Page 329 of Blackwood

He spins at the end of the hallway, finger raised like a villain in a holiday musical. “Candy cane unitards, Bella. Unitards. Don’t tempt me.”

“Love you, Javi!” I yell over my shoulder, already dialing Knox.

He shouts back something in Spanish I’m pretty sure is profanity.

Chapter 85

LEX

Nationals Day 2 - Dallas, Texas

Praying we get to go to Paris…

71 Days Since Henry’s Death

Knox answers his phone two seats down with a sharp, “Hey, B. What’s up?”

Cade and I both glance over.

“What? Are you for real?”

He shifts forward in his seat, elbow on his knee, hand over his mouth like he’s trying not to laugh. “What’d Javi say?”

A beat. Then he snorts. “You sure? ’Cause that’s a ballsy-ass move, bitch. Even for you.”

“Did he just call her a—”

Cade glances at me. “Don’t.”

I ignore him.

But before I can stand up and explain to Knox how many teeth he doesn’t need, the guy mutters, “Yeah yeah, I’m on it. Bye,” and hangs up.

He bolts upright, already moving past the rows of seats, muttering something under his breath.

I lean forward. “What the hell was that, Knox?”

He waves me off without even looking. “I’ll be right back. Your girl’s changing shit. I’ll explain when I get back.”

And he’s gone, cutting across the back of the room toward the sound booth, pulling a flash drive from his hoodie and handing it off to the tech guy like it’s a damn mission drop.

Cade shifts beside me, eyes narrowed. “What the hell is Bella doing now?”

I stare at the stage, then the booth, then back again. “No idea,” I mutter. “But apparently, something.”

The lights are still low. The announcer is stalling. The judges lean back in their seats, clearly drained after two full days of almost all Latin routines. A few of them look like they could nod off right there. One guy’s literally pinching the bridge of his nose.

Cade exhales. “She’s not actually gonna change the routine this late, right?”

I don’t answer. I just lean back in my chair and stare at the stage waiting for the chaos to begin.

Knox comes back out and drops into his seat like he’s just escaped a war-zone.

Cade leans toward him. “Okay, tell us what the hell is going on.”

Knox exhales like he just survived a hostage negotiation. “Bells says the judges are zoning out. Two full days of pretty much constant Latin and they look like they’re about to fall asleep in their shrimp cocktails. So, they’re flipping the script.”

Cade blinks. “Flipping?”