“If Parrish were here, he would kill Lumen,” Chasm tells me without flinching. I’m not even sure how hyperbolic he’s actually being. “And you want me to let her walk away from this with zero consequences?”
“We only have three weeks of school left,” I tell him, setting my phone aside as he takes a seat on the end of my bed. Chasm looks at the wooden post nearest him, running his fingers up the length of it and touching the carved flowers near the center. My grandmother made this bed, so his appreciation of her work makes me happy.
Or, as happy as I could possibly be considering the extenuating circumstances.
“So?” Chas queries back, looking over at me with an inscrutable facial expression. “You want her to own the school next year, too? She’ll make your life a living hell. Little Sister, I get that you’re a nice person. Too fucking nice. She had her minions beat the shit out of you.”
“If you’re going to retaliate, don’t make it so obvious,” Maxx offers up, rising from the desk chair to come over and stand beside us. “You can’t just walk up to her and punch her lights out in the middle of campus.”
“Why not?” Chas asks dryly, shoving yellow and black hair from his forehead. “That’s exactly what she did to Dakota.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I know all the best places to deck a fucker without getting caught.”
“No.” I scoot closer to Chasm, reaching out to take one of his hands in mine. As soon as our skin makes contact, fire shoots through my veins. I know I’m not the only one that feels it, based on the way Chasm’s hand trembles in response. “There’s something going on with Lumen and Danyella.”
“Yeah, you’re finally seeing their true colors,” Chasm continues, giving Maxx a look. “She’s gotten lucky thus far, you know that. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what Whitehall is like?”
“I could never forget what Whitehall is like,” Maxx offers up cryptically, exchanging a long, studying look with Chasm before he turns back to me. “You think they know something about Parrish?”
“Remember how Lumen went briefly missing the day before Parrish disappeared? Then she woke up in a field with no memory of how she got there?”
“Which isn’t unusual at all if you know Lumen,” Chasm inserts, which is basically what Parrish had said to me before.
“Maybe not, under usual circumstances. These are anything but. I just … I’d like to talk to her.”
“I’d also like to talk to her,” Chasm murmurs, pausing at the sound of footsteps in the hall outside the door. We all halt our conversation, waiting as the person approaches and then opens the door.
It’s Tess.
As soon as she sees Chasm, her entire demeanor shifts.
“Please don’t kick me out,” Chasm offers up, rising to his feet. Tess says nothing, her hand still on the bedroom doorknob. Her eyes flick to Maxx before turning back to Chasm again. “Parrish has been missing for ten days.” His voice breaks slightly. “My … girlfriend fell down the stairs today. I just want to be here, Tess.”
If she kicks him out right now, I will never forgive her. Never. Chasm thinks of the Vanguards as his family. Shit, they’re more his family than they are mine. He’s hurting, too. She should understand that.
“I’ll call your dad,” Tess says finally, blessedly, exhaling and reaching up a hand to her forehead. She looks about ready to collapse. At least the three of us know that Parrish is alive—for now. Tess doesn’t know anything; I can’t imagine what she’s going through. “But I have a few rules: no sex.”
Maxx actively cringes, but Chasm just stands there and takes a bunch of crap for something he never even did in the first place. And on the day he brought me sunflowers? That he … I slept with Parrish, and I don’t regret anything about that except for the fact that Chasm is suffering because of it.
“No sex,” Chasm promises, lifting up both hands, palms out. “I won’t even be alone with her.”
“You’ll sleep downstairs on the couch,” Tess warns him, but there’s not a lot of strength left in her voice. Whatever she was up to today, clearly it yielded zero information about her missing son. I realize suddenly that my Maxine-phone is on the bed.
As if he can sense the direction of my thoughts, Chasm reaches down and picks up the phone, slipping it into his own pocket … just as it begins to ring.
Oh god.
Oh fuck.
“I … that should be my dad,” Chasm offers up, giving Tess a little bow. “Let me get this.” He turns and disappears into the bathroom before Tess can respond. She gives the door a strange look, but then shakes her head, whether in confusion or disappointment, I’m not sure.
“You’re feeling alright?” she asks, and I nod, forcing a smile that I don’t feel just so that I can get rid of her. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate her concern, but I need to get to that goddamn phone. Now.
“I feel amazing—the painkillers have finally kicked in.” Lie. I mean, they’re working on some of my physical aches, but it’s the emotional ones that are killing me.
“Well, if you need anything, just call or text and I’ll be right here.” Tess retreats, but she leaves the door open. I can hear her heels as she walks down the hall to her office.
I wait only as long as it takes her door to open and then close again before I’m scrambling out of bed and closing my own bedroom door. Both Maxx and I head for the bathroom, opening it to find Chasm looking down at the phone screen.
He doesn’t acknowledge us as we move up on either side of him.
Parrish is there, shirtless and bloodied, lying on his back on a mattress. His legs are covered with a blanket, but his arms are shackled to the headboard. He isn’t moving. Fear ripples through me, and I swallow back a surge of raw terror. The only positive here seems to be that his chest is shiny with some sort of salve or ointment, just like I asked for.
The masked person—Mr. Volli again, it seems—is sitting beside him.
“I always keep my promises, princess,” he tells me, and my blood runs hot then ice cold. Mr. Volli reaches back and strokes the length of Parrish’s jaw. At least the gesture spurs Parrish to move, proving that he at least has enough energy left to grit his teeth and turn his head away. His breathing, however, is labored and ragged.
How much longer can he really last?
How many more slices to his pretty skin?
How many more days without eating solid food or drinking actual water?
“I want him unchained,” I demand as Mr. Volli laughs, turning back to the camera.
“You’re learning to ask for what you want,” he continues, pausing briefly, likely listening to the Slayer’s words in his ear. “You deserve nice things, Mia.” I ignore his use of my birth name—there’s no point in even trying here—but I’m not going to ignore the fact that Parrish needs my help. Desperately. “It’s important to speak up for yourself.”
I think about the comments online, about how all of the Slayer’s victims were wealthy.
“What if I … take a baseball bat to the headmistress’ car?” I offer, because he seems to like that, forcing me to destroy things. Both Maxx and Chasm turn to look at me, but I ignore them. The headmistress of Whitehall Prep drives a Lamborghini, kid you not. I saw it earlier today, and it stuck out at me.
“Not good enough,” Mr. Volli replies almost immediately, his mask catching the light. I see that he’s still in the wine cellar. So the bed was brought down to Parrish, rather than the other way around. That tells me something.
Regardless of what I bargain for, this is the room where Parrish will remain.
I study the bed, the sheets, the blanket, the mattress, looking for clues.
“Aren’t you upset about what happened today?” he asks me, and I hate that he somehow seems to know everything that’s going on in my life. Justin’s watching me, obviously. Through hacking? Was there a camera in the school hallway today or did he get that information some other way? “You were attacked, by your own girlfriend.”
“Attacked?” Parrish’s voice is weak as he turns his face back in our direction. He blinks a few times, seemingly gathering himself together enough to look at me. “Maxx?” Now that seems to surprise the shit out of him. “What are you …”
“I’m here to help,” X promises, the strength in his voice a comforting addition to a horrible situation. “Whatever it takes, Parrish. I’m here.”
“You can’t let people walk all over you, Mia,” Mr. Volli continues, lounging on the bed like this is a typical father-daughter conversation. Only … Mr. Volli is not my father. If my bio dad is actually in there, then he’s a coward. A fucking coward. “If you’re feeling angry, take a baseball bat to Lumen’s car. Danyella’s. The students at that school are not your friends, they never were.” He turns back around to look at Parrish before adjusting his gaze to mine. “Destroy as many cars as you can, but don’t get caught. Then I’ll unchain him for you. He can have free reign to do whatever he wants inside this room—I’ll even let him use the bathroom across the hall twice a day. It has a lovely, tiled shower with a bench seat. Isn’t that nice?”
Fuck.
How am I supposed to pull something like that off?
“If you don’t want to, that’s alright. This isn’t a directive from me, Mia. If you need to rest, make sure you do so. You’ve been through a lot today.”
The call ends and Chasm curses.
“This is insane,” Maxx breathes out, turning away toward the window that looks out at the lake. He stares through the upper half of the glass; the bottom half is frosted and opaque for privacy. “How are we supposed to do this? There are cameras all over that garage.”
“I’ll take care of the cameras,” Chasm offers, and I feel my stomach drop. If he keeps doing things like this, he’ll get caught. His entire future is at risk here. “We’ll hit the garage together.”
“No,” I snap, my voice far more forceful than I intended. I give him a look. “You can help with the cameras, but you’re not coming out there with me. If I get caught, oh well. My grades are only passable because of you, and I’m not destined to rule the world the way you are. I’ll deal with the fallout.”
“Don’t do that,” Chasm warns me, moving so close to me that I’m forced to take a step back, my ass bumping into the bathroom counter. “Don’t put yourself down like that. Parrish is my best friend, remember. This isn’t all on you.”
“This isn’t just on either of you,” X inserts, stepping between us and forcing Chasm back a step. Chas scowls at him but moves away from me. “I know a way to get into the school through the hedge maze. I’ll bring a bat and take care of it. Just coordinate with me, okay?”
“I can’t let you do that,” I start, but he gives me such a sharp look that I stop talking. Maxx has a bit of that … I don’t know, dominant alpha male thing going on? I’m not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. Do I like it? Do I want to slap him? Both?
“I don’t go to Whitehall anymore; I won’t exactly be a primary suspect. Just let me handle this.”
He takes off out the bathroom door and disappears into the hallway as Chasm and I exchange a look.
“I told you he was weird,” he explains, eyes flicking toward the door. “Maxx is a fucking wildcard.”
Chasm grabs my hand, and then pauses, as if he’s just realized what he’s doing.
His eyes lift up from our joined hands to my face.
“Let’s get you into bed. You could use some rest.”
“There’s no time for rest, Chas,” I start, but the look he gives me is cutting.
“Work smarter, not harder. You have me and Maxx now. Use us.”
He yanks me into the bedroom and encourages me to climb under the covers, covering me up and sitting on the edge of the bed. I fully intend on placating him for a minute before snatching my phone and trying to work beneath the covers, but I’m out before I even get the chance.
In my dreams, all I see are sunflowers spattered with blood.
Tess gives me the option to stay home the next day, but there’s no way in hell I can do that. I already feel guilty for the amount of time I wasted sleeping last night.
Chasm ends up taking me and Kimber to school since Tess is already gone by the time we get up. As soon as we step out of his car and into the parking garage, I turn to Chasm and wait for Kimber to give us some space. She keeps looking at me in the strangest of ways, but I don’t know how to interpret her stares, so I choose to ignore them. I’ve got enough other shit to worry about.
“When we’re at school, ignore me,” I tell him, but Chasm’s already shaking his head.
“No.”
I slap him in the chest, and he lifts a brow, teasing one of his lip rings with his tongue.
“Like I said before, we might need your reputation. We can’t both be outcasts, Chas.”
He gives me a look.
“Dakota, on what planet do you think I would ever be an outcast?” He lifts his gaze up, looking past me down the length of the parking garage. “Half the girls at this school owe me favors.” He gives me a look, hooking a sharp smile that has my skin prickling with goose bumps. It’s a reaction that I can’t control but that makes me feel guilty anyway.
I cannot be crushing on Chasm while Parrish is missing.
“I was saving those favors for the bedroom, but if I have to pull strings to keep you safe, that’s what I’m going to do. Besides, do you think Parrish rules this school by himself?”
“I know that he doesn’t,” I agree, retrieving Chasm’s tie from his pocket. His entire body stiffens up as I hook it around his neck, tying it the way my grandfather taught me when I was little. “I’ve been calling him The Prince of Sloths in my head, and you his trusty Knight.”
“His knight, huh?” Chasm asks, letting me tuck his tie beneath his blazer. I run my palm down the length of it to smooth it out and he catches my wrist in his fingers. “It’s not that I don’t like you touching me,” he starts, and I draw my hand back.
“Sorry,” I murmur, but he’s already shaking his head, reaching out to touch the side of my face in a way that gives me chills. I lift my gaze up to meet his.
“I do like it, Little Sister. Too much. You can’t keep touching me casually like that; I can’t take it.”
I almost smile at that, but there’s too much weight pulling down on my mouth, making me frown.
“You never did admit what you and Parrish talked about in Korean that day,” I continue, and Chasm grits his teeth like he’d forgotten that he teased me with that information.
“Maybe it’s better if you don’t know?” he offers up, but I’m already shaking my head. I have to know. Somehow, it seems important. Chasm sighs and reaches up to rub at his forehead. “As soon as I saw you, I knew you’d be trouble,” he admits, and this time, I can’t help it. I do smile a little. He drops his hand and looks down at me. “I told him that I really liked you.”
I swallow hard past a sudden lump in my throat, remembering the expression on both of the boy’s faces as they stared at each other over my head.
“That he better be sure you were what he wanted, because there isn’t much that could come between us. But this,” Chasm gestures between me and him with a single finger, “if he fucked this up, I was going to kick his ass.” Chas reaches out and puts a hand on the top of my head. “I’ll stay away from you if that’s what you want, but I won’t put up with anymore violence. Lumen is lucky that we’re close to summer break; I’ll wait to kick her ass then.”
He releases me and takes off before I can even figure out how to respond to any of that.
My heart feels both full and disturbingly empty, all at the same time. The lack of Parrish’s presence is a gaping wound that seems to bleed more freely with each passing day. How can things have gone on this long?
I feel like such a failure.
What sort of Gamer Girl am I if I can’t even beat the first level?
With a curse, I take off for the school, pausing at the edge of the uppe
r courtyard. Everyone there turns to look at me, and none of them are happy to see me.
I lift my chin up and strut past them as best as I can, ignoring the small bits of rolled up paper they throw at me, laughing and whispering and smiling pretty shark smiles. My entire world feels like it’s been flipped on its head, and I’m struggling to stay upright.
A girl I don’t recognize puts her leg out and trips me, laughing as I fall to my knees on the white stone, my broken fingers hitting the ground so hard that pain ripples through me in a violent wave. Before I know it, they’re all around me, hauling me to my feet and dragging me over to the edge of the walkway.
My heart shoots into my throat as several of the girls take my arms and wrench them behind my back with no regard to the splints on my hand or the bruises peppering my body. Before I can even register what it is they’re planning on doing, I’m hanging over the wall that lines the walkway, staring down at the pretty green lawn below.
“Rumor has it that you fucked Parrish the night before he went missing,” one of the girls hisses in my ear. “There isn’t a person on this campus that doesn’t believe you had something to do with his disappearance.”
“You want us to help you catch a serial killer?” one of the others asks, mocking my video with a laugh as I try and fail to remain calm. They’re just trying to scare me; they wouldn’t actually throw me over. I might not survive. That’d be murder. “How do we know you aren’t one? The Slayer started killing right before you showed up here.”
“There are cameras all over out here,” I breathe, closing my eyes against the dizzying drop below me. “If you push me over, you’ll be charged with the crime. Why bother? I’m not worth it.”
The girls around me laugh. I notice they’re the ones taking the initiative. The guys are just standing back and watching. This is clearly on Lumen’s behest. The school seems to run on a binary: Lumen controls the girls; Parrish controls the boys.
Or … he did.
But he isn’t here.
And Chasm … wasn’t Chasm just ahead of me? I know him. He might have agreed to give me space, but he wouldn’t go far. He wouldn’t intentionally leave me like this; he’d step in.
Payback Princess (Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer Book 2) Page 11
