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I push it open as far as it will go and crawl inside.
The room is ash gray, covered in soot, and the air feels like it’s been deprived of oxygen.
I cough and take in the view.
Bits and pieces of furniture remain. The mattress on the bed is destroyed, with only fringes and metal left. The ceiling is blackened, just as the wooden floor, and the desk in the corner is marked by flame. Near the small kitchenette, directly opposite of the window, a bright spot on the floor is followed by the deepest burns, in a way that reminds me of an explosive.
Is that where the fireworks went off?
I approach it and go to my knees to inspect it. I’m not an expert, but it definitely looks like it.
My eyes follow the floor, searching underneath every corner and even under the bed. There must be something here that explains why someone tried to burn it. They can’t have thought I was sleeping in this room, right?
But the longer I search, the less everything starts to make sense.
Rustling beyond the door sets me on edge.
I stay as still as possible, listening to the sounds, and I can feel my heart beat in my throat.
The door handle twists.
I fish my knife out of my bag.
The door slams open, and two boys I recognize stare right at me. My blood begins to boil.
Kai and Nathan.
“I knew I heard something. Guess it’s not a rat after all,” Nathan says. “Penelope, I’m surprised to see you here.”
I immediately step back, clutching my knife. “You’ve got some balls, Nathan.”
Kai steps sideways, his face somewhat hidden behind Nathan’s frame, making me gasp. A gnarly gash from top to bottom covers his eye, leaving him partially blind. His head remains covered in bandages, probably from the blow Dylan gave him with the gun.
But my God, he looks absolutely destroyed.
“You’re alive,” I mutter.
“Of course I am.” His nostrils flare. “No thanks to you. Luckily, the clinic downtown associated with my family took me in and treated me.”
“What are you doing here?” I rasp.
“You thought we would let you walk away after what you did?” Kai seethes.
“Stay back,” I growl, holding my knife in front of me.
Nathan laughs. “You think that will stop us? You’re alone, Penelope. No dogs to protect you here.”
“Felix is right outside the building,” I hiss.
“No, he’s not,” Nathan says. “We followed you here.”
I gasp.
They’ve been stalking me?
Fuck.
“You were stumbling about on that fucking staircase, though,” Nathan mocks.
“Why the fuck do you care? What do you want from me?” I growl.
“You and your fuck buddies scarred me for life,” Kai interjects, his face contorting.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to take me, then,” I retort. “I didn’t have anything to do with your fight with the Skull & Serpent boys, but you involved me in it anyway.”
“You’re the reason Felix cut off my finger,” Nathan spits.
“So we came for fucking payback,” Kai says. “And ended up losing another one of the Phantoms along with my eye.”
“That’s on you. You came for a fight, and you got one,” I reply.
“They didn’t fucking stay away from Eve when they should have,” Kai says.
“Take my sister’s name out of your fucking mouth,” I say through gritted teeth.
He snorts. “You don’t even know what you’re up against.”
“Get out,” I retort.
When Nathan steps even closer, I clutch the knife tighter. “No. You’re here, and I want payback for my lost finger.”
“Shouldn’t have shoved that note under my door, then,” I growl. “You knew who you were messing with. Those boys protected me. They won’t hesitate to end you.”
“They’re the fucking cause of all of this fucked-up shit.” Nathan tilts his head. “You don’t even fucking know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Why everyone wants that fucking diary.”
My eyes widen.
He knows about the diary?
And who is “everyone”?
Kai laughs. “What’s the point in telling her? She won’t give it to us.”
“Give you what? The diary?” I scoff. “Over my dead fucking body.”
Kai crosses his arms. “See? Told you.”
“Why the fuck do you want it anyway?” I ask.
Kai dangles a piece of singed paper in his hands. A paper I recognize all too well because it’s the same color as the pages in my sister’s diary. “So we can burn all of it.”
They burned my sister’s room … for a single page of the diary?
Anger seeps into my bones, causing me to lash out. And I charge at both of them with my knife. “Give me that fucking page!” I scream, slicing into the air with my knife because both of them keep dodging my slashes.
“Whoa, look at this.” Nathan grabs my wrist and stops me in midair. “So much fucking violence from such a small girl.”
“Let go of me!” I squeal.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Nathan says. “You deserve pain after what you and your buddies did to us.”
