Page 167 of Fragments

“The Carverisdown there…” Ren smirks, lifting a casual shoulder.

It’s obvious he’s thrilled at the idea of playing detective. This whole thing is really combining his mutual loves of scheming and gossip.No wonder he flew in here all excited.

“Just don’t be making shit up without any actual facts.” I shoot him a pointed look as I go to leave.

He grabs my arm. “I’m gonna find out what really happened. Don’t worry, baby. I’m sure Dash is okay.”

I don’t even have the energy to scold him for being too affectionate when we’renota goddamn couple. Sometimes I think he doesn’t really hear what I’m saying, anyway.

I have to give it to him…He’s one persistent motherfucker.

“Okay, Ren. You do that,” I puff the words on a tired breath. But of course, he doesn’t let me go, reminding me not to confuse persistence with psycho-level obsessiveness.

“I still have the movies, if you wanna come by and watch.” He runs his finger gently along my side, where the line of ink he gave me is hidden by my shirt. It feelsso goodbecause of how goddamn itchy the thing is. “We don’t have to fool around… We can just cuddle.”

His lips twist, and I shake my head. “I’m not watchingTwilightwith you, Ren.”

“Fine, you can sleep while I watch it.” His grin widens. I chuckle, shaking my head at his foolishness, and he leans in, whispering, “Just let me make you feel good, sweet boy. You know you want it…”

My insides buzz, but I push it down fast. “Yea, you do make me feel good, Ren.Untilyou make me feel really fucking bad. And do you know why you do it?” I pause, watching his brows knit and his grin fall away. “Because you’re selfish. All you care about isRen, and that’s never gonna work for me. So just… leave it alone, okay?”

Yanking out of his hold, I stagger away while he calls out, “But what about the fireworks?”

Turning back one last time, I mutter, “There are no more fireworks for us. Not in here.”

He actually fucking did it.

Dash escaped.

He fuckingescapedAlabaster Penitentiary.

Gone. Flew the coup.

Ren has spent the last few days working all his connections for information, but really it was confirmed when we spoke to Rook. We were pestering him for verification of Dash’s mortality status, and while he didn’t exactly say the words, his confirmation that Dash wasnotkilled and isnoteven on Alabaster Isle anymore felt like the craziest wave of relief, fascination, and simultaneous nausea I’ve ever experienced.

This island is pretty far away from the rest of civilization. Ten miles of raging sea that’s said to be riddled with sharks…

Just because Dash didn’t diehere, it doesn’t mean he didn’t die trying to get back to the mainland in that little fucking boat I’m sure Velle is strongly regretting keeping out there now.

But I can’t think like that. He actually made it out, undetected, which is something no one has ever done,ever. If he could pull that off, then I need to hold out hope that he made it back to the shores of New York safely and got himself the fuck outta dodge.

To top it all off, Ren heard from an anonymous source—he won’t even tellmewho it is—that Felix Darceywasactually the one who killed O’Malley. Ren claims he doesn’t know how The Carver managed it—how he got the keys to the cells and the knife he used to slice up our Irish friend—but to be honest, I’m not so sure I believe that. He might be protecting his source, or maybe he’s protecting me by not giving me all the details, to keep me out of trouble or something.

Who knows.

But either way, yesterday at breakfast, he told Kang and me that little Felix Darcey, the scariest, most normal-looking dude on the planet, somehow got into O’Malley’s cell, stabbed him a fuckload of times, carved up his face, then wandered the halls of the East Wing covered in blood and opened Dash’s cell to let him out.

And he’sstill here.

That might be the wildest part of this whole thing. Dash bounced, like I’m sure any of us would if given the chance, but Darcey didn’t. He stayed in this god-awful shithole,on purpose.

Why?? Who the hell would even do that…?

Oh, right. Me. I did that.

Maybe Darcey also has something holding him to this island. Or someone.

Regardless of his reasoning, staying here might not have been the smartest play for the world’s cutest serial killer. As soon as Kang heard who was responsible for slaughtering his friend in such grandiose fashion, he kinda flipped his lid. Joy was able to calm him down a little, but when we ran into Darcey in the showers up here, Kang was out for blood. Ren had to actually break them up, and ever since, Kang’s been acting a little butthurt.