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“Stop that,” I tell her, though the threatening tone falls short.
“Are you okay?” she asks, putting her keys on the ring and moving to sit on the couch.
“I’m fine,” I tell her, going to get the med kit in our kitchen. I could have fixed her up in the gym, but I needed an excuse to come back here. I grab the kit and sit by her on the couch to tend to her injury.
“You don’t look fine,” she says quietly.
“Then stop looking,” I shrug. I don’t have the energy to argue with her after today, especially not with what I need to do tonight.
“You’re going to leave aren’t you?” she asks.
I nod, because I’m so fucking sick of lying at this point.
“Do you know who this was?” she asks, referencing everything that happened today. I have an idea, although I don’t know how he pulled it off, or why the hell he would want Alexi dead.
“I have an idea.”
“If you leave…” she pauses, wincing as I clean the wound, “if you leave, will you be safer?”
I shrug again. I’ve been hiding for as long as I can remember, but he always seems to find me. The least I can do now is leave and protect the people I’ve come to care for.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
I nod. She should know she can ask me for anything by now.
“Just think about it?” She turns to face me, ignoring the fact that she has a needle sticking out of her skin. “I know you’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want to lose you. I also think those boys would die if you left them, and I don’t want to see that. There’s something there. Just, sleep on it? Please?” Her eyes plead with me.
“I can’t see them. When I’m with them, I can’t think straight.”
“Is there anything you can do to get out of your head? Anything that can help you reset and think this through?” she begs, taking my hands in hers.
I think about that for a moment. Usually, when I can’t figure out a problem I find a target, talk it over with them, then kill them. It’s very therapeutic. But I don’t have anyone here I can kill.
Actually, I do. Slade.
If I’m planning on leaving anyway, then there’s no harm in killing him. I can torture him for as long as I want. I can even change the codes to make sure none of the guys will interrupt me.
“Actually, I think there is.” I move her, turning her wound back to me and finishing the stitches.
I didn’t get to enjoy killing Bryce, but I’m going to enjoy taking my time with Slade.
Chapter 55
The guys and I are sitting out on the balcony. The night air feels different. I’ve always loved nighttime—hiding in the dark, enjoying the peace and silence that comes with others sleeping. It almost makes me understand why Alexi likes to watch us sleep.
Ever since we were kids, I would find him staring at us while we slept. At first, he was embarrassed to talk about it, but over the years I grew to understand it. There’s something calming about others being at rest.
Tonight is different; it feels like something’s changing, and not in a good way. When Evie didn’t come back with us, something felt off, but when she hugged us and Alexi, we all knew there was something she wasn’t telling us.
“Something isn’t right,” I say finally. They both look at me, feeling it too. “Why isn’t she here?”
“Maybe she needed some space after everything that happened today?” Damien suggests weakly, not believing his own thoughts.
“I don’t understand what the Shades thought they would gain from today. None of this makes sense,” Alexi says. “Was Bryce working for them? Or is it all a coincidence? Why did they want to frame Evie for murdering me? How was every single masked body taken from the island?”
He’s asking the same questions we’ve all been thinking.
“Where did they get her blade?” Damien asks. “She always has three on her, and she had those today. Where did they get another?”
