Page 16

Kelly gave me one last unreadable expression before hurrying down the hall, her black pigtails flying behind her. It was only as she turned the corner did I glimpse a shock of white-blonde hair. But when I looked closer, the head of hair was gone, and I wondered if my nerves were playing tricks on me.

Because if they weren’t…

It meant that someone had overheard what I’d told Kelly.

Someone knew we were planning to escape.

I didn’t sleep.Didn’t do anything, really, but pace and think and pace some more. My nails had been chewed down to stubs as I glanced at the gray sky outside my window, the sun still hidden behind bloated rain clouds.

It was only three in the afternoon, meaning we had hours until we put our plan into effect, but I didn’t dare do anything else. Not rest my eyes, not go to the cafeteria, not leave my room.

Numerous what-ifs played on repeat in my mind.

What if the reapers got wind of what we had planned?

What if Kelly told someone about the escape?

What if that person I may or may not have seen tattled?

What if…

What if…

What if…

A knock on my door shook me out of my reverie, but it did very little to slow down my racing heart. If anything, my heartbeat increased as I stared intently at the wooden door.

Was it a group of reapers coming to feed my soul to a monster?

Or maybe it was a camera crew and Ashton Kutcher hiding behind the corner, waiting to jump out and scream, “You’ve been punk’d!”

I really, really hoped it was option number two.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Little gymnast, I hear you pacing in there.” Tanner’s voice was laced with amusement. “And your heavy breathing. You’re not as stealthy as you think.”

“I’m totally as stealthy as I think,” I retorted, my anxiety dissipating as quickly as it had arrived. It was actually kind of funny, the instant relief I felt at knowing Tanner was on the other side of that door. At one point, I’d hated him, maybe even feared him, and though those feelings hadn’t completely dissolved, they were no longer as prominent.

I moved to the door and pulled it open, biting on my lip to contain my smile when I saw Tanner leaning against the door frame, a cocky grin on his face. As usual, he wore a leather jacket that clung to his muscular frame. An unlit cigarette hung from his lush lips as his Caribbean blue eyes twinkled.

“So you think about how stealthy you are a lot?” His tone was teasing as he pushed past me and made his way into my room, removing his cancer stick from his mouth and placing it inside his jacket pocket.

“I didn’t say you could come in,” I deadpanned, shutting the door behind him.

He smirked as he all but threw himself onto the bed, folding his hands behind his head and hooking his ankles together.

“You wound me, little gymnast. I thought our sexual chemistry was off the charts. I totally thought it was deserving of unannounced bedroom visits.”

I snorted, moving to perch on the edge of my bed and flicking a distasteful look at his shoes.

“Not enough to allow you to put your dirty shoes on my bed.”

“One, my shoes aren’t dirty.” He held up a single finger before adding a second one to it. “And two, you’re not sleeping in this bed ever again if everything goes as planned. And even if it doesn’t…” He trailed off, deep lines pulling at the skin around his eyes, and I filled in what he didn’t say.

“And if it doesn’t go as planned, we’re probably dead. Goodie.” My voice was just as empty as his had been, though I tried to hide my growing unease with humor. “But that doesn’t give you the right to put your big feet up on my bed.” I pushed at said feet in annoyance, and his smirk widened. “Seriously, those feet belong to a giant. That can’t be normal. Have you had a doctor look at them? Are you sure they’re not two big tumors?”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny,” he quipped, rolling his sea-blue eyes. His tongue rolled across his teeth as his smile widened. “Though you know what they say about big feet…”