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Becca didn’t want to breathe. He smelled like cigarettes and beer, and she could feel the weight of his gaze. The moment hung on the air like that eternal instant before a car crash, when you know it’s coming but there’s no time to stop the collision.
He was going to recognize her.
Becca shoved him and ran.
It was stupid. She knew it was stupid as she was doing it. But panic tightened her throat and made it hard to breathe, and all she wanted to do was get the hell off that patio.
No chance. He caught her before she made it ten feet. His hand was tight and hard on her arm, and he swung her around. Becca balled her hand into a fist, but then she got a look at his face, and her determination wilted.
He’d hurt her if he could. Like in the store, when Tyler had been ready to punch her with a can of dog food. No pranks, no taunts. Genuine harm.
She remembered what Chris had looked like when she’d found him.
Becca forced herself to stare up at Seth. Flinching now would be a mistake. “Let me go.”
Lilah was yelling, smacking at his arm. “What the hell, Seth!”
But he was staring down at Becca. “I remember you now,” he said. “You’re that little tease from Drew’s party last month. I didn’t know you were one of them. We could have had a lot more fun.”
One of them. What did that mean?
“Get your hands off me,” she said, hating how her voice turned breathy at the end.
He tightened his grip and gave her a little shake. “Lilah. Get Tyler.”
“Get him yourself, you idiot! You can’t just—”
“Lilah.” He silenced her with a look. “She’s one of them. Get him.”
The girl took a staggering step back, then fled through the door into the house. There were a few kids at the edge of the patio, staring now, drawn by the commotion. No one made a move to help her.
Then Chris appeared out of the darkness. “She’s not one of us, Seth. Let her go.”
Seth glanced at him. “No way, man.” He looked down at Becca, his eyes pools of darkness. “We’re sick of playing around—maybe you just need a little more convincing.”
Chris started forward like he wanted to take a swing at him, but Seth’s grip tightened on her arm, pinching into the ligaments beside her elbow.
Holy crap, it hurt. She cried out and struck at him wildly.
Seth jerked her close. The pain was making her see stars. “I’ll break her arm.”
The words made her freeze. Chris, too, his hands in fists at his sides. One of the twins stepped up beside him. Different clothes from before—it had to be Gabriel. “Jesus, Seth. Just let her go. She’s got nothing to do with this.”
Becca stood on her toes to take some of the pressure off her arm, whimpers creeping out under her breath. Seth glanced between Gabriel and Chris. “Tyler can decide.”
The torches along the patio blazed brighter for an instant, whipped into a frenzy by the wind coming in off the water.
Seth flinched, and Gabriel smiled. “Scared you the other night, didn’t I?”
Seth took a step toward him. His fingers loosened fractionally. “Fuck you, Merrick.”
Becca held her breath. Sand beat at her legs.
“Nah.” Gabriel’s eyes glittered in the firelight. He grinned, baring his teeth. “Nothing personal. I just don’t take Tyler’s leftovers.”
Chris’s foot shifted on the patio, and Gabriel grabbed his arm. He stepped forward, almost pushing his younger brother out of the way. He moved closer, into Seth’s space.
Becca could feel the ready aggression in Seth’s grip. His voice came as a lethal hiss—but Gabriel was right. Fear hid behind his words. “We’re not even going to wait for the Guides, ass**le. We’re just going to take care of you ourselves.”
