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“You sound like Zane.”
“Maybe he has the right idea.” He spins, the movement so sudden, I stumble backward. But then he’s there, pulling me toward him, enveloping me in warmth, and the rest of the world fades away. I press my cheek against his chest and listen to the thudding of his heart. “We shouldn’t allow any threats to you to live.”
“Beckett…”
“Come on.” He detangles himself from my embrace but only to intertwine his fingers with mine. He leads me down the hall and then out the door. The cold winter wind whips at my hair almost instantly, and a shiver reverberates through me.
“Beck, what are we doing?”
“Don’t know. But whatever it is, it won’t be here.”
25
BECKETT
Stupid Roy, and his stupid face, and his stupid, smug smile, and his stupid hair, and his stupid eyes, and his stupid?—
Ellie’s shocked laughter drags me out of my thoughts.
I’m still holding her hand, but she’s struggling to keep pace with me, her tiny legs unable to keep up.
“Bugger. Sorry.” I blanch as I slow down and then curl an arm around her shoulder. She cuddles into my side as the cold winter wind bites at my face with the intensity of a thousand razor blades.
It’s times like this—when I’m wading through five-inch snow—that I miss London and rain. It may be miserably wet there, the sky perpetually gray, but at least we don’t have to deal with snowstorms often.
“So, where are we going?” She peeks up at me through glasses splattered with water droplets. “Are we gonna get in trouble for ditching our afternoon classes?”
I snort. “Not by the teachers, but Landon might punish us if he finds out.”
Her eyes gleam mischievously. “Will Daddy Landon give us spankings?”
I throw my head back in laughter. This girl, I fucking swear… “I dare you to call him that to his face.”
“Daddy?” She blinks up at me innocently. “Who says I don’t already?”
“You’re an evil little vixen, you know that, right?” I squeeze her shoulders as I begin to lead her toward our dorm. As much as I would like to take my girl out on a proper date, it’s not feasible with everything going on. The safest place for Ellie to be is our dorm, which can be locked and secured and is littered with cameras.
“I can honestly say no one has ever called me that before.” She giggles. “But then again, I don’t have a lot of experience in that department…”
Her words, while lighthearted and teasing, only serve to remind me of Roy. Motherfucking Roy. I wanted to kill him just for taking Ellie out on a date, and now, hearing the vulgar things he said to her, I want to slit his throat for an entirely different reason.
And that’s saying something. I much prefer a good, old-fashioned shooting. Knives can become…messy. Blood splatters are a pain to wash out of cashmere.
Yet, with Roy, I have the innate need to get up close and personal, to have my eyes be the last thing he sees, to know that death has a name and it’s Beckett.
But alas, killing Roy won’t be in my cards for today. The others, however…
I fish my phone out of my coat pocket, shoot off a quick text to the others, and then return it.
Ellie watches me with a quizzical stare. “What was that about?”
“Do you really want to know?”
We’ve agreed to tell each other everything, and so far, we’ve all upheld our promise. However, Ellie hates hearing about our extracurricular activities when they concern our little friends from POP. It makes her squeamish. And to be honest, I’m grateful she doesn’t have the stomach for death and torture. I love her darkness wholeheartedly, but I’m drawn to her light.
Ellie’s nose wrinkles in a way I shouldn’t find as adorable as I do. She absently rubs at her reddened nose before pushing her glasses farther up.
“No, I don’t think I want to know.” She frowns. “But tell me this… Will any of you be in danger?”
