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)
“I apologize, honestly,” Max says. “It won’t happen again.”
“It’d better not. Same goes for you, Miss Clark.”
“Yes, sir,” I reply, taking a deep breath.
“Take a seat,” Mr. Caruso says, still carrying that emotionless face.
Max and I walk up to some empty benches in the back and sit down, ignoring annoyed looks from other students.
I put down my books and wait until Mr. Caruso continues his lecture before I whisper to Max. “Doesn’t Silas also have this class?”
He nods. “His dad’s the dean. Silas’s attendance doesn’t matter. Only money does.”
Well shit. If only I had someone to fix my life with the snap of a finger.
“Lucky him,” I say.
“You wouldn’t say that if you’d met his mom,” he says.
“She’s really that bad, huh?” I ask.
“Not bad. More like … terrifying.”
I laugh. “Well, I can’t wait to meet her, then.”
Heath
Hours later
After my classes are over and the sun’s about to set, I head outside for a much-needed cigarette break before it’s time to grab some dinner with the boys. But when I pull the packet of cigs from my pocket, the bottle of Ketamine spills out too.
I pick them up from the ground and stare at the bottle for a moment.
Do I continue as usual? Do I slowly taper them off? Do I quit in one go?
Would I be able to live without them?
My phone buzzes, pulling me out of my thoughts. I fish it out of my other pocket to see who it is. My dealer is calling me. Odd. I’m normally the one to call him first.
“One sec, let me get somewhere safe first,” I say as I pick up.
“Sure … I got time,” he replies.
I walk across the path and go behind the second university building, where people only go to smoke and fuck in secret. “What’s up?”
“You still need more pills?” he asks. “You haven’t bought any for a while now.”
“No. I’m … slowing down.” I clear my throat.
It’s not an easy decision, but I owe it to Max. To Ivy. To myself.
“You sure? Because I have this crazy deal right now where you get a bottle of whatever you normally want, plus an additional bag of coke. How does that sound?”
I frown and run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know, man.”
“Come to the gate,” he says.
I push myself off the wall and walk across campus some more until I get closer to the gate. My dealer is right there, waiting in his car.
That’s ballsy.
“Hey,” he says, and I lower my phone.
I look around to make sure no one saw me come here before I head out the gate and approach the car. His arm is hanging out of his window, and he’s not wearing any protective gear to hide the obvious gnarly-looking scar on his face. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I was just … looking around.”
“It’s dangerous here,” I say, leaning over. “You know that.”
“Trying to spot more customers,” he adds. “You know how the business goes.” He grins. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have seen this girl, have you?” He holds up a paper with a poorly printed photo on it, but the moment those downturned lips and those striking eyes appear, it feels like the world is caving in on my fucking feet.
“She stole something that wasn’t hers to take.”
Fuck.
“What did she steal?” I ask.
His lip curls up. “A girl.”
Fuck no.
It couldn’t be …
Cora?
CHAPTER 51
Heath
I try to take a breath, but my throat feels constricted.
“No, I haven’t seen her,” I lie.
She couldn’t have … stolen Cora from someone, could she?
“Yeah, good luck with that, Ivan,” I say, tapping the car before I walk back to the gates.
“I’ll find her,” he yells after me, and I stop in my tracks. “I know she’s here.”
His car swerves around, and he races back down the mountain.
While the bottle of pills in the palm of my hand cracks.
Ivy didn’t just steal money … She stole a human being.
No wonder she didn’t want to tell us anything.
She’s not just a thief but a liar too.
And a good one at that.
She almost had me fooled.
My phone buzzes, and I check who it is. Silas.
A smile forms on my face when I read his message.
Silas: I know who’s after her.
Good.
The truth beneath the lies will always surface …
Time’s up.
Ivy
In the middle of my last class for the day, my phone suddenly buzzes. I fish it out of my pocket at the same time Max does, but it doesn’t register properly with me as I’m too busy focusing on the message appearing on my screen.
Psycho: Come to The Shack. One hour.
I frown, staring at the screen, confused as fuck.
Me: Why would I do that?
Psycho: I want to show you something. A gift.
Okay. Ominous.
Max looks up from his phone, mortified.
“What?”
He holds up his phone, showing me the exact same message about a gift meant for me. And my blood begins to run cold.