That’s mostly true.
It has to be true.
“Anyway, what’s the worst that could have happened? A mediocre fuck?” I glance at Asch. “Were you jealous?”
Asch’s expression mirrors River’s tone, all storm clouds. “What was there to be jealous of?” he retorts.
Yeah, they were definitely jealous.
“We need to talk,” River says. “I’ll give you a ride back to campus.”
Talk?
What’s there to talk about?
Only bad things.
“Is this about Tate?” I ask with faux cheer. “If so, Blaze already told me. You’re the best, River.”
“No,” Asch says.
River releases me, but he gestures toward the parking lot. “Let’s at least get in the car,” he says.
“I drove,” I say, and I let go of their hands. “I had a blast, boys, but I think I need to get home and feed Echo. She’s probably starving. What if she escapes and starts eating students?”
I put my hand in my pocket, curling it around the knife, and step away from them.
“If she’d start with Ezio, that’d be great,” Asch says, his eyes going to my hand. “For fuck’s sake, Pandora. We seriously do need to talk about something important.”
River nods. “It’s about Zayden,” he says quietly.
Why are they ruining the nice evening talking about that loser? I don’t want to think about Zayden.
I didn’t want to think aboutanything.
That was the point of coming here.
“I’m going,” I announce. “You can be boring on your own.”
Asch tries to reach for me, but I backstep away from him and glare.
He glares right back. “It’simportant, Pandora,” he says. “Come on.”
I shake my head. “What’s important is me preventing a whole feeding frenzy. It wouldn’t be pretty. Entire students, swallowed whole.”
My chest thuds loudly, and I can’t pretend it’s the music, not out here. It’s inside me, scratching, slashing, demanding to escape.
I grip my knife even tighter. “Bye. I had fun. We should do this again, minus the boring parts.”
Then I turn and run.
I’m not supposed to run.
I’m strong.
I’m resilient.
I take things head-on.
