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“If only you knew,” I mumble under my breath, feeling almost sorry for him because his feelings replicate my own so well. “She’s ignored you for one day. Not a year. It’s not a big deal.”
“Has she said anything to you?”
I shake my head, wishing that she had, wishing that she would tire of him so we can go again. “Nothing.”
“But even if she had, would you tell me?” His charming yet annoying smile returns.
Laughing, I pick up his roller and stand with it poised and ready for action. “Definitely not.”
“I’ll look after her, you know that, right? After you’re gone. I’ll protect her.”
My heart thuds painfully in my chest. I want to scream at him. I want to tell him that it’s not his job to. I want to tell him she’s mine and always will be. But I find myself thinking of my sister and how happy she has been lately. Am I so selfish that I can’t allow her one young love?
“Thank you,” I whisper and start rolling the white onto the dirty gray wall. “We probably should have cleaned the wall better before adding gloss.”
“I did say that.”
I put my finger to my lips and shush him, making him laugh under his breath.
Nokosi Locklear isn’t a bad guy… but he has the chance to derail our lives. I can’t let him do that. No matter what, my plan still stands.
He’s going down, it is as it is.
But I can allow her a little more time. It would be a kindness she deserves.
“Don’t hurt her, Nok,” I say firmly, and his brows hit his hairline, “you’ll regret it if you do.”
Lilith
“How did you get all of this information?” I ask Mackenzie, awed by what’s laid on the grass between us. Two binders full of laminated pouches that hold sheets upon sheets of information on the School Sigil Searer and their victims. “It’s insane.”
“Too right,” Joseph mutters, also as awed as me.
I brought Mackenzie here on my dirt bike, much to her despair. I let her use my sister’s old helmet, somebody may as well. She was shocked to say the least but there’s no way I was getting my dad’s Prius to the fucking track.
She clung tight to my body and screamed most of the way here, her heavy backpack weighing my turns down.
This all got planned yesterday at school when I hung around with her for the day after learning of her obsession with this killer. I’m so glad I did. This bitch has FBI files on it that have never been released to the public. She won’t tell me how she got them, just that, if she gets caught with them, she’ll go to jail.
My lips are sealed, and she trusts that much of me.
“It took a lot of time, but I had this thought that I might be able to figure it out myself. I mean there’s a fifty-thousand-dollar reward for any information leading to this dude’s arrest.” She is so animated and chatty in a way I’ve never been. She’s like Emma Stone whereas I’m more Billy Eilish.
She’s nice enough but I reckon I’ll tire of her soon.
Bobby whistles a long low note. He’s impressed. “You’ve even got some of their fucking dead photos. That’s just creepy.”
“Totes,” Mackenzie replied. “I had nightmares for days the first time I saw them. I felt like I was doing them a disservice and violating them in some way, so I don’t look at the pictures anymore.”
“Respectful,” I state, nodding softly.
“Where’s Nokosi?” Nash suddenly asks, appearing from the tree line with his friends.
“At work,” I reply without looking up from the paper.
“What are you doing?” he asks as he gets closer.
Mackenzie looks at me for confirmation of trust.
“That’s on you,” I tell her. “These seem like good people, but I don’t know them well enough to vouch for their loyalty.”
“Ouch, Lil, what a burn,” Joseph jokes, giving me a playful shove.
Bobby cuts in, “So, what we know so far is this psychopath has killed twenty-seven guys aged sixteen to eighteen?”
“Twenty-seven and counting,” I add, wagging my brows.
Bobby grins at me, showing slightly crooked teeth and dimples in his chin. “I thought you didn’t like talking about death.”
“I don’t, with my sister being so close to it, it’s upsetting… but I figured I better start making friends before the school year ends and who better to entice than you freaks to my weirdness?”
Mackenzie laughs and shakes her head, Joseph pushes me again, and Bobby throws a stick at me.
“In between sucking Nok’s dick, and looking after my sister, I haven’t had much time.”
“Gross,” Nash baulks, standing and moving to my dirt bike. “Can I?”
“Where’s yours?” I frown, throwing him my keys.
“In for repair.”
He pulls on my helmet, straddles my beast of a bike, and kickstarts the engine. Then he peels away, showing off on the track like he always does.
