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“Take Kyla back to school. It’s clear. Give her a weapon. I’m sure you have at least one extra on you. Kyla, if anyone tries to touch you, use whatever Mag gives you. I don’t care if it’s a teacher, policeman, or another student, use the weapon first, ask questions later. We’ll clean it up if something happens.”
I blink, taken aback by this whole conversation. I expected him to tell Magnum to hurry his ass up back to the tower. “What?”
At the same time, Mag says, “Turning around now.”
“Wait,” I say, still trying to wrap my head around this. “You’re letting me go back to school?”
“Take me off speaker.”
I hurry to press the button and then bring the cell back to my ear. “Really?” I ask.
“You’re not a Kardashian. I get you loud and clear, Kyla. I listen. It might take a while to get it through my thick skull, but I want the best for you. Do I think staying in my suite is the safest place for you? Yes. Of course. I get you can’t do that, though. That’s one of the reasons why I like you so much.”
My cheeks burn. Johnny has said a lot of things to me. He’s called me beautiful. He’s told me I’m his. I’m not so sure he’s ever said he likes me though. Not the actual words.
“You still there?” he asks when I don’t respond.
“Yeah.” I struggle with the emotions bubbling to the surface. “Thank you.”
“I mean it though. I don’t care what you have to do. Stay safe. At all costs. You understand?”
“Yes,” I tell him, my voice clear and concise, so he knows I mean business as well.
“I’ll call Brawler. They won’t release Oscar for a few hours.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek. “You’re going to help him, right? Oscar? He didn’t do anything.”
“I’ll call the Crew’s lawyers. They’re just being dicks. I’ll see what they can do, but he might just have to ride it out for a while. We’ve all been there.”
Allbeen there?Yeah, not me. I couldn’t make it in prison.
“Can you cut your training short tonight? I’ve got something to discuss with you. You left before I was even up this morning.”
I angle away from Mag again. This time when I glance outside, familiar landmarks of the ride to school rush by. We’re only a few blocks away now. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“So, you’re not avoiding me?”
I grin at the worry in his voice. “If I say no, does that mean you’re going to make me come back to the suite?”
He laughs. The sound free and contagious. “No, I didn’t tell you to go back to school just because I thought you were mad at me.”
“Good,” I tell him.
“See you tonight, babe.”
“Tonight,” I promise. “I’ll be there.”
“You better be.” He hangs up the phone at the same time Mag turns into the school parking lot. He parks the car outside the front entrance again, only this time, there aren’t droves of bodies also making their way into the school.
Mag pulls a knife out of his pocket and hands it to me. I take it, making sure I can open and close it on my own. “Can Johnny really clean anything up?” Not that I’m going to go stabbing a bunch of people. I only have murderous thoughts about one person, but it’s information to stow away for later.
“He’d turn the world upside down for you.”
My heart flutters. Stupid, deranged blood-pumping muscle. Those words should not bring me the warmth of joy that they do.
“You actually like him, don’t you?”
My heart thumps one exaggeratingly long thump, like the final toll of a bell. “I do,” I tell him, then I push the door open and stride back into Rawley Heights High, the knife secure in the waistband of my pants.