Hell on Wheels (Faetal Attraction #1)

Fight Song

Rogue’s words last night were eye-opening. She was dead on about my crush on our hockey playing golden boy, and I’ve been wondering who else knows ever since. Obviously not my asshole twin—he would have tortured me about it by now. Reb’s so oblivious he missed Rogue being in love with him, so I doubt he has a clue. Javi is the one I worry about; he’s very sharp and notices more than the others.

Archie doesn’t know shit because he’s too busy being the big star.

My lips curve up as I let the cleaners in. Rebel hired this crew of pixies when we all moved in and it keeps us from having fights over who loaded the dishwasher. I think it’s a bit lazy, but none of the others seem bothered by it. Pausing to tell them the previously empty master bedroom is being used now, I head to the kitchen to get a coffee.

Rogue is standing next to the island in tiny boy shorts and a tank, her hair piled on her head in a messy set of space buns. “There you are. Angelo went to meet with your dad for lunch, Archie went to practice, and Reb said he had ‘things’ to do.”

I arch a brow. “And Javier?”

She chuckles as she hands me a coffee as well. “He said we need supplies, so he’s gone to the grocery.”

“They left us to our devices while they went out to handle shit, huh?” She grins at me, and I chuckle softly.

Rogue is getting ready to test me; I feel it coming.

“They did. What did you have in mind?”

Our girl pretends to look offended for a few seconds, then gives up the ghost. “Aw, shit. I can’t even pretend to be innocent to get what I want. Look, D, I want to go to the rink and stretch my legs.”

“But we have?—”

“I know we do, Damon. But I want to be in my space for a little bit. You guys can’t keep me locked up here until the Apalachin. I won’t let the Stuhlls and Mina force me to be a prisoner.” Rogue sits her cup down, walking over to me with pleading eyes. “You can come with me and I’ll make sure the rink is clear before we go in. Please.”

Fuck. How am I supposed to argue with that?

Giving her a stern expression, I reach out and run my fingers along her jaw. “Promise to listen. Angelo and Rebel will skin me alive if you get hurt again and Javier will watch with glee.”

Her face lights up as she throws her arms around me and squeezes tightly. “Thank you.”

As much as I love her gratitude, I hope I will not regret this.

***

She didn’t go full gear, but watching Rogue glide around the circle, I realize how cathartic this is for her. The past few days have taken away her control—something Rebel’s sister values more than anything since she moved out of her parents’ house a few years ago. Graciella and Odhran were tough on her… much tougher than they ever were on him. Her mother demanded perfection in every aspect of her life, and Rogue did her best to give the woman the middle finger constantly.

But on the boards, she’s graceful and fierce—in control of every movement.

“Looking good, Kelly,” I call out as she skates past me backwards, blowing kisses as she goes. “I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.”

“Cheesy asshole,” she calls over her shoulder as she spins around to face forward before picking up speed. As she gains momentum, she uses a crossover to turn backwards again, then rexes her way around the outside loop.

“Maybe, but you skate better than most of the people on your team, zuccherino . You could do solo dance or jam skating if you wanted.”

Sue me, I studied up on this shit when she joined the team. I told you we were obsessed.

“No thanks. I enjoy kicking people’s asses more than getting gussied up and making graceful arm positions,” she snorts as she comes closer. Her eyes dance as she does a quick, one leg twist, then jumps to land on the other foot in a salchow. “Doesn’t mean I don’t learn to do anything and everything that might give me an advantage when we play.”

“What the goddamn hell are you two doing here?!”

I blink, my head whipping around to glare at the person who interrupted our quiet moment. My hands clench and I grit my jaw when I see the woman who helped beat down Rogue sneaking in from the back exit. Fury flares in my veins, creating a deep need to unleash my brand of hellfire on her. My eyes cut to Rogue, watching her spin around and use a T-stop to skid over to me.

“Mina, you’re no longer welcome at this rink. Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops,” Rogue says as she squares her shoulders.

“Like you’re going to stop me? My followers will bury you. They’ll destroy your reputation, paint you as a psycho, and then ruin your career—all because I say so.” Mina smirks at me, her expression ugly in a way she never lets the public see. “I made sure people knew you were using me and my fame, so I left our team to keep you from sponging off of me forever. You’re a talentless peon, Kelly.”

A low growl echoes in my throat as I stand, my tail whipping behind me. “Careful, Mina. If you’re truly spreading those lies far and wide, my father’s legal team will dine on your bones for an appetizer. I don’t care if you show the world a pretty face and look like a ghoul inside—but your fans will.”

She laughs, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re not even the scary Gemini, little D. My reputation online is so perfectly crafted that you can try to expose me, but it won’t work. I’m too good at what I do and the girl you have no chance with over there is a chubby, unpopular loser who was only good at pumping up my platform. Now that I’m a headliner, she’s just dead weight.”

This chick is so delusional that I have no clue where to begin.

“Mina, you don’t belong here. Just leave and stay away from me. We can go our separate ways and this will be over. Isn’t that what you want?” Rogue mirrors the crossed arm position, but I feel the pain radiating off of her. Mina’s words hurt her, and she doesn’t want her to know.

The ex-team member grins evilly again, tilting her head. “Why should I? You deserve everything I have to give you for using me. I’m owed tribute.”

“Wow,” my girl breathes softly as she pinches the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I don’t even know how to respond to that. What the hell are you talking about, Mina?”

“I brought in all the fans. My socials made ticket sales spike. I’m the reason people are paying attention to this team, and you never gave me credit for it!” she screeches.

Holy Baphomet’s hairy sack, I wouldn’t believe this if I hadn’t heard it myself.

Rogue skates over to the bleachers and I move down to the bottom row to stand closer to her. She looks at the boards for a moment, clearly trying to figure out what she’s going to say in response. The anger and hurt coming from her is provoking my demon, but I have to let her handle this herself. I’m not Rebel and I know she can do this—what’s more, I know she needs to do this.

“You are so full of shit ,” Rogue hisses as she pins the witch with a glare. “I let you get away with all your nonsense because you were my best friend. I thought giving you a pass on all your bullying, abuse, and slacking was what a good friend would do. But all it got me was this .”

Mina opens her mouth, but Rogue growls, “ Silence. It is my turn to speak finally.”

A trail of magic zips from her fingertips, and a glittery gag appears over her ex-friend’s mouth. My eyes widen because our girl never uses her magic offensively outside of her official duties. She barely used it enough to defend herself when Mina and her cronies attacked her.

“For the past few years, I’ve let you take the spotlight, claiming all the glory for yourself. You told everyone you built the team—when you couldn’t be bothered to show for try-outs. Then you said you trained their skills despite skipping most drill practices. Every social media post you made both on your accounts and the official team one featured you and lauded your contribution. You made every win about your performance in the match—unless you screwed up, then you blamed everyone else.”

I chuckle as Mina struggles with the gag, trying to get it off with her own magic as she makes muffled protests. “Keep going, mi alma .”

Rogue smiles softly at me, then turns back to the witch. “We had good people quit or leave because you treated them like shit. You spent most of the locker room talks bad mouthing other players from every team in the league. Your persecution complex was so bad that you constantly whined about them ‘copying’ you online and on the boards. But it was never true—it was just your inferiority complex.”

She needs this… she has to find closure to defend herself later on.

“And I let all of it go, even though I knew they were red flags. If I was dating a complete narcissist like you, I would have dumped them before I ever got into a team partnership, but… I enjoyed having a friend for once. Especially one that wasn’t Reb and was a female—that’s how you reeled me in. Once you had me, you made sure I stayed below you for as long as possible, so you didn’t feel threatened. You didn’t leave the Bombers because I’m talentless and sponging off you.” Rogue pauses, sucking in a breath, then letting it out slowly.

Her body is stiff as a board and I know whatever she says next is going to be the most telling piece of information yet. Hopefully, this doesn’t make her lose her temper. I don’t know if I could stop her if she pops her wings. She’s pretty fucking powerful and I might not be immune.

“You left because the team voted you out as co-captain. They didn’t want to deal with your shitty attitude, your lazy work, and the poorly honed skills you displayed in matches. They kept me and told you to fuck all the way off, so you planned this shit with your new minions.”

Motherfucker. She didn’t tell us—any of us—that.

Rogue waves her fingers, letting her gag drop from the witch’s lips as she stares. “And when you left because I set boundaries… you used your platform and your cultish followers to call me crazy, fat, stupid, talentless, abusive, a thief… anything you could to keep the attention off of why you joined the Sickos. You depended on the fear of all the past and current players who skated with you to keep your real face secret. But I won’t be held hostage anymore.”

Stepping out of the rink, Rogue’s skates clack on the concrete as she stalks over to her former friend, getting in her face. “I refuse to let you bully and abuse me anymore. I don’t care if you have a zombie mob to send after me. Your self-proclaimed ‘fame’ doesn’t intimidate me. I’m not your punching bag, Mina, and you’d better believe I’m going to show people what you did if you don’t fuck off.”

I hop over the last bleacher, coming up behind her just enough to show support. “You heard the lady, Mina. Grow up and get lost. Rogue is nicer than me, and I’m far nicer than the rest of her supporters. We didn’t know what you were doing to her, but now that we do, you can believe that your cutesy public reputation is done.”

“If you say one word about our past, Rogue Kelly, you’ll be sorry. You can’t compete with me—I’ve corralled all the stupid sheep in my pen.”

Rogue snorts and waves her hand at the woman. “Nice villain threat. Now do as my boyfriend says… fuck. off. Mina. ”

The blue-haired girl screeches, then stomps out the back in a huff. I lick my lips, then look at my girl.

“Yeah, I know. She’s not done.”

“Not by a long shot,” I murmur. “We have to be careful.”

“Until we figure out how to remove her from the game, yes.”

I was thinking of removing her from the planet, but we can broach that topic later.