Sebastian threw Logan off, going with him against a wall and raining punches to his side and stomach. Logan doubled over, his arms up to block the hits. Sebastian switched, bringing his elbow down on Logan’s head, but Logan feinted, caught Sebastian’s elbow, and slammed him into the other wall. He was on the offense this time. Sebastian went on the defense until they switched again.

It was deathly quiet in the hallway. No one was saying anything. No one was doing anything. Sebastian and Logan kept exchanging punches until we heard a stampede of feet coming up the stairs. We felt them at first, and the crowd looked back.

It was a bunch of Sebastian’s friends. They were coming to help him.

The hold on me disappeared, and Blaze stepped out in front of the guys. His hands were up. “Hey. Whoa, whoa. That’s no longer a fair fight.”

The friends didn’t care. The guy leading their charge took one look at Blaze. An ugly grin appeared, and he knocked Blaze out. He didn’t break his stride. Then they were all on Logan.

“No!” I took off and screamed over my shoulder, “Call the police, Ruby!”

She was glued back against the hallway, her phone clutched in her hands. The blood drained from her face long ago.

I screamed one last time, watching with a sickening feeling, as I saw Logan get picked up and slammed back down on the floor. They started to kick him.

“Ruby!”

Kitty grabbed the phone from Ruby’s hands and punched in the numbers. She yelled at the guys, “I’m calling the cops, you assholes!” She twisted around. “Nina, tape those fuckers.”

Help was coming. I tried telling myself that, but they kept kicking Logan. It wouldn’t come fast enough.

I was going in. I had to try.

“Sam! No!”

I didn’t know who yelled at me, but I looked around for a weapon. There was nothing—until I saw the fire extinguisher. It was big. It’d have to do.

Nina was ahead of me.

She was coming out of her room with her phone in hand, pointed right at the group, and a bat in her other hand. I took the bat and shattered the glass. Nina took the bat again while I pulled the extinguisher out.

“Here.” Kitty gave Ruby’s phone to Nina. “Talk to them.” She took the bat from Nina and shared a look with me.

It was the two of us.

I nodded, gripping the extinguisher with a firm hold. She nodded and started forward with me.

I pulled the pin, aimed the extinguisher, and squeezed the trigger, sweeping from side to side. It hit the guys, and they fell back, slightly stunned. It didn’t faze the others, and Kitty ran in. She lifted the bat, already swinging. One guy bent down to hit Logan’s head. Kitty swung the bat, getting the guy clear under his chin. He snapped back, and she hit two of his friends. She kept going.

I kept squeezing the trigger, using the extinguisher on them. When I was out, I took the handle and began swinging like Kitty.

The guys could’ve taken the weapons from us. It would’ve been so easy, but they seemed dazed by the sudden turn of events. We waded in. I got close enough to Logan, and I swung one last time. I clipped Sebastian on the forehead, but he grabbed the extinguisher. I let him have it, even shoving it at him. He was pushed off-balance. As he was knocked backward, I grabbed Logan around the arm and dragged him into my room.

“Kitty!” I yelled.

Her back was to me. She jumped there to protect us, and she was swinging the bat again. She couldn’t hear me. I tugged her backward.

I yelled at Nina, “Get in your room, so they can’t take the phone.”

After that, I slammed my door shut, locked it, and sank down with my back against it. My pulse was racing. My arms and legs started trembling, but I had to keep it together.

Logan still needed me.

“Kitty,” I croaked.

She was standing above me, her chest heaving. She was holding on to that bat like they were going to shove their way inside. “What?”

“I need you to call someone for me.”

She looked down at me. I couldn’t even hold on to my knees. Even my teeth were rattling against each other.

“Okay.” She patted me on the head. “I’ll call your boyfriend for you.”

I looked up, my jaw trembling. “Thank you.”

MASON

Logan got his ass kicked by Sebastian and four of his friends. They’d beaten my best friend. I gazed at Sam over Logan’s hospital bed and knew she was next. They might not physically beat her, but they were going to beat her down somehow. She was right in the aim of fire. If she didn’t see that, she was an idiot.

No matter who got hurt, I was Sebastian’s main target. I’d been sitting back this whole time. I had been waiting. Sam was going to be his weapon against me. I knew it. I was just waiting for the warm-up before he struck.

That time was now.

Logan was kept for observation overnight and released.

That was the beginning of his troubles. The school board asked the police department to step back. It was between college students and occurred on campus. They wanted to deal with it internally. Because Cain University was powerful and a Division One school, the department stepped back, which everyone was happy about—except for Logan and everyone on his side.

The board found Logan guilty of the altercation between students. He’d swung first. He got the blame, and the meeting today was to officially determine if he’d get expelled from school or just suspended. And because it stemmed from my own run-ins with Sebastian, I was called to testify. I knew what I was walking into. They were going to ask me questions about Logan’s past—if he was violent, if he started physical altercations. What else had he done? Had he been arrested? How many times was he arrested?