Darkbound (The Legacy of Moonset) Read Online Free Page B

towards me, eyes flicking my way like a serpent’s tongue. “And who the fuck are you?”
    “The guy that benches two-twenty-five and really wouldn’t mind making you bleed.”
    “What are you doing?” the kid at the center of it all asked, then bit down on his lip like he couldn’t believe he’d spoken. The others turned their attention back to him, and that’s when I got involved.
    I grabbed Viper by the shoulder, and that was the move he’d been waiting for. He swung around the moment I touched him, fist arced towards my face. Only he must have expected a fragile flower, because the punch was sloppy and wide. I knocked his arm to the side, then swung the other one behind his back, shoving him forward until he slammed into the wall. Then the other two came at me.
    Neither one of them was dumb enough to throw a punch, but one tried to shove me, only I didn’t go anywhere. My feet were planted on the ground and I stayed exactly where I was. The other got in my face, nose to nose, like he could force me back with just his forehead.
    “What are you looking at?” the guy snarled.
    “Your pretty mouth.” And then I flashed a grin. “Hey there, sailor.”
    The guy growled and moved back, half in shock and half to reposition for the inevitable swing. But I didn’t just go to the gym to work out. I’d done years of self-defense and martial arts training. I knew how to handle myself in a fight. I just didn’t like to. So when he swung, I ducked, and then darted back out of his reach. He swung again, and I leaned back, his fist missing my chin by inches. Each failed attempt only made him growl louder in frustration. Each subsequent swing became more and more reckless, until I was barely doing any work at all.
    “You think this is some kind of joke? You really that stupid?” Viper was back on his feet and stalking towards us. “I can have you expelled like that, ” he snapped his fingers. “Picking a fight with us, freak? Bad move.”
    “The worst,” I agreed. “You want me out of your school so bad? Try it. Please. Begging you. But you lay a hand on this kid again, I’m going to hunt you down. And I’ll definitely get expelled, but they’ll have to follow it up with assault charges after I’m done with you. Understand?”
    There was a stalemate then, three of them staring at one of me. Not that I was worried. Even in a three-on-one I figured I’d give at least as good as I got.
    When they walked away a minute later, I made sure to blank my face while they muttered their threats. The other kid was still on the ground. I offered him a hand.
    I wasn’t expecting the murderous glare the boy turned my way. “Are you kidding me? Seriously, tell me that the three of those Neanderthals gave me a concussion and this is all some sort of fever dream.” He lunged to his feet on his own, shoving past me hard enough that he managed to make me step back when the others didn’t. Then again, I didn’t expect quite that reaction out of him.
    “You’re welcome?”
    He spun around like he’d been waiting for the opportunity. “For what? For reminding Zach Cauley that beating the crap out of me never goes out of style? Today might have been a one-off, but now that you’re involved, he’s going to be lurking around all the time. Just waiting to take it out on me. So thanks. I’m sure I, and my therapy bills, will be much more gracious about it in the future.”
    Now that I got a better look at him, I saw what had made him a target. High school was about conforming, about finding the lowest-common denominator and making sure you were in tune with it. This Hamilton kid wore a pair of maroon skinny jeans and a gray fitted cardigan, hipster black glasses, and hair that said he didn’t give a shit.
    I cleared my throat. “You know how people say ignore it and it’ll go away? It doesn’t. But what they should be saying is ‘if you talk a lot of shit, then someone’s going to take it out of your ass.’ So maybe