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Zane’s expression turns cold. The change is so sudden and alarming, I half wonder if I imagined it in the first place. I blink, but…no, he’s still staring apathetically ahead, darkness radiating from his eyes.
“Never mind. This is a horrible idea.”
“Agreed,” Beckett says immediately.
Dominic’s jaw merely clenches.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I roll my eyes at their antics, even as a delicate fluttering sensation takes up residence in my chest. I like that they’re possessive of me. So what if that makes me damaged? “Besides, you guys will be in bathing suits too.”
And all the girls will see them shirtless…
On second thought, maybe they’re right and this is a horrible idea.
Zane regards me with an impassivity that’s almost frightening. His dark eyes render me speechless.
“No bathing suits,” he growls in a dark rumble.
“But—”
“No. Bathing. Suits.” Each word is curt and succinct, a whip slashing at my skin and taking my breath away. “Only snow suits.”
My right eye begins to twitch at his domineering attitude, even as a tiny thrill shoots through me.
“Zane…”
“We can discuss the dress code later,” Landon interrupts, playing peacemaker. But there’s a hard glint in his eyes that suggests he agrees with Zane. Caveman. The whole lot of them. “But I think we should go. Ellie’s right. It’ll be a good opportunity to get more information from the other students.”
“And what do we do if we discover someone is a member of POP?” Beckett asks cautiously.
Landon’s eyes turn the color of a stormy sky—gray and mottled with clouds. “We do what we always do when someone’s a threat to us.” He spears each of us with a look that dares us to be afraid, dares us to run away, dares us to leave. Or maybe it’s just me he’s daring.
But I won’t be afraid.
I won’t run.
I won’t leave.
“We kill them,” I answer equably. “If it comes down to us or them…I’ll choose us. Each and every time.”
4
RYKER
Idon’t dream while I’m here.
I can’t say for certain why that is. It’s most definitely not because I fall into a deep sleep. My nerves are too frayed to shut my mind off completely.
Yet…there are no dreams. No nightmares.
Just a restless sleep that has me staring out the barred window of my hotel room, waiting for that moment when the rays of the sun breach the horizon, painting the world in burgundy and orange.
When did I last fall into a deep sleep? Days? Weeks?
Fuck.
I turn my gaze to the burner phone in my lap, waiting…
And waiting…
