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Present
“Why do you hate him so much?” Cooper asked, taking half my chicken salad sandwich. We would stay out on the beach for hours, just watching the sun burn to midnight ash. “I mean, I know that he used to bully you when you were little, but you’ve never really gone into the details, and, well—” He shifted his body toward me, tossing sand onto my lap. “I’m almost too scared to ask. You know…because I know him.”
I didn’t want to tell Cooper that his cousin wasn’t the boy he thought he was. That the bullying was only the tip of the iceberg. Or that anytime he brushed past me in the school halls, I was met by the ice in his eyes directed right at me, but when people weren’t looking, he had his tongue down my throat.
A secret that only we would ever share. One that would destroy him, sure…but me? Well…
“I told you it’s fine. I don’t care, and anyway…” I murmured around lettuce. “The bullying wasn’t even that bad.”
Lie. You are such a little liar, Shiloh Saint Claire, and one day, everyone is going to see it.
Voices echo up the stairs, but not enough to work out what they’re saying. Like a fly captured in a jar, I have no options but to breathe what little air they give.
Footsteps thud up the stairs and I turn over to see Sparrow standing in the doorway.
“Get up. You need to do your next task.” He moves to the other side of the room, gathering up a gold watch and clipping it around his wrist.
I don’t bother to ask where they all slept last night—or how I got from the couch to the bedroom.
“So there is still a game?” I yawn, slightly relieved that it wasn’t one big ploy to get me here to kill me.
His eyes travel to mine and my mouth turns dry. “In what part did we say there wasn’t?”
“I don’t know.” I fight with myself to not do something that might get me killed, like, I don’t know, give him what he’s giving me.
“What’s the deal between you and Dion?” he asks, shoving his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, moving my long brown hair out of my face with my fingers. “Ask him.” I stretch wide, shivering when I feel my muscles tingle. “I’m sure he’d love to tell you.”
“Be down in five minutes.” He watches me move to the bathroom, and I slam the door behind me before he can spew another order.
I don’t rush. I take my time with my shower and getting dressed. My ankles hurt from the little time they were in the shackles, but not enough to blister. Ugh. I hate this. I hate that I don’t know how to read the situation. Is it a good or a bad thing that I’m here? And again, if it’s truly that dangerous, how did people know about it?
I’m calling their bluff.
I should have taken longer this morning. Now here I am, looking between the two of them. I haven’t seen Dion since last night, and after his outburst at seeing me, I’m almost certain it’s on purpose, since why would he not be here with the other two psychos, helping finish this game.
“Cliff jumping?” I yell over the gust of wind, tucking my hair behind my ear and hitting all the piercings on the way down. “How is this part of The Game?”
Malyk pounces onto one of the rocks near the cliff edge, peeking over the side. I can see the cheesy grin on his face from here, and the man isn’t even looking at me.
“Well, I could push you?” He turns over his shoulder, his eyes flashing with darkness. It leaves a dusting of ice over my bones.
I stand straight. “Not necessary.” I squeeze the edge of the hoodie, tearing it over my head and allowing my hair to trail down my back. Thankfully, I’m still in my bikini, though I’m not sure that’s at all going to help me right now.
“Aww…come on…” Malyk shifts and he’s right in front of me, his chest brushing mine.
My heart skips a beat, and I find myself looking up at him from below. His lashes fan out thickly, his deep green eyes filled with so much distrust. When his soft lips form an O, I catch the movement, and I instantly regret it when his tongue dampens the cushion and I see the piercing.
“I think it’ll be hot.” He leans in closer, tucking my hair behind my ear with one hand, while chuckling deeply in my other ear. “Don’t you think so, Poppet?”
“I don’t know.” I step forward, hoping he will take one back and I can push him into the water with me, only his body doesn’t move. “I guess you will never know—”
I’m lifted off the ground, and before I can reach for any kind of anchor, I hear a faint—fuck! And then I’m falling. The blue sky looks directly back down at me as the two bodies on the cliff get smaller and smaller, and my back slaps against water so hard I swear I hear my ribs snap. My body is weightless, my eyes stinging from the salt water as I try to wave my arms to the side and float back to the top, only every time I do, I feel my body weigh back down to the seabed, desperate to sink.
Arms collide with my waist, but before I can see who it is, everything goes black.
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Muffled voices sift through, but my eyes refuse to open.
