My round eyes darted to Monkey.
“Did you know?” I demanded. “When you picked this magazine, did you know this article was in it?”
She rolled her eyes and held out her hand, wanting me to pull her up. When she was on her feet, she flipped the magazine to the cover and pointed to the headline running across the top: “Reginald Hubler: The Man Who Would Be President.”
“Well, don’t I feel dumb?” I mumbled and flipped back to the article.
Monkey’s hand suddenly dipped into the front pocket of my jeans, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Hey! What are you doing?” I asked, but it was obvious when she pulled my phone out and shook it at me. “Oh. You’re right. Better call Chance and Chessie. Maybe we should join up with them.”
#
Anne
“She could freeze at the wrong time and get them both killed.” The girl with the eyes of a lioness had spoken the truth as she saw it.
She didn’t know that I was already frozen. I was nothing and no one, locked up in my mind and as lost as my voice. Willing to follow Spin’s lead—anyone’s, really—so long as I was left alone to justbe. To draw in air and let it out again, to eat and sleep, to let others make decisions and solve problems and, above all,not think.
A void.
I didn’t understand why she thought this was a problem. Insulated from the world, I was secure from harm, content in my isolation, and useless to anyone. How would that get us killed?
She was wrong, I decided. Freezing wasn’t the trouble.
No, the trouble would come when I thawed.
33. For a Reason
Kerry
Then I’ll rip his spine out. Give him plenty of time to scream—
“Hey. Wanna help me with something?”
Mira interrupted my thoughts, which were spiraling down at warp speed.
“Help you with what?” I grouched.
“I want a tattoo.” She shoved her hands in her back pockets. “Rome told me you’re an artist, so I figure you probably designed yours, which are unbelievable, by the way.”
I looked around to find someone to rescue me, but Jax and Gigi had left to send some money to Spin, who was on the phone with Rome for the second time today. It sounded like Monkey had discovered something about Mrs. Hubler.
I couldn’t have cared less. Mrs. Hubler wasn’t who I wanted to find.
“I love your style of artwork.” Mira moved to stand right in front of me. “And I’ve never seen anything like that 3-D effect.”
She’s gonna keep badgering me, isn’t she? It’s like she knows what I’m thinking and is trying to distract me.
I stared at her, but she didn’t flinch. With a sigh, I gave in and pushed up the left sleeve of my henley. The black dragon with bats flying around its head was my favorite piece. I’d spentages sketching it, and Yuri had taken the time to do it the justice it deserved.
“Yeah, I draw them, but it’s my tattoo artist who does the hard work. He uses an illusion in the inks so you can’t see the scar underneath. Plus, the tat stays perfect forever, even if your skin gets damaged again.”
“Good. That’s what I want.”
“For your arms?”
“No, for myback.” She half-glared at me, like I shoulda figured that out myself or something. “The scars on my arms I chose to do myself. I didnotchoose to have ‘slave’ carved up my spine in Diabolical!”
