Hunt said, his relief palpable through my mind.
Griffin looked at me and smiled. Our private time was over, but at least in moments our crew would be together again.
It was exactly how we were meant to be.
And we’d kill every single motherfucker who ever tried to tear us apart.
It was time to get to the murdering part of our plan.The Truman Show, psycho style, baby. It was time to weapon up.
5
To Carpe Our Fucking Diem
Layla scrounged some toothpaste for me in her purse, which was an otherwise unremarkable marvel that reminded me of Mary Poppins’s handbag. Girl almost always had the random thing I needed, having my back. Probably the only time she’d needed tampons and didn’t have any stashed in there led me to discover that our lie-rents had a secret superspy lair, and that our entire lives were a carefully orchestrated deception. It was almost as if Layla’s Mary Poppins purse had our backs too.
If only it were actually possible to have a team of animated objects watching out for our interests, we wouldn’t feel so alone. We sure as fuck could use some allies. It truly was us against the world. No matter how vast the globe was, there was nowhere for us to hide that Magnum wouldn’t find us eventually, most likely sooner rather than later.
Even so, now that I’d scrubbed my mouth, every sign of my earlier nausea was gone.
The five of us were together again, that was what mattered most.
My crew.
My family.
Here with me.
I kept finding myself caressing the hairline scar that sliced my palm, similar to the scars my four friends also had, a faded sign of one of our very first friendship pacts. I caught Brady circling his friendship bracelet around his wrist over and over. We’d all started with handwoven bracelets of our own, but his was the only one that remained. Frayed and worn, his had outlasted all of ours.
I noticed the twins, Hunt, and I staring at Griffin often, as if we were quietly afraid he would disappear on us somehow, his presence some ploy or artifice that might still be ripped away from us. I recognized the haunting of my own face in theirs. All but Griffin, who didn’t remember the horrors with which we were burdened. What a very different thing it was to hear of another’s death than to be there to witness it firsthand. This Griffin had no recollection of the Fischer House party or the downward spiral of awful discoveries that had ensued since then.
Fall was slowly settling into the mountains of Ridgemore in veils of nightly mystical-looking mists that didn’t dissipate until late morning. The ground was cool, too chilled to lie on for extended periods of time. Regardless, the five of us lay sprawled out in the clearing in front of our treehouse, our heads huddled together and our bodies spread out like five spokes of a wheel. Better yet, like a star. As a whole, we weren’t usually ones to hold hands, especially not Brady, who was quick to make known his opinion that hand-holding was for wusses. Today, though, he didn’t complain, and when Griffin laced his fingers with mine, Brady snatched my other hand. Layla and Hunt were quick to complete our starry circle.
Initially, we’d headed outside to avoid the many bugs we knew to be concealed in our treehouse. But once we escaped them, Hunt’s warning rang loudly: We wanted to believe no one had violated our bodies and wills and planted chips inside us, but weweren’t willing to risk our minuscule advantage on the hope that they hadn’t. At every turn, our lie-rents had abused our trust. Magnum had never had it and contentedly leaned into hisdevil you knowpersona.
So we’d put on a brief performance within range of the listening devices, claiming to want to meditate like the Shaolin monks do to improve our ninja skills. While wemeditated, we didn’t need to concern ourselves with carrying on aloud with frivolous chatter to cover for the telepathic conversations we were silently having—in case we were secretly chipped. Under the guise of meditating, in an hour that had flown by—Layla, for once, focused on our goal—we’d updated Griffin on everything substantial he’d been forced to forget.
he said.
Brady said.
Layla scoffed through our link.
Annnnd apparently Layla’s focus time had drawn to an abrupt end.
I interjected quickly.
I paused for several moments just to enjoy that fact. Griff squeezed my hand; I squeezed back, the heat of his palm such a welcome sign he was here, part of our starry circle, his heart beating once more.
Layla said in a grumble.
I asked.
