs. “I hope you had a good summer.”

  “What is going on?” I repeated. “What are you doing to my dorm?”

  Gus held his arm out to indicate he wanted to go outside—a good idea considering the noise. I let the staff with my bags go on while the three of us stepped back into the crisp September morning.

  “What’s up, Gus?”

  “There has been a change, Valentina. I’m afraid I got word only this morning.” Gus spoke casually like he would to a friend, or to someone he had gotten very familiar with after the school turned on me for the second time, and his job as head security guard got even harder.

  “What change?”

  “The Knights went into Evergreen’s office two hours ago and issued new orders.”

  I stiffened. Those were not my Knights, which meant this wouldn’t be good.

  “Eight students are to be removed from the senior dorm and placed in here. I was given a list.”

  Gus handed it to me but I knew what it said before I read it.

  “This is a new method,” I said, “but at least it didn’t take flaming balls of duct tape to drive them out.”

  He shook his head. “Nothing like that will happen again under my watch. This will now be a co-ed space so cameras are being installed. You, of course, understand that I will be enforcing all rules in regards to all of you living here.”