Page 27

Claire

Now

“It came from the parking lot,” Declan says, as we fly through the closet door, no longer caring if Randy sees us.

I follow him in that direction. The first thing I notice when I reach it is our rental cars, the only two vehicles in the parking lot aside from Randy’s old pickup truck.

My sight lands upon the tires, limp and useless.

It’s clear, even from where I stand in the doorway, that they’ve been slashed.

Randy’s truck, however, remains in its usual substandard condition.

“Kyan!”

Declan’s shout cuts through my thoughts, and I look at what he’s running towards.

When I see it, my breath lodges in my throat.

Kyan is lying face down on the gravel, legs splayed, unmoving.

A sheath of red flows outwards from his body.

And then I notice the slash in the back of his shirt, the perfect size for a blade to puncture.

Footsteps erupt behind me, but I can’t tear my eyes from Kyan’s prone form on the ground.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Ellery yells.

When I finally turn around, I see the others have all joined. Josh, Adrien, and Ellery, with Randy slinking through the door behind them.

“Call an ambulance!” Declan yells from where he’s knelt beside Kyan, his hands pressed against his wound. I fumble for my phone, but Adrien’s already holding hers to her ear, her hands shaking.

Through the chaos, one thought emerges. A suspicion I hadn’t dared to truly indulge before now.

Someone is picking us off one by one.