Page 20

Chapter Twenty

Jolie

Every muscle in my body hurts. I stretch my arms and one collides with warm skin, making my eyes fly open, and Laughn rolls over to look at me with a toothy grin. It’s weird seeing him without his contacts, and I don’t know if I like it.

“Morning,” he says. “We should shower before the cavalry arrives to save you.”

I have been holed up here all weekend with him, fucking.

“Don’t be so dramatic. I am perfectly safe here with you, probably more so than any of them.”

“That is true, but it doesn’t mean they trust me with you.” Laughn sits up and pulls me onto his lap. Both of us are covered in dried blood thanks to his obsession with having his blood covering me. I wrap my arms around his neck and smile up at him.

“Jealousy is a curse. Let’s shower because I’m so hungry, I could eat the ass off a low-flying duck.”

Laughn shakes his head and slides out of bed with me still wrapped around him. He walks us both to the bathroom, reaching into the shower to turn the water on. I squeal when the ice-cold water hits my back, and a laugh bursts out of Laughn.

Sliding down his body, I finally find my feet while he squirts shampoo into his hand and lathers it into my hair. After my hair is done, he washes my body so softly it leaves tingles in its wake, the water turning a rusty brown as it rinses away the remnants of the other night. This guy is an enigma. Just when I think I have him figured out, he does something to make me question if I have really even scratched the surface.

“We better hop out and get you home to change. Don’t forget, you have to see the doctor today.”

I pep up even more at that thought. I can’t wait to see how Boston reacts. My appointment was supposed to be on Saturday, but I messaged Brennan and told him to reschedule because I was too sore after the fight.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Once we have dried off and Laughn passes me an oversized shirt to wear, we head down to his car. I’m honestly surprised the rest of the Gods haven’t all shown up to save me. The drive back to Boston’s house isn’t long, and I was expecting everyone’s cars to be here, waiting for the lecture, but to my surprise, their usual spots are empty. Laughn’s phone rings as he parks as close to the house as he can get.

“What?” he snaps. “Fine, I will be there soon.”

He turns to me.

“It’s okay, go,” I say, giving him a lopsided grin.

“Fuck you later?” he asks with a smile and a raised brow.

“In your dreams, I’m a once-and-done kinda girl.” I open the door, but he leans across and grabs my arm.

“This isn’t a once-and-done kind of deal.”

I laugh because I know I will be back for more, just like I was the entire weekend.

I slip from the seat and lean back inside to look at him. “And Laughn, promise not to kill anyone today,” I say, remembering what Summer had asked. Which reminds me, I need to get in contact with her.

“But . . .”

“But nothing, you will not hurt Summer or her friends. I forbid it,” I say sternly.

“I can promise I won’t hurt them today, but maybe you can convince me other ways not to do any future damage,” he tries to negotiate, raising one eyebrow.

“Today is good enough for me.” I wink, closing the door and walking off towards the house.

Laughn peels out of the driveway at high speed; he must really have somewhere important to be.

I make my way to the kitchen, expecting to be alone, but Brennan is seated at the table eating toast. How very mediocre of him—until I see the avocado, then I chuckle.

“What the fuck happened to you?” he yells, getting to his feet and rushing towards me.

“Fighting and getting my ass handed to me. Why, what does it look like happened?”

“And nothing happened with Laughn?” He gives my throat a pointed look.

I smile at the memories. “Okay, so he happened as well.”

Brennan looks seriously pissed off; his face is screwed up so much I want to tell him that if the wind changes, he will be stuck with that face forever. I decide not to push him today—he doesn’t look like he could cope with my smartass attitude.

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” Brennan chastises, running a hand through his hair, which is getting longer and seriously needs a trim.

“Of course, I have no idea because everyone is keeping secrets! But you know what? I thought fuck it, I can leave really soon and plan to be far away from here, so why not have some fun?”

“They won’t ever let you leave now, especially Laughn. He has experienced a hurt so deep it ruined him to the core. You were warned for a reason—if you leave, he will hunt you down, no matter where you go.”

Seeing the concern in his eyes, I step forward and wrap my arms around his waist. “I promise I will say goodbye before I leave.”

He sighs. Something in him must snap when I look up at him. He leans down and presses his lips to mine, and I know I should pull away, but I don’t. He takes control, lifting me to the kitchen bench, stepping between my legs, and leaning his forehead against mine.

“Fuck... I can’t do this,” he breathes and stalks away, cursing under his breath.

Although I know Boston and I have a bet, I figure since I already rambled on about it to Brennan in an inebriated state, it’s void. I’m also positive if I wanted to wear something from his wardrobe, Laughn would help me pinch it and protect me—then he’d fuck me as he promised on my first night here.

Grabbing a banana, I head to my room, where my uniform is pressed and ready, hanging in my closet. I quickly eat and get dressed. But before I leave, my phone dings.

Unknown

Do I have anything to worry about today?

Me

Summer?

Unknown

Yep.

Me

Nope, you’re safe today but we need to talk.

Summer

I don’t know if it’s safe.

Me

Then I don’t know if I can keep Laughn away.

Summer

Fine, I will ping you my address. Come tonight, alone.

Me

I will be there.

Going alone to a house where I don’t know the occupants is probably stupid—okay, after my kidnapping and the house party, I know it’s stupid—but I need answers, and I think Summer is the one who will give them to me.

I send a text to Jimmie and Sinclair letting them know I’m on my way. Sinclair sends a smiley face emoji, and Jimmie tells me to hurry my ass up because he is waiting in the student car park.

I fly down the stairs and to the garage, picking up Brennan’s keys from the wall and getting into his car.

I reach school in record time, possibly getting Brennan a few tickets along the way—serves him right for being a douche.

Sure enough, Jimmie is leaning against a car. I’m not sure who it belongs to, but it isn’t his. His eyes go round as saucers as he approaches. My face is bad; no amount of makeup will cover that mess. The same with my neck, but I rub my hand over the rope burn and smirk.

“We need to talk,” he says, grabbing my elbow and pulling me towards the school. I laugh at his theatrics. Jimmie couldn’t force me to go anywhere I don’t want to; he has the muscle tone of a twelve-year-old.

Hushed whispers follow us as we walk through the halls until Jimmie pulls me into the boy’s toilets. He checks each stall before resting his back against the main door with his arms crossed.

“Care to explain why it looks like you’ve been hit by a bus? Did they hurt you after you left?”

“Slow down. First, no they didn’t hurt me. Second, we went to a fight night of sorts.”

Jimmie sucks in a huge breath and acts offended. “And you didn’t invite me?!” he scoffs playfully.

“I didn’t know until we got there. It was more like an underground society of military teenagers. I got my ass handed to me, but this chick there knows about Trace.”

Jimmie uncrosses his arms, still unimpressed he wasn’t invited.

“Will it make it better if I told you this is from Laughn, and that he has some serious body mods going on downstairs?”

Jimmie nods and I give him a run-down. I’m not usually one to kiss and tell, but this is Jimmie, someone I weirdly trust. Which in itself is strange, considering my ex and my last best friend hooked up.

“Let’s go grab our books. We don’t want to be late,” I say, ending the conversation, and thankfully he agrees.

The whispers return as we walk out of the bathrooms arm in arm. I’m sure there will be more rumours around the school by the end of the day and I couldn’t care less.

Laughn is leaning against my locker, and he smiles at me as we approach.

“It’s still super weird seeing him happy and smiling all the time. Also, have you noticed his pets don’t hang around much anymore?” Jimmie comments, and I shrug because I honestly hadn’t noticed.

Laughn pulls me to his body, his hand wandering under my skirt, until someone coughs. I lean away and see Case staring at us, but I hold back a smile when I notice the way he looks between me and Laughn. He moves at the speed of lightning, slamming Laughn into the lockers.

“You fucking hurt her,” he seethes, his hand wrapping around Laughn’s throat. Case being shorter, his arm is stretched to reach Laughn’s neck. “I’m going to kill you.”

Laughn laughs in his face and Case slams him harder in response.

“Case, calm down.”

He ignores me until I place my hand on his shoulder. Letting go of Laughn, he turns to me, fingers reaching out to trace the mark across my throat. Case then gently pulls me into his arms and tucks my head to his chest.

“Laughn didn’t do anything I wasn’t okay with. Pain isn’t always the enemy.”

As I finish, Case looks at me. I don’t know if I’m this girl that they lost, but they have all started clinging to me in their own ways—Case in the literal sense.

“I knew you were still in there,” he says, cupping my face, then he is ripped from my body by an extremely pissed Boston.

Confused, I watch as they move away from me. Boston is angrily whispering, and Laughn yells after them that it sucks to be jealous. Marlow and Davis have only just now joined us, having missed most of this morning’s drama.

“Don’t be a dick,” Marlow says, glaring at Laughn. He glances at my neck and snorts before shaking his head.

Meanwhile, Davis just stands there with his arms crossed, looking like someone pissed in his cornflakes this morning.

Laughn tells me he better go sort his shit out with Case or there will be a knife fight in the courtyard at lunch, then he stalks off.

Davis steps closer to me once Laughn is far enough away.

“This is all your fucking fault. Is this your plan? Fucking us all one by one and turning us against each other?”

“Don’t blame me for your insecurities. I can fuck who I like. If you have issues with it, then that’s a you problem. I didn’t force anyone to stick their dick in me. It sounds like a lot of jealousy is coming from you, Davis.”

He just pffts me and walks away, flipping me off as he goes. Jimmie high-fives me and Marlow leans against the lockers, his blonde hair tied up into a sexy-as-hell man bun. I never used to find it attractive, but Marlow’s carefree attitude has me rethinking my previous evaluation of long hair and man buns.

“You’re causing quite a stir,” Marlow says.

“Well, maybe they need to get over it. If you guys went and fucked a bunch of random girls, it would be okay. So why can’t I do it? I’m not ashamed of my sexuality—I like sex and that won’t change. Also, I don’t want to be monogamous with one person for the rest of my life. That’s not in the cards for me.”

“I’m not complaining,” he says, pushing off the locker and looping his arm with mine. “It was purely an observation. If you haven’t noticed, my dick is still in my pants.”

“For now,” I say with a laugh.

“Gotta save the best for last,” he says back. I don’t tell him I haven’t yet slept with Case.

Jimmie says his goodbyes, escaping to his form class as Marlow walks me to ours, where we sit side by side in companionable silence.

The day dragged on, with the guidance officer even calling me to his office. He wasn’t the clean-cut Brennan look-alike I was expecting. With parts of tattoos visible on his hands and neck, and rings through both sides of his nose, he seemed so out of place in this snobby school setting. All he wanted was to lecture me about abuse. I quietly listened to what he had to say because he was clearly passionate about the subject, and I agreed with everything he was saying.

Except I’m not being abused.

My cover story was that I was jumped in a dark alley, which I know he didn’t believe, especially when he said he would call the cops. Things escalated when I may have told him I would jump from the second-story window if he even tried. I then had to explain the threat cops posed to someone like me; with my history, I don’t trust them. Living with the Myers is something I don’t want to ruin so close to graduating. He reluctantly agreed to keep it between us this time.

Boston storms in my direction, his face pinched like he needs to take a huge shit.

“If the wind changes, your face will be stuck like that forever,” I joke, making his expression worse.

“Where the fuck have you been? We have an appointment. Do you know how much he charges if you’re late?!”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist. The guidance officer wanted to have a chat about me being abused... Don’t look at me like that. I told him I was mugged. I kinda figured our adventure this weekend wasn’t something you wanted out, and my sex life with Laughn is no one’s business.”

“Good, let’s get this over with,” he huffs, walking away from me like he has a bee up his ass.

“Will you hold my hand when they stick that plastic do dah up my coochie?” I ask, skipping up behind him. He stops abruptly and I run smack bang into him.

“There will be no sticking of anything into anywhere. Just get a move on—I don’t have all day.”

We walk in silence the rest of the way. He’s clearly pissed that I threw him under the bus and he had to come with me. I only wanted him with me to annoy him. So, mission accomplished.

Boston cranks the stereo as soon as we take off. “Holiday” by Naughty by Nature drowns out the silence.

The doctor’s visit wasn’t what I expected—just general questions and a blood test. Boston has been on edge all afternoon and left the second he dropped me back off at the house. Which is fine by me—I plan to visit Summer anyway. I asked Sinclair to give me a ride. I would have asked Jimmie, but I feel like if he were to be interrogated by the guys, he would give up my location. Sinclair is the silent type.

I wait for her down by the gate. I know someone will be alerted to my leaving the estate, but hopefully they will think I’m going to hang out with a friend.

“Hi,” I say, jumping into the passenger side of her sports car.

“Hey, what’s this huge favour?”

After telling her I can’t explain but I need her help, Sinclair reluctantly agrees to lend me her brother’s car, as he is out of town. She’s probably fearful of the guys’ wrath if they find out she helped me in any way, and she has a right to be. They hold fear over people’s heads; I have never seen them really do anything that would instil that kind of fear, but it’s there nonetheless.

Sinclair drives us to her house, where she gets me the keys to her brother’s car.

“I will call you in a few hours, and you can bring the car back tomorrow,” she tells me.

“Thanks, you’re the best,” I say with a hug, not mentioning that I plan to switch my phone off before I even leave here, as I have memorised the directions that Summer has given me.

My phone vibrates just as the thought of turning it off crosses my mind.

“Hey Brennan, what’s up?” I say and Sinclair snorts. What’s up?! Yeah, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all.

“I just wanted to let you know you will have the house to yourself for the next two days, we have to go out of town,” he explains.

What a way to not sound cryptic, Brennan. He sounds as bad as I do when I’m trying to hide something. I decide to try to fish for some information.

“That’s cool. I’m sure Laughn or Case can come keep me company.”

Brennan clears his throat, and I sense he is growing annoyed.

“They are coming with us. I don’t have time to explain, but will you be okay alone?”

“I will not die being left alone for two days. I’ll probably just chill with Sinclair and Jimmie.”

“Okay, good. I will talk to you when I get back,” he says, ending the call before I can say anything else.

Another thing to add to my “weird as fuck shit that has happened” list. Hopefully Summer can give me some answers.

“Something strange is going on,” Sinclair states, arching her brow at me.

“Promise I will tell you when I can,” I lie with a smile. A word won’t cross my lips until I know I can trust her, and from my experience, girls are the worst at staying loyal. Just look at my ratchet-ass ex-best friend. Damn whore.

I jump into her brother’s car before she can ask me any more questions. She opens the garage door and I reverse out with a wave.

Before I leave the driveway, I switch off my phone and then head east towards the location Summer sent me. I am good at recalling random things—memorising numbers, addresses, and directions. Once I know a route, I just know it. I’m not sure if it was something I could do before the accident, but it has come in handy ever since the first foster house that took my phone. They didn’t believe children should have electronic devices.

The directions lead me out of town, where the houses get smaller and smaller, the new turning into the old. Well-lit streets give way to darkness, with shadows that could scare grown men.

Slowing, I pull over to the curb and pick up the faint sound of “Godzilla” by Eminem through the sealed car windows. I swallow back my nerves... Why the fuck am I nervous? Living the life of luxury for all of two minutes, and now I’m scared to get out of the car? Fuck that.

Swinging the door open, I jump out, hitting the beeper to lock the car as I walk up the drive—mainly because I like Sinclair and don’t want to get her in trouble for her brother’s car getting stolen.

Taking the front steps two at a time, I’m up in four strides, using my momentum to bang hard on the old wooden door. I’m starting to think that maybe I have the wrong house when the door swings open and a cloud of smoke slams into my face, the smell of weed thick in the air.

“What?” the guy standing in front of me snaps, his eyes glassed over. I take him in. He is shirtless, covered in tattoos, and doesn’t look much older than I am. “Are you here for any reason other than to eye-fuck me? Because I have better shit to do.”

“Yes, I’m here to speak to Summer.”

He snaps to attention at the mention of her name.

Stepping out of the door at lightning speed, he grabs me by the hair and drags me inside. My hands fly up to my head on instinct to stop the burn. “You’re the bitch who is going to get us killed.”

“What the fuck?! Let me go now!” I shout, not realising there are others in the room.

Everyone freezes as I’m thrown towards the couch, hitting the threadbare material hard enough to bruise. I laugh, knowing that while I came here to make a truce and keep Laughn from hurting them, now that they want to leave marks on my body, we are playing a different game.

“What the fuck are you laughing for?” another guy asks, squatting in front of me.

“The fact that I came here to try and save your asses, but your friend is game enough to leave a mark on my body. I don’t know if Laughn will give a fuck what I say now when he finds out.”

The lights flick on, and my eyes are assaulted by the reality of what trouble I have found myself in. These guys may not look as scary as Laughn, but he isn’t here to save me now.

“What the fuck guys! I told you to let her in when she got here, not intimidate her,” Summer yells, running to my side. “Do you all have a death wish? Laughn will take us all out without blinking.”

That statement, while shocking for me, sounds believable coming from her mouth.

“I’m so sorry,” Summer says as she turns towards me.

“It’s okay, we were just getting acquainted. Mr Tattoos was just about to apologise for his behaviour.”

“That’s Khale,” she says.

“Like the green leafy shit?” accidentally slips from my mouth.

“Yeah, close enough,” she says, glaring towards Khale, arms crossed over her chest.

“I’m not sorry,” he snaps and stalks from the room.

“Excuse him, I’m Leland,” the guy who was squatting in front of me says, holding out his hand. “The other three ugly mugs playing pool are Atti, Ry, and Nolan.”

They all look my way and narrow their eyes as Khale stalks back into the room.

“Everyone out,” he yells, and everyone else in the room besides the guys I have been introduced to make themselves scarce.

The remaining guys all make their way into the modest lounge room and take seats on the other chairs available.

“So, tell me, how do you plan to keep Laughn away?” Khale starts.

I smile to myself, because Laughn can certainly be persuaded.

“With her pussy, that’s how.”

“Ry, enough,” Summer chastises.

“He isn’t wrong. That, and Laughn seems to listen to me,” I reply, looking at them all. Summer sits on Khale’s lap, which appears to placate him for the time being. “Look, let’s get to the point. You’re all clearly afraid that Laughn will come after you.”

Leland scoffs. “Come after us? Honey, he will slaughter us in the most painful way and send pieces of us to our families. Laughn isn’t someone you mess with.”

“I need information because I’ve been dropped into all this headfirst. I have zero knowledge of what’s happening, but I do have some suspicions. Put yourself in my shoes—my best friend leaves me in foster care because it’s not safe for us to be together. Right when I think he is finally coming back for me, I’m kidnapped, chased through the bush by people in weird skull masks, then all this Gods stuff happens.”

“So . . . you legit know nothing?”

“Of course, she knows nothing, Nolan. Everything is a head fuck to them,” Summer says.

Shivers run down my spine. Is “them” Boston and the guys? The same ones Trace was running from, but why?

“What do you know?” I snap, completely over everyone talking around the situation.

“If we tell her, we could be killed,” Atti states.

“If we don’t, that freak is going to kill us anyway,” Khale scoffs.

Summer stands from Khale’s lap and comes to sit by me. “If I tell you, can you promise to talk Laughn out of harming my guys?”

“I promise,” I say truthfully.

Khale leans back in his seat, stretching his arms above his head. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

“What do you know about Trace?” I ask.

“We don’t know much,” Summer starts. “Since our team isn’t like them, we aren’t given as much information. But there is no way Trace is the guy you think he is,” she confesses, shifting in her seat.

“Why not?” I ask, clearly confused.

“Do you even know who you are or who they think you are?” Khale questions.

I shake my head, and he takes up the explanation where Summer left off.

“Let’s start with the basics, then. G.O.D.S was created by a guy—Mr Z—who basically trains us from when we are young to be weapons. We all have special skills. Within your team, you have Davis, the human lie detector, Laughn speaks for himself, though try electrocuting the bastard and he will just laugh at you?—”

“This is shit she can find out for herself,” Nolan snaps, interrupting Khale.

Khale shoots him a look and grumbles something under his breath, but lets him take over.

Nolan fixes a hard gaze on me, then finally reveals the information I have been chasing. “We are a private organisation, and all members of a team have special skills. Five guys, one girl per team, with one handler for the guys and one for the girl until you complete your training. Team Hades is your team, except yours is special. You were all genetically made in test tubes or some shit. We don’t know details, but whispers say that the guys were genetically programmed to love Zircon, a.k.a. you. When you were around thirteen, you were killed ,” he says, using his fingers to make air quotes. “Trace was your handler the day you died. Unlike most teams, Zircon had multiple handlers. Anyway, now you’re back, and everyone wants to know why. No one can ask because it’s top secret, but none of us forgot the day you died. Your death turned Team Hades into monsters. This mask of civility they put on for you is not the real them, and if I were you, I would be careful. Ask yourself, was Trace running from them or for them? A handler wouldn’t betray the organisation over something small. Unless there was a reason... or it was an order from the big guy himself,” Nolan finishes with a shrug.

Khale laughs as my face pales. Someone runs to get me a bucket, returning just in time as I throw up the contents of my stomach.

What. The. Fuck. I don’t know how to grasp any of this.

“For everyone’s safety, please don’t tell them we told you,” Summer begs once I have finished. “There is a reason you’re back—there has to be.”

“I won’t say anything. They are away for a couple days anyway,” I say, wiping my mouth. “I need to go.”

“Just watch your back and stay safe. Trust me when I say if you are her, they won’t hurt you. Zircon was the centre of their universe, but having her reappear is dangerous for everyone else. In death, she created monsters, and now that their heart has returned, they will protect it like Cerberus protects the entrance to the underworld,” she says, walking me to the door. “If I were to guess, I would assume that Mr Z did this to create the ultimate team. With you around, it made the guys softer than he expected, and after you were gone, he could mould them with greater ease. But that is just my opinion.”

“Thank you,” I say, walking back to the car, my head spinning with everything they have just told me.

I need to know how much of what they are saying is true, but I can’t just ask the guys straight up. Would they even tell me the truth? Especially since they haven’t been very truthful with me yet. If all the guys have some special skill set, I wonder if I do as well. That is, if I am who Summer and her guys think I am.

I make a U-turn and head back towards the Myers house. Two days with them away should give me enough time to come up with a plan. If they know where Trace is, I want that information too. I want to see him and ask him what he knows. He is the only person in this world I trust to tell me the truth.

“You shouldn’t turn your phone off.”

I jolt, a scream ripping from my throat as I swerve towards the side of the road. The car flies down a slight embankment, luckily coming to a stop seconds before we hit a row of trees. I turn to the back of the car and find Marlow sitting there with a smile plastered on his face.

“What the fucking hell is wrong with you?!” I shout. “And how... Why?”

He leans forward, closing the gap between us. “Thank you would suffice.” He leans further into the front and clicks down the cigarette lighter before squeezing his large body into the front seat, ass sideways in the air.

“Getting out would have been easier, and thank you for what?”

Ass firmly planted in the passenger seat, he turns to face me. “It would have been easier, but you would have driven away. Also, you’re thanking me for coming instead of Laughn.”

“How did you find me? I turned my phone off.”

“Which would have been fine if I wasn’t notified when that happens, and the tracker still works when your phone is off.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“Motherfuckers,” I growl out, hitting the wheel.

Marlow ignores me and uses the car lighter to light his joint.

“I draw the line at mothers. I’m not a good role model for any kid,” he says, waving the joint in the air, filling the car with smoke. “If you prefer, I could have told Boston, but figured I would see what you were up to myself. I can’t wait to tell Laughn where you were.”

“Please don’t. I convinced Summer to meet when she asked me to talk sense into Laughn, so her friends were safe. I just wanted to assure her I would talk to him.”

“And what did she have to say?” He eyes me sceptically and I thank my lucky stars it isn’t Davis sitting here—if he really is a human lie detector.

“Not much actually... Khale wasn’t impressed to meet me. Summer may have mentioned Laughn is a lot scarier than I thought.”

“And did that scare you?”

Now it’s my turn to shrug. He doesn’t scare me, and I know that is stupid because he clearly should.

“No,” I answer honestly.

“Stupid mistake, Jolie. We should all scare you. Have you ever walked down a dark street and in the pit of your stomach there is a nagging feeling of dread?”

I nod. As a woman I know that feeling well.

“You would be best to remember that fear. Except we are not monsters that linger in the shadows or hide in the dark. We are the kind that walk one step ahead of you, giving you a false sense of security, and just when you think you’re safe, we simply turn around and you will realise you made a huge mistake... that you should have run when you had a chance.”

“Better the monsters you can see—at least you have a chance to turn around and run away.”

“That’s one way to look at it. I need to get back before they realise I’m gone,” he says, opening the car door and sliding out. “And Jolie”—he leans back into the car—“stay the fuck away from Team Rampage. Laughn will skin them alive and use them as rugs. Just because Summer is small and cute, it doesn’t mean her guys are not lethal, and with the threat of Laughn hanging over them, they could have done something stupid. Don’t poke your nose where it doesn’t belong.” With that, he winks and walks away.

I watch him in the rear-view mirror until he disappears, heading back to god knows where, leaving me and this car still stuck down the embankment. This shit keeps getting weirder and weirder. I think it’s time I find myself some tracking devices—maybe they will lead me to Trace. I don’t care what Summer says, Trace is my best friend until he tells me otherwise. With this new information, I plan to get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all.