Page 86 of Our Darkest Summer

Kinsley barely nodded, her thoughts still elsewhere. It wasn’t until we settled into the car that she moved with purpose again. She slipped something from her pocket, holding it up between her fingers.

A ring. Gold band and green stone in the center. Emerald.

My mother’s.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kinsley

“I don’t thinkAva took it,” I said, turning the ring between my fingers before handing it to Connor. The emerald stone caught the kitchen light, gleaming against the gold band.

“Kins is right,” he agreed, rolling the ring between his fingers. Thomas cocked his head from where he was standing at the stove, stirring a pot of pasta. The scent of garlic, butter, and herbs filled the kitchen, warm and comforting—so opposite of the thoughts spiraling in my head.

“Let’s say you possess a ring for almost twelve years,” Connor continued, “then, on the exact same day the ring’s owner’s family comes to your house, you justhappento leave it out where they can easily find it? I’m not the genius here, but that stings even for me.”

“I’m with them on this one, man,” Kevin agreed, slouching against the counter. Thomas exhaled, his brows slightly furrowed.

“Don’t let your emotions influence your judgment,” I repeated what he told me earlier. His expression remained unreadable, but from the way his grip tightened on the wooden spoon, his gaze flickering, I could tell he was arguing with himself.

“Okay,” he finally said, glancing at me. “So, hypothetically. You think someone planted it there?”

I nodded, tapping my fingers on the counter. “I thought about it being the same person who broke in here, but… I didn’t see the ring there when we walked inside. And believe me, I looked around.”

There were eight people in that house besides Ava Lee.

Connor frowned. “So you think one of us…themput it there?”

I didn’t want to admit it, but more and more things were pointing in that direction.

“We already talked about a two-person team. Maybe someone older, who was an adult in 2009, and someone from… The Mystery Crew.”

“That reminds me,” Kevin shifted uncomfortably, “I was thinking about yesterday… you remember in the library when we joked about Bo… being there?” He didn’t say Marley’s name, but we all knew what he meant.

A strange unease settled over the room.

We nodded, and Kevin wet his lips. “Well, later, I might have told the others about your phobia…” He hesitated, following the lines of his tattoos with his fingertip. “They asked, and I didn’t really know what to say, and… I think it’s my fault that Marley’s dead.”

The wooden spoon in Thomas’ hand scraped against the bottom of the pan, harder than necessary. The muscles in his forearm flexed as he stirred the sauce, but he didn’t say anything.

I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting. It wasn’t just the thought of everyone knowing about my ornithophobia. It was because Kevin had just confirmed what had been gnawing at me since yesterday. Leaving the parrot in my bed couldn’t have beenrandom. But until now, the only people who knew about my phobia had nothing to gain from using it.

My mom was out of the picture. Kevin wouldn’t have hurt his own pet. He was obsessed with that parrot. Thomas and Connor?No.

But now, four more names had been added to that list…

I pressed my lips together, my thoughts spiraling. Could any of them actually do this? Would they? The idea felt impossible, ridiculous even, but so had everything else that had happened.

I thought about Aaliyah’s wide-eyed horror when she heard what happened. About Samantha and Cora’s quiet concern. Even Braxton, who joked about everything, had seemed genuinely shaken.

None of them made sense. And yet, someone had known.

I stretched my fingers. Maybe there was another explanation and I was just overthinking it. Letting paranoia creep in. Maybe someone else overheard them talking. But what about the ring? There were too many coincidences.

You’re next.

The words slashed through my mind, sharp and unforgiving. No matter how much I tried to reason it away, the facts stayed the same. What started as seemingly harmless threats had twisted into something more.

A life-or-death game.And I had no idea who else was playing, or who was controlling the pieces.