Thief: The Scarab Beetle Series: #1 (The Academy) Read Online Free PDF

off of the bed and onto the floor. This time, I was too tangled in the blanket to pop up quickly.
    As I yanked myself out of the blanket, Wil tackled Jack. Jack managed to get a good couple of slaps of the belt against Wil’s shoulder before he fell onto the bed.
    Wil landed on his chest, holding down Jack’s hands, trying to catch the one with the belt. “Kayli,” Wil called.
    I snapped up, finding a pillow and tossing it over Jack’s face. I planted my knees on Jack’s hands, forcing them down, and shoved down on his chest as he bucked and writhed underneath our combined weight. He tried kicking, too, but was uncoordinated, and never managed to hit Wil.
    There was wild mumbling and cursing under the pillow.
    I held my breath again, waiting. He must have hit the whiskey harder tonight. After a moment, there his legs slid off the edge of the bed with a thunk. Wil and I jumped up off of him. Jack continued to slide, and landed on the floor. I picked my head up, leaning over the edge to check.
    Jack was sprawled out on his back. His shirt had rolled up his stomach, his pants hung down around his knees, revealing the splotchy boxers underneath. His gut hung over the waistband. His jaw was slack, drool pooling in the corner of his mouth.
    The fight was over early tonight. He was out cold.
    I jumped from Jack’s bed to ours, and crashed onto my back. I touched at the spot where the belt had got me. Now that the fight was over, the pain felt fresh and throbbed. I was too tired to go grab some ice.
    Wil sighed heavily, crossing over Jack and gathering our blankets. He fixed them, fluffing them over before sliding into bed beside me. “I hate this place.”
    I squinted my eyes closed, swallowing back the emotion in my throat. He didn’t know he might soon be free of it.

HARD BARGAIN
    ––––––––
    J ack was still on the floor at five a.m. when Wil had to leave to get to school. He took a series of busses via the TriCounty Link system that headed into Goose Creek. Spending two hours on a bus route must have sucked, but it was better than the trouble of transferring to a closer school, which would have been nearly impossible without Jack getting involved. Not to mention the closest school was scary dangerous, as far as schools went for the area.
    I woke up early to snag breakfast from the hotel lobby while Wil showered up in the room. I was surprised to find a couple of boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, that were probably yesterday’s batch, out along with the usual packets of oatmeal, fruit and coffee. I grabbed four of the plain glazed doughnuts, along with extra packets of oatmeal, just in case we later were evicted. At least we’d have something to eat while we looked for cardboard boxes.
    I wasn’t sure why I bothered. If I didn’t have a hundred and fifty dollars by noon, Colby would be at the door, or send in some security bully to kick us out. I could just imagine waiting for Wil to come back and having to tell him we were moving again. I racked my brain for the millionth time to figure out where we could go, but if I had a plan B, I would have used it by now.
    I just needed money for one more week. Maybe then I’d find a better job. Or the Chinese restaurant would let me work more than enough hours. Or the apocalypse would happen and then it wouldn’t matter anymore. It would save me a lot of trouble.
    At the thought of the restaurant, though, I dropped my shoulders. Even if I went in when they opened at eleven, he still wasn’t going to pay me over a hundred dollars for an hour’s worth of work. I couldn’t even beg him for an advance.
    As I entered the hotel room again, Wil was collecting his text books and shoving them into his book bag. “Anything good?” he asked.
    “Doughnuts,” I said. I planted the tray on the counter.
    “Finally,” he said. He walked over, grabbing a glazed, and shoving the entire doughnut into his mouth in one bite.
    “Eat a banana,” I said.
    “I’m tired of