Page 90 of The Love Interest

Oh no.

I… I… I’m so sorry, Caden. I was checking in and I heard everything. I know what you’re doing.

I take a step away from Dyl. My entire body goes slack.No no no.The knife feels cold in my hands. Dyl’s eyes are searching my face.

Kaylee, please…

The Stalker is on its way. I’m so sorry, Caden. Goodbye.

PARTTHREE

PROTAGONIST

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

“What is it?” asks Dyl. He’s leaning against the railing, holding his hair away from the lump where his tracker was inserted. “Why’d you stop?”

My heart is racing and my head feels fuzzy, like everything around me is crashing down. A sound like cymbals being smashed rings in my ears. I press my hands to my temples, trying to make everything shut up for a second so that I can figure out what to do.

I lower my hands. “It’s Kaylee. She knows.”

He turns around and kicks the railing. He moves his foot back and kicks it again.

“That means Judy knows as well; Kaylee would’ve told her.”

“It doesn’t change anything, Dyl.”

But that’s not true. This changes everything. This means there’s no going back for me. This means I’m risking my life for the guy who tricked me into falling in love with him.

Even though I know this, it doesn’t feel so bad, because looking at him now, knowing what he’s done, I’ll still do anything to save him. I’m probably the biggest idiot on the planet, but I can’t turn off my affection for him, even though he has no affection for me.

Oh wow, he has no affection for me.

Still, I’m not going to let the LIC kill him.

But just:ow.

He moves back into position and tilts his head to the side. “You’re right. Just do it.”

I reposition the blade, right beside the bump. I push the blade in, and Dyl screams and shoves me with both hands. I take a few steps backward. Blood is spurting from the wound, running down his face onto his jacket.

He takes in a deep breath that fills his chest, then he gets back into position. “So the Stalker is coming?”

“Yep.”

He scrunches up the material of his pants. “Then we need to hurry. Just do it. Come on, man, do it!”

A jagged red slash sits above his forehead. I step forward and peer closer. Peeking out through the slash are a few tiny red wires. I move my fingers up and go to grab the wires, pulling gently. Dyl roars, baring all his teeth.

“Stop!” he cries, shoving me in the chest again. I step away, raising my hands. He’s shaking. “I felt it, Caden, I felt it in my brain. It’s connected or something. You can’t take it out. You can’t. If you pull you’ll scramble me.” His eyes fill with tears. “I’ll die.”

Half of his face is covered in blood. It needs to be done, but I don’t want to hurt him any more, so I step backward.

I start unbuttoning my shirt. “Then we’re going to have to trust the LIC.”

“What are you doing?”