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The look Peyton gives him sends a chill down my spine. Something so cold about her expression, so utterly devoid of remorse, makes me instinctively move closer to Milo.

“You can’t be with her,” she says, her voice dropping to something far more sinister. “How many times do I have to tell you that? How many ways do I have to show you she’s beneath you?”

“Jesus Christ, Peyton. Listen to yourself!” Milo throws his free hand into the air. “You think setting a fire is going to make me suddenly realize you’re right? That I’m going to dump Max because you fucking told me to?”

“I’m trying to save you from making the biggest mistake of your life!”

“The biggest mistake of my life would be listening to another word that comes out of your mouth!”

Peyton flinches, but only for a second. Then her features harden, her gaze sliding toward me with enough hatred I can almost feel it polluting the air around us.

“She doesn’t deserve you, Milo. She never has. And if you think I’m just going to stand by and watch her take you away from me, you don’t know me at all.”

“Take me away from you?” Milo repeats incredulously. “Don’t you get it?! I’m not yours to take! I never fucking was!”

For a moment, she looks genuinely stunned, as though the possibility that Milo might not want her has never once crossed her mind. Even though he’s told her that, repeatedly.

“You’ll regret this.” Her lips curl into a sneer.

“No, Peyton. The only thing I regret is not seeing sooner what a fucking monster you are.”

He looks past her toward the others, who are still laughing among themselves. All of them, except for Kayla.

“And the rest of you? You’re just as bad as she is. You’re all fucking certifiable!”

“Oh, my God, it’s just a joke, Milo,” Sydney cackles. “Jesus, don’t take everything so personally.”

“A joke?” He lets out a humorless laugh. “You think setting fire to a building with people inside is a fucking joke?”

“Yeah, well, this is kind of your fault,” Misty chimes in with a shrug, her cold stare settling on me. “You should’ve just given Peyton what she wanted. Maybe if you had, we would have left your precious Max alone.”

“Not.” Amber giggles, Brooke joining in on the joke.

“Are you even listening to yourselves?” Milo demands. “This really is all fun and games to you, isn’t it?” He looks from face to face as though he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “There are people up on that roof! You all knew Max and I were inside, and not one of you thought it was a bad idea to let Peyton try to burn the whole place down?! What the fuck were you thinking? What the hell is wrong with all of you?”

“God, you’re being so dramatic,” Peyton says looking bored all of a sudden. “It’s a little fire, Milo. Nobody’s going to get hurt. I knew exactly where to start it.”

“You don’t know a goddamn thing about fire!”

“Oh, please. It’s not like—”

“Milo,” I whisper, my attention drifting toward the mill behind us.

Something isn’t right. The smoke pouring from the lower windows is getting thicker, darker. But when I see an orange glow spreading through the broken panes, I realize with horror that the relatively small fire we thought we’d contained only minutes ago is now consuming an entire section of the ground floor. But that isn’t even the worst part. Flames are licking at the windows on the first floor, too. Then I spot even more flames and smoke pouring from the opposite side of the building, where the fire couldn’t possibly have spread so quickly on its own.

We were all so caught up in our argument with the Reds that none of us noticed what was happening right behind us.

“Milo,” I repeat louder now, tugging urgently on his hand. “The fire. It’s not out. It’s spreading!”

“Oops,” Peyton laughs. “Guess I got carried away and lit more than a few.”

He turns to look over his shoulder, his entire body going rigid at the sight.

“Shit,” he breathes, shooting a terrified look toward the far end of the building. “The boiler room!” All color drains from his face as he lifts his sights to the roof.

As if sensing their peril, Kody appears on the ledge, popping his head out.

“What the fuck is going on down there?” Kody shouts from above.