Beautifully Wicked Jordan Grant The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. Copyright © 2020. Contents Acknowledgments An Introduction to Voclain Academy Playlist The Rules 1. Ian 2. Harlow 3. Ian 4. Ian 5. Ian 6. Harlow 7. Harlow 8. Harlow 9. Harlow 10. Ian 11. Harlow 12. Harlow 13. Ian 14. Ian 15. Ian 16. Harlow 17. Harlow 18. Harlow 19. Ian 20. Harlow 21. Harlow 22. Harlow 23. Ian 24. Ian 25. Harlow 26. Harlow 27. Harlow 28. Harlow 29. Ian 30. Ian 31. Harlow 32. Harlow 33. Ian 34. Harlow 35. Harlow 36. Ian 37. Harlow 38. Harlow 39. Harlow 40. Harlow 41. Ian Warning A Note Resources Coming Winter 2020 A Wicked Empire Series All About Jordan Acknowledgments Specials thanks to the best beta reader this side of the Mississippi, Edith Taylor, and my amazing editor, Kate Studer. An Introduction to Voclain Academy This is the place where the ultra-rich send their sons and daughters, and now I’m one of them. Transferring to a new school junior year is tantamount to social suicide, but there’s a beautiful boy with a mess of inky hair, and I dare to hope. — Harlow The Academy is my kingdom, and none of these fuckers would dare challenge my rule. A blonde bombshell just stumbled into my world, and she’s got a mouth of hellfire and a frozen heart. Let’s play a game, sweetness. — Ian Playlist IDK You Yet — Alexander 23 Monster — Skillet Bully — Shinedown Scream With Me — Mudvayne Wicked Game — Stone Sour Spiegel im Spiegel — Arvo Pärt, et al. Not Strong Enough — Apocalyptica, et al. Animals — Maroon 5 What if I Was Nothing — All That Remains Run — Joji Sorry — Buckcherry Back to You — All That Remains Control — Zoe Wees Enter Sandman — Metallica Always Remember Us This Way — Lady Gaga The Rules 1. We will destroy Molly Addison Bellamy, henceforth and forevermore known as “the Thing.” 2. All known associates of the Thing shall be treated the same as the Thing. 3. At the request of Ian Aldrich Beckett, the Thing and her associates shall feel our wrath once per day. 4. At the request of Archibald Orson Blakely, associates of the Thing may choose to change teams at any time. At which point, Archie insists they are “free game.” 5. Associates of the Thing must abandon the Thing of their own volition and may not be given a copy of these Rules or told the sordid story of our dear Darcy. 6. At the further request of Archie—the slut he is—girlfriends, regardless of association with the Thing, are exempt. 7. Any of the executors of this contract may call dibs. No one shall interfere in the sacred contract of dibs. At the request of Ian, dibs shall be limited to one semester at a time. 8. At any time, the parties hereto may call a vote if they believe anyone has broken the Rules. 9. There is only one penalty for breaking the Rules. You will suffer the same fate as our beloved friend and brother, Darcy Oliver Quinn. 1 Ian She enters my world like a comet plummeting to earth, brilliant, beautiful, and capable of catastrophic damage. My gaze catches her in my peripheral, just a glance, as I turn to run for the ball. I stop, my feet planted to the field. She’s wearing a pleated, plaid skirt over white tights that go on for days and a matching button-down. Even her black leather flats look regulation-approved at this distance. She’s like the poster child for Voclain Academy, and I want to rip that poster off the wall and hang it above my bed so it’s the last thing I see before I go to sleep every night. Archie yells something as the football sails past me and hits a passing freshman in the skull. “Yo, Becky!” Chase snaps at me, butchering my last name as he jogs past me toward the ball. “Get your head out of your ass.” “Beckett,” I correct him automatically, though there’s no bite to it. Chase, Archie, and Everett could commit murder at this point, and I’d willingly help them clean it up...the bastards. They are my brothers, not biologically but in every other sense of the word—in all the ways that matter. Everett walks to my side and stays there. I feel him before I see him. That’s just how we are, best friends with an inexplicable bond. He is more than just my left tackle. He protects my blind side, both on and off the field. He’s one of the few people capable of saying shit that burrows under my skin like a parasite and stays there until the infection consumes me. We’ve shared blood, and we are stronger for it. Everett says nothing. He just stands there, staring right along with me at the spirit that is certain to haunt my dreams. The girl stops walking for a moment, turning to look over her shoulder. Sunlight kisses the white-blonde hair that dusts her shoulders, her eyes wide and searching. The sight steals what’s left of my breath away, and I feel it explode from my lips in a rush of air. Then she’s walking again, a moue of disappointment on what I somehow know are perfectly kissable lips. She twists a lock of hair around her finger obsessively as she continues forward, looking straight ahead. I am not the only one staring—more than a few male gazes latch onto her every move—but she doesn’t notice her admirers. Or, at least if she does, she ignores them. She’s obviously more comfortable being a wallflower than the center of attention. Begrudgingly, I rip my gaze away from her. The girls have stopped their morning gossip session and are staring too. Aurora tosses her red locks over her shoulder and smiles at me, her grin nine parts poison and one part the bleach treatments she gets on her teeth. Shit. Chase plants the football flat against my chest, and reflexively, I wrap my fingers around the worn cowhide leather. The girl is like a
