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She knows I can’t say no to her—I love her too damn much. And she’s right. My old man’s influence runs deep, but we need to be careful.

My jaw grinds together. “Go. Home. I’ll handle it.”

“You won’t tell anyone?” she asks, gripping my arm.

I move her a few feet away. She’s still shaking, still blood soaked. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Promise?” she asks me.

“I promise.”

She hesitates, stumbling back a couple of steps. “What are you going to do with him?”

“I’ll figure it out. Get out of here, Talia, before someone sees us.”

She leans her head on my arm, her hair sticky with blood. “You’re the best brother, Remy. I love you so much.” She then bolts down the path in the direction I just came from leaving me to clean up the mess.

I’m going to hell, but at least I’ll go knowing I’ve done everything to protect her. I promised her I would the day she lost herself.

The day this town killed her.

I pull the body, dragging his six-foot ass deeper into the woods where I plan to dig a shallow grave. May his soul rest in peace.

That memory replays in my mind like a record, round and round for hours. I buried Daniel that day. I hid his body under a tree and went home to get some help. And while they couldn’t hide the fact he died the way he did, a couple people in town made a lot of money covering this up. We called the sheriff first—it’s not the first time my family has paid off the sheriff. From there, the sheriff took care of it.

I heard on the radio a couple of days later that the coroner counted fifteen stab wounds, though I bet he was dead after one.

Talia always had a flair for the dramatics.

She checked herself into a wellness facility for three months to help her with her grief, and when she gets out, she will be $500,000 richer and will have gotten away with murder. The moment we make our sacrifice is the day we get our inheritance. Not a day sooner.

Tommy will have to do this too, but he’s too dumb to have figured out his dad is a monster too. I’ll leave him in his blissful ignorance a while longer.

They started the witch hunt shortly after, and our family was enemy number one. I don’t know how my father did it, but he made it go away.

But he wasn’t too happy about it and told me I need to be more subtle. The witch hunt was a reminder to have respect for the secrecy of the oath we both took when we found out we were a part of the Order of the Shadows.

A warning not to screw up again.

I push up my leather cuff to stare at my Rolex— almost four-thirty p.m.

Almost time for Diana to catch her bus, which she will miss because I plan on taking her home today. She sits in her usual spot, near the back, and has yet to see me watching her after she’s been avoiding me in class all week.

I stuff my book into my bag and get ready to intercept her exit. I make my way around the bookshelf and walk out right as she makes her way into the light.

She hits my body like a stone, letting out a cry as she steps back. She squints at me as I lean on the bookshelf.

“Remy,” she hisses. “What are you doing?”

I flick my eyes up and down her body. “You’ve been avoiding me.” She’s changed her outfit, her hair flowing over her shoulders, not in the usual two braids. She looks like a wet dream.

I wonder if she’s dressing up like that for Tommy since she’s been spending every lunch hour with him.

Her eyes meet mine. “I haven’t been avoiding you. I barely know you.” She tilts her head. “Wait…you were the one trying to scare me the other day, weren’t you?”

I lean over and press my arm, stopping her, forcing her body against mine. “I have no idea what you’re talking about?”

She lets out a deep breath. I can feel her heartbeat through her chest. Little lamb is scared of me, and her fear is causing my dick to do things.