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Dez is already walking. He expects me to follow him, like I'm a dog or something. “The main stage is there. The floats will begin arriving soon, it's where I want to share the good news with all of Crestwind.”

“What are you talking about?” Jordan asks.

“You'll know soon enough,” Dez chuckles.

My knees are cement. I force them forward, but it's agony. Behind me, over my head, comes Jordan's urgent whisper. “Lorikeet, what's happening?”

I say nothing. I take another heavy step. Each one harder than the last.

“Lorikeet,”he growls.

Drawing myself upwards, I look at him over my shoulder. The anxiousness in his heavenly features coaxes me to speak. Somehow, I do it with a smile. “You should have let me drive over that bridge.”

Jordan's jaw slides open. If he has anything to say, he chooses not to. Within seconds the crowd that surges along the street, chasing the floats that are now rolling along with flower petals and confetti dousing the air, hides him from me.

That's what I need to make following Dez easier.

Chapter 10

Alivebandheraldsmy march towards doom. Trumpets flash in the sun, silvery and bright, creating music that shakes the teeth in my skull. The closer I get to the stage, the harder I pray that the horns will create a pitch high enough to shatter Dezmond into a million pieces.

Instead, he turns towards me, grins wide, reaches out his hand. “Come on.” He's right in front of the tall circular stage. My mother and I provided the flowers for the arrangements; roses and lilies intertwine to create hearts, birds, and stars that brush towards the blue sky.

Dezmond's smile dips at the corners. “Get the fuck up here with me,” he says.

I put my hand in his, fighting back a wave of disgust. I don't need his help to get on the stage, but I allow him to pull me along. My body is limp—maybe I do need his help. “Dez,” I croak, the music washing me out. I can hardly hear myself. “Wait.”

Ignoring me, he yanks me to the middle where everyone standing along the streets can see us. This is supposed to be where the mayor announces the winner of the float designs. No one should be up here yet—that fact alone draws attention to us. I start to hyperventilate.

“Here,” he says in my ear, “Feel.” He snatches my hand, forces it down to his waist. I'm suddenly afraid he'll make me touch his penis, but instead he pushes it into his pocket where something square awaits.

A ring box.

“Hope it fits,” he laughs.

“Dez,” I say, wetting my lips nervously. “We don't have to do this.”

“Yeah, we do.”

“I don't understand why you're going so far with this game. You don't need anything from me. You have that beautiful house, freedom to party every night, your dad pays for everything you need!”

His grip crushes harder on me, like he's struggling to keep his cool. “Fuck that asshole. I'm tired of him lording that over me. Everything he does is out of guilt. I don't want to have to rely on him anymore.”

My heart is slamming into my rib cage so hard I worry it'll fracture it. “Okay. Okay, so, rely on me instead. I'll give you a cut from my shop's weekly earnings. I can hide it from my mom, I'll figure it out, I swear. Please.”

“I like when you say that word to me.” His eyes are out over the crowd. There's a mass of blurry faces, not all of them strangers, observing us with rising curiosity.

“I'll say it as much as you want! Please, Dez. Don't do this.”

“I have to.”

“You don't!”

I see his profile, the bruise on his cheek. He drops one eye towards me and speaks in a voice laden with syrup and poison. “If you hadn't pushed me in front of that car earlier, I might have said yes. I know better now. You're not a one and done killer, Lori. You'll always want me dead. But this,” he taps his pocket. “This ring will make you behave."

Through my fear I start to see red. "I can still kill you if we're married. Make it look like an accident."

"Oh, listen to you getting some backbone," he chuckles. "You think I'm stupid." He waits a beat, and when I don't deny it, his frown deepens. "I know how desperate you are. That's why I set up a little insurance for myself. My crew has instructions if anything happens to me."