by S. Massery
Like calls to like. I knew it on the playground, witnessing the darkness in him. When he realized we were the same. His dark and twisted mind is like me.
I mean, look at me. I killed someone almost two weeks ago, and that’s the least of my concerns. The car vibrates under me, and I push it faster. I’m desperate to outrun these feelings. The questions I ask myself.
The tires momentarily lose their grip around a sharp turn, and I skid sideways. I scream—not because I’m afraid but just to make noise.
God. I’ve been cramming myself down to fit in. Not just today, or these past two weeks, but way longer than that. Since I moved back in with my parents, maybe?
The urge to hit the highway and never return washes over me, but I ignore it. For now, I just need to park, disable Theo’s GPS, and then hide it. I get closer to LBU West and pull over. It only takes me a few moments to figure his car’s system out—it helps that I’d already spent time in here as a passenger—and then navigate toward campus.
I park it at the public entrance to the conservation forest and take the keys with me, cutting down the track that will take me back to campus.
It’s eerie in the dark. The moon hides behind clouds. Every little noise reminds me of the man I killed. That crack is his foot stepping on a branch. That huff is his breath. An owl hoots—yep, just like out of a murder mystery—and I drop into a crouch.
Paranoid.
“Did you hear that?” someone calls, a lot closer than I could’ve anticipated.
I spring off the path, pressing my back to one of the larger trees.
“An owl,” a boy says. “Come on. They don’t like it when we’re late.”
They pass right by me. There’s a rushing sound in my ears, adrenaline mixed with fear. I don’t know what they’d do if they found me.
“Why is it so freaking dark out here?” a familiar voice asks.
My stomach knots.
Ruby.
My curiosity is almost too much to bear, and I wait a beat before peeking out around the tree. She must’ve bailed on her date with Sebastian? Is the movie over already? Did he realize I stole his car?
God. I’m sweating again. I creep behind Ruby and the three people with her—the girl who first spoke, the boy, and another boy. They head back the way I came, to the public parking lot, then step off the trail altogether.
I can’t follow them.
I should definitely not…
But I do.
I creep-run to catch up, sticking to the deep shadows. Only their harsh breathing leads me along. I step on a branch and freeze. I strain to hear if they noticed.
The glow of a fire draws us forward. Well, draws them forward. I resist the temptation to go even farther. And honestly, what is it with this school and fire? At least they’re not wearing cloaks and chanting in Latin…
“Welcome,” a voice booms.
I’m out. I navigate all the way back to the campus and slip inside. An hour has elapsed since I left the movie theater—definitely not enough time for Ruby to finish a movie with Sebastian. But my room is empty.
There are too many mysteries in my life.
At this school.
And I’m officially freaked out. If I hadn’t stolen Theo’s car, or Sebastian’s, I might be in a better mood to push the whole dangerous secret society thing. And I will sure as hell interrogate Ruby as soon as possible.
16
Lux
Three Years Ago — Lux’s Sophomore Year of High School
In the past year, something’s changed between me and Theo. I can’t put my finger on it, but we’re different. Something is, anyway. I’ve been doing okay at making friends. Thomas Finley sits next to me on the bench. We’re waiting for the lacrosse game to start.
He was paired with me because I’ve given up doing the write-ups. I’m hopeless when it comes to the play-by-plays the athletic students are after, the ones the parents will frame for their refrigerators.
This is football, Lion’s Head vs Emery-Rose Elite. September. The air is crisp, the stadium lights are on, and the game should be a low-key one… in theory, anyway. This is one of the first games of the season, which usually means the teams are still figuring their shit out. Getting plays memorized, synchronizing their movements.
Within the first few minutes, though, I realize it won’t be that sort of game.
Both teams are restless, out for blood. The hits are hard, verging on unnecessary. The Lion’s Head coach is going out of his mind. I turn my camera on him, catching him mid-yell.
Finally, the teams break away for the end of the first half. Thomas stands, offering his hand to me.
“Popcorn?” he asks.
I grin and let him help me up, and we’re swept up in a crowd of Lion’s Head students and parents heading for the concessions. We get halfway there before someone yanks me backward. The grip on my arm is strong, and I go too easily. My back hits their front.
I crane my head back, meeting Theo’s burning gaze.
This is what’s different.
He’s angry, growing more upset by the moment.
Thomas notices I’m not with him and searches for me, finally spotting us. “Lucy?”
“Leave her,” Theo says.
We’re in our own little bubble. The crowd goes around us, never touching him. A perk of being him, I guess. Even people affiliated with Lion’s Head know who Theo Alistair is, and they know better than to knock into him.
Thomas takes one look at him, then me, and rushes away.
“See how easy, little monster?” Theo asks in my ear. His breath is hot.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Did you have fun in my car?”
You knew you were going to get caught. “Oh, did you find that?”
He grunts. “It was clever.”
Yesterday, my grandma dropped me off at Emery-Rose Elite to see Amelie. And Theo’s car just… called to me. Call it stupidity, since I had taken Dad’s car a few weeks earlier and crashed it through their garage, but it woke me up.
And I needed an excuse for Theo to talk to me.
His anger ignites me. I can relate to it. Over the past few months, he’s tried to scare me off with just how terrifying he can be. But it doesn’t work.
“Let me guess,” I say, pulling my arm free. “You’d prefer I never spoke to another boy again. We had this discussion already, Theo. I can’t be in a cone of silence my whole life.”
He scowls. “You can try.”
I will not try. “I barely talk to anyone as it is.”
“So it shouldn’t be so difficult for you.” He appraises me. “You know what? I can handle it for you.”
I tilt my head, but he’s already striding away.
A sense of foreboding washes over me.
And I should’ve known. Because the next day at school, the rumors started.
Theo’s little whore.
The tainted girl.
A slut.
Just another way for him to try to knock me down. But the words don’t bother me. The name-calling and side-eyes don’t, either. I go from quiet nobody to hated outcast, and I don’t change. I can’t. To change would be to give in… and I don’t have that in me.
But he’s certainly proving to be a worthy adversary.
17
Theo
Eleven days.
My plan has taken eleven days to perfect, but it’s finally ready. A loose thread of a plan through some truly crazy moves, but it’s the end result that I stay focused on.
Anyone who threatens me cannot be allowed to continue.
Sebastian and Hale’s forced bet hangs over my head. It’s an invisible guillotine.
I step out of the shadows and track Sebastian into the movie theater. Lux is pulling some shit, because she and Ruby are both with him. She seems ready for bed in an oversized hoodie, her hair up, while Ruby seems extra ready for a date. Either way, Sebastian navigates between them with ease.
I stay back until they�
��ve purchased their tickets, then snacks, and disappeared down the hall toward the theaters. I have a hunch, but I can’t get too close. But after a few moments, I stride in and past the ticketers. No one stops me. No one even blinks twice, because there are so many people milling around that I could be anyone.
Also, no one ever stops the confident man. It’s something my brother taught me. He would say, “Even if you know you don’t belong, you can’t show it. Just keep your chin up and plow through. You’ll get further than you expect.”
And I do. It takes me a few tries to find the right room, but I finally spot Lux in the dim lighting. I slip into a seat a couple rows back and move my hood up. Sometimes we’re like magnets, and she can feel my presence. It’s the weirdest, most satisfying mind trick.
Lux and Ruby sit on either side of Sebastian, but she’s barely there a moment when she springs up. She makes an excuse I can’t hear and rushes up the aisle to the exit.
I watch her go, eyes narrowed. They couldn’t see the devious expression, but I catch a glimpse of it. What are you planning, Lux?
Sebastian and Ruby stare at each other.
“What now?” she asks.
He shrugs. “Now we enjoy the previews, I suppose.”
“Seb. Hale—”
Ah. I lean forward.
“He won’t find out about this,” Sebastian says. “Relax.”
Interesting. Another layer—deception on top of deception. When they look at each other, their profiles clear, I raise my phone and snap a picture.
The lights plunge lower, and I get out of there before I witness anything worse. Hale’s sister is all dolled up. I don’t think it would take much to convince him that his best friend is sleeping with her.
But that will just be the final straw. A tiny piece of the puzzle I’m crafting.
I drive back to my apartment, but I don’t go inside. A thin boy with glasses waits for me on the sidewalk, and he shrinks back as I stalk up to him.
Part of me feels bad.
Most of me doesn’t give a shit that he’s a terrified boy. I mean, yes, he grew enough balls to actually show up. That counts for very little. But he’s cowering, and it immediately gets on my nerves.
“Well?” I snap.
He jumps. “I have it here.”
I hold out my hand, and the fucker hesitates.
“Show me,” I say. I flash him a wad of cash.
He pulls his backpack around to the front and unzips the smallest compartment, revealing a glass bottle.
“They’ll—”
“Shut. Up.”
He wisely presses his lips together and accepts the cash I toss to him. I shove the bottle in my pocket and raise my eyebrows. I wait for the other part of our agreement.
Tracking down this boy was more trouble than it might be worth, but then he nods and hands over a stack of papers.
“I don’t know why—”
“Seriously, kid,” I interrupt. “You’re supposed to be a genius. And yet, you keep talking.”
He grunts. “Insatiable curiosity, unfortunately.”
I grin at that. “It’ll get you in trouble someday.”
He backpedals away from me. “Not today, though?”
“No. Get the fuck out of here.”
He rushes across the street, and I head up to my apartment. I flip through the papers and smile. For all the kid’s flinching, he came through. And was paid for his efforts…
Things are falling into place, but I need to move faster. I slide the papers into an envelope and jog back down to the street level. My phone vibrates, but I ignore it and hurry to campus. I could drive, but I need to get out the restlessness in my muscles if I have any chance of sleeping tonight.
I get on campus and head for the library, following the stacks all the way to one of the alcoves in the back. A girl stands beside one of the desks, helping another student pack up their bag.
I hang back and wait for the latter to leave, then approach the girl.
She eyes me. “You have it?”
“I do.” I hand her the envelope and smirk. “You have what I want?”
“I shouldn’t.” Her gaze falls to her shoes. “This could get us in trouble.”
“Trouble has already found me.” I shrug. “It’s just a matter of if it finds you, too.”
She blushes, and my irritation flares. Girls always fell head over heels for my friends in high school, became bumbling idiots around them. Us, I suppose, although I never paid attention to them. But she’s bringing back sour memories.
At least Lux never pulled a stunt like that.
She recovers from the vague threat—and I mean, honestly, what am I going to do? Destroy her, too? She isn’t worth it.
“Relax.” I roll my shoulders back. “It can’t be traced back to you.”
“Right,” she mutters. But she relents and retrieves a padded envelope, handing it over like it’s going to detonate on her.
“Thank you.”
She grimaces. “Whatever you plan on doing—”
I raise my eyebrow, and she goes silent.
“See you around…” I turn and saunter away. I know my words can be perceived as a threat. Because if she talks, then I can trace the contents of this envelope back to her. And the papers.
My phone buzzes again, and I snarl as I yank it out of my pocket.
The first text, from fifteen minutes ago, alerts me that my car’s alarm system was activated.
The second warns that the GPS was disabled.
Heat crawls up my neck, straight to my ears. My friends always made fun of me for that particular trick: how to tell if I’m furious by the shade of red my ears are.
She fucking snuck out of the movies, waltzed past me, and stole my fucking car. Nothing gets me more irritated than that. She knows, because she’s borrowed my cars on more than one occasion.
It’s why I change cars often. Upgrade when I can, or sell. Faster engines, sleeker models, sure. Better security, though, is unbeatable.
Unless you’re Lucille Page.
I leave the library and head back to my apartment. I’ll deal with her after I’ve stashed my new package.
18
Lux
I open my eyes at the click of the door. The bathroom is all shadows and flickering candles—something I thought might relax me. I figured, if I had the room alone, the least I could do is take advantage of a bath.
But now I’m on edge, and I can’t immediately pinpoint why.
It takes me a moment too long to realize one of the looming shadows isn’t inanimate. It breaks away from the wall, and understanding dawns on me.
I grab the side of the tub to haul myself out. Water sloshes around me.
He’s faster than me, though.
His hands wrap around my throat and shove me back—and then under.
I try to suck in a gasp before I’m fully submerged, but water fills my nose. It burns down my throat, up into my sinuses. After a few seconds, I open my eyes. He watches me above the water, seeming to consider me.
He could kill me.
In fact, it’s seeming more and more likely.
Theo Alistair has unleashed his inner psycho.
His hands squeeze, forcing me to the bottom of the tub. I kick out, but I can’t reach him. A smirk graces his beautiful, blurred face, though, for just a second. Like he’s fucking enjoying drowning me in my own bathtub.
I’d enjoy kneeing him in the balls, but alas… he has the upper hand.
My lungs are on fire. The air rushes out, little bubbles escaping for the surface. Black spots flicker at the edge of my vision, creeping closer.
And then he drags me up.
I gasp and immediately go into a coughing fit. The days when I seem to press all of Theo’s buttons are rare, but I’ve managed to do it by stealing his car. It probably has something to do with the fact that I disabled his GPS…
I swallow, ignoring the burn in my throat and behind my eyes. He thrives on this sort of chaos, a
nd tears will just feed it.
He’s still holding my throat with both hands, and he yanks me toward him. He doesn’t even seem to care when my wet shoulder and arm hit his chest, soaking his t-shirt. His face is colder than I’ve ever seen it, and I smile slowly.
“Do you like watching the world burn?” he asks.
Burning seems ironic, given his current frozen state. I long to yank him out of that—because it isn’t about watching the world burn, it’s about him. I can’t answer him, because his grip on my throat suddenly cuts off my oxygen.
“Where the fuck is my car, Lux?” His fingers relax just enough for me to suck in air.
I inhale the best I can and meet his eyes. This is what I’ve been missing the last two weeks. I crave the fear he incites. Turned on by it, too. Heat pools between my legs.
I ignore my body’s reaction. It’s thrummed like this around him for years, since before I realized what sex was.
“You seem upset.” My voice is hoarse, like I was screaming underwater.
I wasn’t. I wouldn’t, because that would break rule number one.
Don’t give the beast what he wants.
He releases me and rocks back on his heels.
I slip down the tub a bit and quickly bring my heels under me. His gaze turns hungry as I rise out of the water. He hasn’t seen me naked before, although I’m almost certain he’s dreamed about it.
He doesn’t move.
I reach for him, putting my hand on his shoulder for balance to step out.
Once my feet are on solid ground, and I’m in less imminent danger of drowning, I smirk. I have the upper hand now. I have his car, I made him come after me. If it was up to him, he would’ve ignored me until those two weeks were up.
Now, I win. And the memory of our awful kiss is cemented in my memory.
His gaze is hot, running up and down my body. His eyes are level with my breasts. I move slowly and step closer, lowering myself. I straddle his lap and dig my fingers into his shoulders. Everything in me is screaming to make him go away… or pull him closer.
