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“Stop it, you know Levi’s delicate,” Violet admonishes her.
Levi frowns.
“Not what I heard,” Charlie says, and Violet snorts.
“You haven’t told Silas, though,” I say to Levi, trying to ignore the peanut gallery. Silas has been way too normal today to know.
“No,” he confirms.
There’s a brief pause.
Then: “Not yet.”
“I think you could take him,” Charlie offers. “As long as you had the element of surprise on your side.”
“Silas did two combat tours,” Violet says, skeptically.
“Three,” Levi corrects, then turns to me. “Can I get you anything?”
“Silas is actually bringing me a beer,” I say, then lift one eyebrow. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” he says, then catches someone’s eye in the crowd, nods.
From about twenty feet away, I see Silas nod back. That’s a convenient thing about being six-foot-two: you can always find and be found in crowds.
As he approaches, Violet leans in and murmurs in my ear.
“He’s got fingernail scratches down his back,” she says, then leans away again.
My face flushes with heat. Actually, my whole body does — in the unpleasant way, not the good way — and as my brother approaches with my beer, I’m pretty certain my face is the brightest red possible, and I’m deeply grateful that it’s nearly dark out.
“Hey,” he says, holding up the beers and handing me one. “I just got you the amber ale, it sounded good. What’s up, guys?”
If he notices the weird, sudden quiet or the intense interest with which he’s now being regarded, he doesn’t act like it.
“Nothing much,” Adeline says casually, saving us all. “We were just talking about our favorite horror movies. Mine’s Halloween.”
“The Shining,” says Violet.
“Slumber Party Massacre,” offers Charlie.
“That one sounds fun,” says Silas, raising one eyebrow. “How many scantily-clad pillow fights does it have?”
“Just the one, but it’s a good one,” Charlie says, grinning. “I like it because it’s too dumb to actually be scary. What’s yours?”
Silas takes a long swig, and I could be wrong, but I think a muscle in his jaw tightens.
“Does Nightmare Before Christmas count?” he asks. “I never did like scary movies.”
“That’s more of a Christmas movie,” Violet says. “Maybe There’s a Big Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is more your speed?”
“That’s not its name,” Adeline points out.
“And there’s nothing wrong with not liking scary movies,” Levi says.
“Exactly,” agrees Charlie.
“Yeah, but you must have one that you’ve seen and kinda like,” Violet says. “I mean, what about the classics, like Psycho, or…”
She trails off, looking past Charlie, and we all turn.
Daniel’s making a beeline for us, mouth in a grim line.
“Hey,” he says when he reaches our group, his hand automatically going to Charlie’s lower back. “There’s a Seth emergency. I need your help.”
“What—”
“Delilah’s here,” Daniel says.
There’s a brief moment of silence as I wonder who on earth Delilah is.
Levi’s the first to speak.
“Shit,” he whispers.Chapter Twenty-SixLevi“Where’s Seth?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “Does he know?”
“Not yet,” Daniel says. “Caleb’s got him inside and she’s out here, but we’ve gotta get one of them out.”
“I know,” I say, shoving my hand into a pocket and scanning the crowd, struggling to remember what Delilah looks like. All I really remember is the hair, and who wouldn’t remember that?
“And we can’t let him know what’s going on,” Daniel says, voice still tense. “You remember the incident at the Whiskey Bucket, don’t you?”
“I’d rather not, truth be told,” I say, still scanning. “But I take your point.”
“This brewery almost didn’t open,” he says.
“I know, I remember,” I tell him. “Can we just keep them apart for the remainder of the night?”
Next to me, Silas perks up instantly.
“We’re just trying to keep two people apart?” he asks, already standing straighter. “Is that the only goal here or is there also a secondary objective?”
“I’ve got a secondary objective,” Violet says. “Who the fuck is Delilah is my secondary objective.”
“It sounds kinda familiar?” June says to her, but they both shrug.
In my pocket, I ball my hand into a fist, fighting the urge to touch her. I just want to put an arm around her shoulders, a hand on her back, but I don’t. Not while Silas is here.
I have to tell him. My reasons seem less and less important by the day.
“Should be fairly simple,” Silas says. “We set up a few sentries whose job it is to redirect Seth if he comes too near the target. Meanwhile, we try to create a diversion, a way to get him out here that he won’t suspect. We lure the target away from his path out of the fest, and voila, mission accomplished.”
“Delilah,” I remind him. “The target’s name is Delilah, and she’s a person.”
“Right. Like I said,” Silas tells me, shrugging.
“She’s over there,” Daniel says, nodding vaguely forward.
I turn and look. Her back is to me, but there’s a mane of curly, bright red hair, and that’s all I need.
