Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
His door is open, and when I look inside, I’m surprised he’s not there.
It’s nine p.m. Did Ivy not show up like she was told?
Or did he already finish toying with her?
“Where is she?”
“Gone.” He pops out of the room where we keep all our weapons.
I frown. “Gone as in …?”
He raises a brow. “I let her off the hook. Don’t start insinuating things. I’m insane, not stupid.”
Good. I was almost starting to worry I might have even more on my hands.
A kill outside campus, that I can solve.
A kill on campus? Under Dean Rivera’s nose? No way that’ll slip by him.
“What’d you do with her?”
“Everything I fucking wanted and then some,” he growls, a wicked glimmer in his eyes. “But I’m not nearly done yet.”
“Who the fuck are you talking about?” Mavis asks, pushing herself off the wall.
“The thief,” Silas says.
“Wait, it’s a her?” She approaches us. “Holy shit.”
“We’re making her pay for stealing from us.”
“How?”
Silas tilts his head, a smug grin slowly spreading on his face. “I have my ways.”
She scowls. “Ew.”
“Her saliva’s still on my floor,” Silas hisses.
Mavis clenches her eyes like she can’t even look at him without wanting to vomit. “Don’t give me the gross details I didn’t ask for. Do whatever the fuck you want, but keep me out of it.”
I laugh at their banter. “What were you doing in the weapons room?” I ask Silas. “Overthinking your sins?”
“Shopping.”
“Shopping for what?” Mavis asks.
He ignores her and pulls his phone from his pocket. “Mom called. Apparently, we were supposed to be there tonight for dinner with the whole family. She sounded pretty pissed we weren’t there.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh shit. I forgot.” She immediately runs down a flight of stairs.
“Ugh,” I grumble.
“Upset you can’t have another fucking date night with my sister?” Silas growls.
“That’s not—no.”
God, I fucking hate when he brings that up.
“That was once. Once. And I’m over it. Forever.”
He crosses his arms, smiling smugly. “Oh really?”
“We have a far more interesting plaything,” I say, grinning.
A spark of rage flashes through his eyes. “I already fucked with her.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t, too,” I retort.
“Whatever.” He shrugs. “I’m off. Mom and Dad are probably gonna kill me.”
“Is that why you were looking at the weapons? To defend yourself when they come for you?” I joke.
“No.” He sucks in a breath. “Because I need a release after tonight. Are you with me?” he asks.
I nod, licking my lips at the prospect. “Fucking bet on it.”
“I’ll call you when I’m done.” He grins at me as he passes by. “Bring the machete.”
CHAPTER 18
Silas
“Finally, I cooked this new recipe, and none of y’all had the balls to actually show up!” Mom throws the leftover sludge she “baked” in the oven on the dinner table, the rancid smell nearly making me throw up on the spot.
“Mom …” Xavier begins.
“No, I want none of it! I tried my best, okay? At least you could’ve tried it. Did any of you even remember we had a date planned?”
She looks at Xavier, Aspen, Melody, Mavis, and me like we’re her long-lost children she hasn’t seen in years even though it’s been maybe two weeks tops.
“Sorry, Mom,” Aspen says. “It just … slipped my mind.” She adds a chuckle for good measure.
“I don’t think any of us did it on purpose.” Mavis smiles.
Mom throws her purple hair over her shoulder and tilts her head. “Really?”
“Penelope, please give those kids a break. They’re doing their best at school,” Alistair, one of my mom’s boyfriends, says as he walks in with tousled hair and a certain swagger in his step. His knuckles and the sides of his hands are still covered in pencil streaks from all the drawing he’s done today for his comic book.
He's not my dad, but my mom decided to raise us half siblings together. Only Mavis is my actual sister.
“Dad, don’t go easy on them,” Melody jests, poking me with her elbow.
If she wasn’t already fragile enough, I would’ve thrown her halfway across the room.
“We’re here now, aren’t we?” I say, folding my arms.
Mom stares at me, incensed. “True, but that doesn’t excuse—”
“Who wants to make the biggest fucking pyre in the yard this world has ever seen?” Dylan, my mom’s other boyfriend, yells as he walks into the kitchen through the back door in the kitchen, wearing only flip-flops and a pair of Havana shorts, oblivious to her rage.
Mom merely stands there, flabbergasted he’d even try to upend her.
“Me!” Aspen quickly yells, bolting to the door.
Right as she passes Dylan, he pats her on the back. “That’s my girl.”
“Really, Dylan? Fucking really?” My mom’s eyebrows begin to twitch.
“What?” Dylan shrugs. “I bought all this wood. It would be a shame if we didn’t use it.”
“Dylan…” Penelope grits, seething.
“Me too,” Mavis swiftly says, rushing to the back door.
“And me,” Xavier replies.
“I’m in too,” I say, definitely feeling the heat.