aide

e heavy, suffocating silence that had settled over me in the parking lot. I sat in the corn

. Her thumb scrolled with aggressive speed, her perfectly

ed, turning the phone towa

parasitic vine. They were at some brunch, smiling that practiced, plastic smile of the

lled that long ago-but the humiliation burned. Fawn was marking her

celyn said, her voice dripping with venom. "And I DM'd her asking

ce sounding hollow even to my

softened when they met mine. "Nobody messes with my

on prickling my skin. *If she knew who I really

nd my neck, the fabric feeling too tight,

ss the table, her fingers hovering near m

ate. She had seen it. The dark, violet bruise Damien

heart hammering against my rib

leaned in, her expression a mix of shock and dark curiosity. "That's a bit

my face. "Gra

irk tugging at her lips now. "H

ave no

spered, looking down at my l

early intrigued. "Older? Like,

hed, the lie ta

, her phone buzzed on the table. The sc

lyn's posture straightened, her face losing all tr

er tone respectful, b

e air around us seemed to drop a few degrees. Gra

, though her protest was weak. A pause. She s

r features. "Change of plans. We're skipping class

hy

he Don, you don't ask 'why

east, the engine purring with a lethal power that terrified me. The interior smelled of

dio, when the central console screen lit up. My phone ha

stretched across the h

Andrew

, Adelaide. Come ho

on the steering wheel tightened until my knuckles turned

ust. "God, he is relentless. 'You belong here'? Th

ou have that mystery man of yours. Whoever he is, if he left a mark like

fe. She thought my "mystery man" was my savior. She didn't realize

nto the highway that led strai