“Get out of here, Lumen!” Danyella screams, shaking so hard that I can feel her trembling body as I lie in her lap. Why is she taking care of me? Why does she care, after what I did to her? Did Lumen just say she slept with Parrish? “I don’t want this! I never wanted this!”
“Sorry, Danyella,” Lumen calls out, spinning in a swirl of pleated skirts and blond hair. “But there are consequences to our actions, aren’t there?” Her words are cryptic, but I’m in too much pain to try to decipher them.
I groan and struggle to sit up, but my arms feel like jelly and my left hand is on fire. When I move, it hurts so bad that my vision blacks out briefly, and I’m certain that I’m about to pass out.
“Goddamn it,” Danyella curses, and I feel the sting of hot, salty tears on my cheeks. “Dakota, I’m sorry.” She helps me sit up, rubbing my back as I cough and spit up blood.
“Dakota!” a voice yells from down the hall, just before Chasm appears, running so fast that he actually slips in my blood and nearly crashes to the floor. He manages to make it look intentional, hitting his knees hard in front of me in a way that must hurt, but that he doesn’t acknowledge.
His hands reach out for my face, fingers smearing the blood on my cheeks. I can see his friends down the hall, watching but not interfering, just like they did when Chasm punched that guy yesterday.
“What happened?” he asks, eyes searching my face. I can’t stop looking at his friends though, the way their eyes narrow in on him, as if he’s a traitor to the whole of Whitehall. “Danyella, what the fuck?”
“I didn’t ask Lumen to do this,” she says, but her voice warbles, and there’s a tremendous amount of guilt hidden beneath her words. “I never wanted this. I don’t want any of this.” She turns her attention to Chasm. “She’s telling everyone that Dakota set the fire.”
Chasm curses, standing up and doing his best to help me to my feet.
I manage to get up, but that’s about as far as I go. My body lilts to one side and I slam into Chasm as he starts cussing under his breath again. He ends up picking me up like I don’t weigh a damn thing, hefting me into his arms.
I’m amazed at how much damage those girls were able to inflict in such a short period of time.
Did she … did she really say that she and Parrish have been sleeping together?
I groan and lay my head against Chasm’s chest. I want so badly to cry in that moment, but I’m afraid to do it where anyone else can see.
“I need to get you to the nurse’s office,” he murmurs, giving Danyella another look. “You and I will talk soon.” He takes off, and even the easy movement of his stride makes me hurt. I’m cradling my hand against my chest as I struggle to breathe through the pain. “Don’t tell the nurse about Lumen,” he whispers to me. “Rules at Whitehall are pretty clear: if you do, you’re dead.”
I wouldn’t tell, even if he hadn’t mentioned that to me.
Lumen thinks she’s getting justice for Danyella. I don’t agree with her use of violence, but I understand her thought process. Besides, I … something is going on. I need to talk to Lumen in private as soon as possible.
Chasm gets me to the nurse’s office without complaining, without stumbling or setting me down. He lays me on one of the beds as the nurse runs over, dropping her Kindle on the desk and reaching out to brush my hair back from my bloodied face. She’s asking him questions, but the pain is so intense that I barely hear her.
What I do recognize at least, is that Chasm is refusing to go back to class even when he’s been threatened with suspension.
“Go,” I tell him, reaching up with my right hand to grab his. “Please.” I give him a pleading look that I hope he recognizes. “You can’t get suspended this close to the end of the year. Chas, please. Please.”
He hesitates, but the nurse is already on the phone calling for an ambulance.
An ambulance?
Holy shit, this is escalating fast.
“Don’t lose your reputation over me,” I whisper, licking the blood from my mouth. It seems to all be coming from my nose, draining down the back of my throat like snot. Gross. “We might need it to help Parrish.” I whisper this last part while the nurse is talking, and Chas grits his teeth. “If you get suspended, your dad—”
“Okay, okay, just stop talking and try to rest.” He touches his hand gently to the back of my head, the rage and anguish on his face a strange source of joy for me. If the sunflowers weren’t enough, I’d know how Kwang-seon really feels about me.
“Leave Lumen alone for now. Trust me on this.” I flick my attention over to the nurse as she hangs up, and then look back at Chasm. “Promise me.”
He grinds his teeth briefly and mutters under his breath in Korean.
“Fine. But I’m not happy about this, Little Sister.” He leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead before adding something that sounds like an affectionate term in his native tongue. The nurse yells at him again, and he snaps right back in Korean—I think what he said means ‘fuck off’—before stepping outside and slamming the door behind him.
Tess arrives at the hospital not long after I do, fussing needlessly over me as I sit there waiting for the results of my x-rays. The doctor who examined me agreed that I’ve broken at least two fingers.
“I don’t understand what happened,” Tess says as she paces in the hospital room beside me.
“I fell down the stairs,” I tell her, which is one of the dumbest lies I’ve ever uttered in my life. It’s the only somewhat believable solution to my current problem, however. “I’ll be okay, really.”
Physically, I’m alright. Emotionally … emotionally, I’m a mess. I hold it together for Tess’ sake, for Parrish’s sake, but …
God.
Oh God.
What has happened to my life? I had one that I loved, lost that, started over, and managed to create something new. I had Danyella and Lumen, X and Maxine, Chasm and … Parrish.
A sob gets caught in my throat, but I choke it back down. I cannot let myself fall apart now. In fact, I need to be ready for the next video call or message from the Slayer so that I can bargain for more luxuries for Parrish.
No matter what the cost.
Tess doesn’t look like she believes me anymore than the school nurse or the doctor does, but they can’t force me to talk. In the end, I have two broken fingers, a possible concussion, a fractured nose that thankfully doesn’t require any medical intervention other than gauze shoved up my nostrils, and a body that’s bruised to high hell.
“This is the absolute last thing that I needed,” Tess whispers to herself on the way home, briefly turning her attention my way. I huddle against the window with a Whitehall Prep hoodie as a pillow, feeling so sick and sad and lonely that it’s hard to breathe. “I’m sorry. I … I wasn’t meaning to put this on you. This isn’t your fault. I’m just … with Parrish …” She trails off, refocusing her attention on the road.
Tess gets me settled into bed before offering a rare kiss to my forehead—coincidentally touching the same spot where Chasm’s warm lips settled—and then apologizes profusely about leaving me alone.
“We’ve decided to suspend the help until their background checks clear, so it’ll just be you and Maxx here for now.”
“Thanks.”
I swallow past the pain, relaxing into the pillows and closing my eyes as Tess disappears out my bedroom door and down the hallway.
I just … need a minute to collect myself.
I end up with my face in my hands, wincing as I bump my broken nose. I tear the bloody gauze from my nostrils and chuck it on my nightstand beside the dead sunflowers. With Delphine on temporary leave, there’s no one to clean up after the Vanguards.
A soft knock at the door precedes Maxx. He opens it and then, when he sees the state of me, his eyes go wide and he comes over to sit on the edge of the bed.
“What happened?” he asks, his eyes chasing across my face before dropping down to my fingers. The middle and rin
g finger of my left hand are in splints. Fun stuff.
“Lumen’s friends beat the crap out of me,” I whisper, knowing that my face is bruised and puffy and misshapen. I’m sure I look terrible right now, but what does it matter? Everything else has gone to shit.
“What?!” Maxx snarls, and when I flinch, he softens his voice. “I don’t understand. What happened? Aren’t the two of you friends?”
I stare down at my lap before looking up and pointing at my book bag on the floor.
“Would you mind grabbing my phone?” I ask, and X nods, retrieving it from the pocket of my bag and passing it over to me. I’m tempted to ask him about Maxine, but I’m not sure that I can handle whatever he might say. “You know that I set the fire in the theater,” I admit, and X nods. I told him as much last night, so he’s up to speed. “And that I told Danyella it was me.”
“So Lumen kicked your ass on behalf of Danyella?” Maxx asks with a tired sounding sigh. He turns toward me, resting the knee of one leg on the bed. “I told you they were rich assholes. Being mad at you, I can get. But having her posse kick the shit out of you? That I don’t understand.”
I shake my head.
“I feel like there’s something else going on. I need to talk to her, but I don’t know if she’ll answer when I call. Could I use your phone?”
Maxx studies me a minute and then reaches into his jeans to extract his phone, passing it over to me.
“There’s no guarantee that she’ll answer me either. We’re not exactly friends.”
I try anyway—with my phone, with Maxx’s phone. No answer. I send over a simple text—call me so we can talk—but I don’t have much hope that she’ll return my messages.
“Is there …” I start, already frustrated with myself for even asking this question. “Is there any chance that Lumen and Parrish slept together?” I’m sure it was an evil barb meant to pierce my heart. There’s no way that Parrish would lie to me like that, about being a virgin. Besides, Chasm and Maxx both thought the same thing.
“Did she say that?” X asks, this look of pure revulsion crossing his pretty features. “What a bitch. There’s no way in hell. I mean, they’ve gone through phases over the last two years where they’re pretty friendly with one another, but nothing at that level.” He exhales sharply and looks me over. His green eyes are sympathetic, his full mouth turned down in a sharp frown. “This isn’t fair to you, Dakota.”
“It isn’t fair to Parrish or Tess or Danyella or anybody else either.” I glance down at my phone and check for messages. The only one I have is from Chasm. Because only Chasm is left. Maxine is gone. Lumen is gone. Danyella is gone. Parrish is gone. My grandparents are off-limits and might even hate me after what I did to Maxie.
So this is it.
I’m coming over to check on you after school whether Tess likes it or not.
My heart warms at his words and my gaze drifts over to the vase of sunflowers. Maxx follows my eyes and takes note of the way I’m staring at them; he’s that perceptive.
“From Parrish?” he asks, his voice decidedly neutral.
I shake my head.
“Nope. Chasm.” I tap out a response—I’m okay, don’t get yourself in trouble—and look back up at Maxx. He has a strange expression on his face, one that I can’t quite decipher. “He brought me these the day before Parrish went missing.”
“Huh.” X runs his tongue across his lower lip before looking back at me. “Can I get you anything? Something to eat or drink? An ice pack? A heated compress? Some narcotics.”
I chuckle, remembering that he said he was on his way to studying sports medicine.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve tried to take care of me,” I tell him, smiling. “You helped me with my ankle, too. I never properly thanked you for that.”
Maxx smiles back at me, but it isn’t a real smile. It’s too sad to be real.
“No thanks needed,” he says, slapping his hands on his thighs and then standing up. “Okay, so. You’re bedridden. We need to find Parrish. I’ve been combing comments and videos all day looking for anything that might help.”
“Hey X,” I start, tracing my finger across the surface of my phone. I can’t bear to look at him and ask this question, so I keep my gaze averted. “How’s Maxine doing?”
He stops pacing and turns to look at me. I can feel his stare, even with the painkillers I gobbled down like candy making my body feel light and fuzzy. It’s intense, the way he’s looking at me.
“She’s upset, but determined,” he tells me, his voice edged with worry. “She doesn’t believe that you said what you said of your own free will.” My heart spikes with hope, but then plummets just as fast. If Maxine knows I’m lying, then she’ll start looking around for reasons. I don’t want her to dig into this and get herself into trouble.
I look up and meet that pretty green gaze of his. The color is exquisite, almost too rich for the human condition. I blink a few times and then look away again.
“What did you tell her?” I ask, wondering what the two of them talk about, if they stay up late whispering to each other on the phone the way Parrish and I talked when we had no doors.
“As close to the truth as I could.” Maxx comes back over to the bed and sits down on it again. “That you love her, no matter what you say. And that she should just give you time to figure things out.”
I look up again, fatigue sweeping over me in a wave. I’m so tired, but I know I need to work on Parrish’s case. If I’m this exhausted, how must he feel right now?
“Did she buy it?”
X purses his lips and looks away, giving a slight shake of his head.
“Nope.”
Of course she didn’t. Because she’s Maxine Banks, and she loves and trusts with her whole heart. She’ll drive herself into an early grave looking for reasons on why I said what I said. I can’t let her down.
I exhale and try not to let worry overwhelm me. The faster I solve this, the safer Maxine will be. I think. Actually, what will happen if I do find Parrish? The Slayer will give him back to me and then what? How will he stop us from going to the authorities then? Parrish will be grilled by the FBI, the detectives, by Tess, by the world. What will he say?
One problem at a time, Dakota. One at a time.
“Do you have a laptop with you?” I ask, because I still have yet to get mine back.
“I’ll go grab it,” X says, disappearing into Parrish’s room. When he comes back, he settles himself down at my desk and turns to look at me. “I made a spreadsheet with some of the comments that stuck out the most. Do you want to go over it?”
I stifle a small smile. We might have opposing interests, but we’ve got similar styles of organization it seems.
“Let’s do it.”
“First off,” Maxx begins, using his trackpad to scroll on his laptop for a minute. “Did you know that the teacher Mr. Volli took over for was in a hiking accident?”
I did know that, actually. But I’d forgotten. I hadn’t made the connection.
“Holy shit, you’re right.”
Maxx gives me the guy’s name, and I do a quick search on him. The man is still in the hospital and hasn’t woken up yet. Apparently, he fell off a trail near a waterfall in Gold Bar and ended up in a coma.
“Does that sound like a coincidence to you? That guy was pushed.” Maxx turns the rest of the way around in the chair to stare at me. “Just like we were attacked on the trail.”
“By Mr. Fosser,” I start, mulling the information over. This is interesting, and very telling, but it doesn’t help much with the Parrish situation. Clearly, the man was targeted so that Mr. Volli could get the job at Whitehall. “I wonder if he pushed the teacher or if it was someone else?”
That night I was attacked in the woods, there were two men. Thinking about it now, I imagine one was Mr. Volli. Could the other have been Mr. Fosser?
Only … no. That’s not right. Mr. Fosser exuded a certain sense of perversion. I feel like I would�
�ve recognized him—even in the dark with a mask on. The first attacker had a calm, collected energy, like he had all the time in the world. If I think too hard about the way he chased me—the way he walked—after me, I get the chills. He was determined, focused, brimming with confidence.
Could that have been Justin Prior?
It’s a question that I’m going to get the answer to whether I like it or not.
Chasm comes over after school, even though Tess specifically banned him from the premises. That worries me.
“You’re going to get yourself into trouble,” I tell him as he pauses beside the nightstand, his eyes dropping to the sunflowers in the vase. The very, very dead sunflowers.
“You don’t have to keep these, you know,” he says, gathering the vase up and ignoring my previous statement. Maxx watches as Chas takes the flowers into the bathroom, dumps them in the trash, and proceeds to wash the vase out in the sink.
I don’t have to keep them? Is that what he thinks, that they’re still here out of some strange sense of obligation?
He comes back out, polishing the vase with a washcloth and setting it back on the nightstand before scooping the stray petals into his palm. His amber eyes lift up to my face, a frown etched across his perfect mouth.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, his voice thick with anger. I hope like hell he didn’t do anything to get himself into trouble. We have about three weeks of school left; there’s no sense in Chas risking his grades or his social standing.
“Two broken fingers, a broken nose, a possible concussion …” I trail off as his fury climbs to new heights. I can see it simmering in the way he curls and uncurls his fingers, rolls his head on his neck, lets out an exasperated sigh.
Payback Princess (Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer Book 2) Page 10
