I answer. "Yeah?"
"Another skater’s dead. She hasn’t been found yet. It’s the redhead, Tara."
My jaw tightens. "If she hasn’t been found yet. How do you know?"
"It’s like you don’t know me at all,” Ramsey sighs like my very existence is a burden on him. And yet, he’s always there to helpus when we need anything. “Don’t worry about how I know, just file that information away. But that’s all the girls that were there that night aside from your girl.”
My blood runs cold. "Was she killed the same way?"
"Yep, slashed throat,” Ramsey says, and I can hear that he’s eating something like he didn’t call me to describe a brutal murder.
"Fuck," I mutter, knuckles white on the wheel.
"Callum… they’re picking them off one by one. It’s a pattern." I’m glad he doesn’t say what’s obvious that Lilac is next.
I glance at Lilac, who’s still holding the daisies in her lap, eyes wide. All I can say is, "I know."
"Whoever this is? They’re escalating. Trying to send a message,” Ramsey says casually, like he’s talking about grocery shopping. I guess for someone like Ramsey, murder is a lot like something so mundane.
"And I got it. Loud and fucking clear,” I say, because I’m frustrated and annoyed by this whole thing. Keeping an eye on Lilac is not a problem for me, but I don’t want her to be in any level of danger.
"If anything feels off, you call me."
"Thanks, I will," I say, because my mind is already reeling. Tara was just with Lilac when I picked her up from practice and now she’s dead.
"And Callum? Don’t do anything stupid,” Ramsey says just before he hangs up.
Lilac’s hands tremble around the stems of the daisies, and I pull off to the side of the road and shift to face her. "Hey," I say, reaching for her. I cup her cheek, brushing her hair back. "You’re safe. I’m not letting anything happen to you."
Her eyes shine with fear. "I don’t understand why they’re doing this. We went there one time."
"We’re off campus for a little bit, so we have some time to figure out something before we head back."
She swallows hard and nods, and all I want to do in this life is to make sure this girl is happy and safe.
I pull her into my side and press a kiss to the top of her head.
She curls into me, her hand finding mine. I squeeze it and bring it to my lips.
When we settle back into our seats, Lilac leans her head on my shoulder, her fingers absently toying with the chain around my neck. Her thumb brushes over my collarbone and drifts higher until she’s tracing the ink at the front of my throat.
I swallow hard because I never talk about the scar that slices across my neck.
The skin under her fingertips is healed but is sensitive. The raised mark where my father tried to end my life before I ended him is a reminder of how strong I am. The tattoo wraps around the base of my throat in small block letters:To the Grave.
“I always wondered why you chose this phrase, but I didn’t want to pry. I hate when people pry into my things,” she says, clearly feeling comfortable to ask me now.
"Caiden and I got it together. His isn’t on his neck though. It’s a part of our pact,” I tell her, without giving her the full meaning.
She tilts her head, and she looks so fucking cute. "A pact? So… it’s secret, then? You can’t tell me what it means?"
I glance down at her, and say, "I can tell you this much, I’d go to the grave to protect you."
Her eyes lift to mine, wide and hopeful and I can’t help but blurt out, "Sometimes you look at me like you see straight into my soul, bambi."
She leans in and presses a kiss to the ink on my neck. Her lips are soft, and I want them on my own so fucking bad.
"Sometimes I feel that way too."
