Pandora won’t know what hit her.
3
PANDORA
The tunnels are dimly lit, and judging by the supplies along the walls, they’re mostly used for maintenance workers.
“This is pretty neat,” I say, peering into the long corridor. “This takes you all the way to your frat house? What about my dorm?”
Blaze squeezes my shoulder. “Your dorm is connected. For the frat, we’ll have to get out at the closest building. None of the frat or sorority houses are connected.”
I wonder if that’s true, but if he’s lying, I can’t tell. Blaze does know how to be smooth when he wants. “Good to know.”
“Stick close,” Blaze says. “You don’t want to get lost down here.”
Asch smiles at me, though there’s something off about it. “Some of the signs are a little worn, so it can be easy to get off track. But don’t worry. We know all the ways around.”
“Good thing you’re here to guide me,” I say, suppressing the urge to giggle.
It’s all a bit obvious.
If there’s one thing Daddy and Uncle Slayer taught me, it’s to never go down dark alleys without an exit plan.
Papa’s suggestion was to stab people in dark alleys, which is basically the same thing.
I reach into my jeans pocket and clutch my lucky charm. My body temperature warms it up, like it’s a living thing. The butterflies in my stomach settle.
I’m ready for whatever they’re going to throw at me.
Hell, I’m looking forward to it.
We’ve gone about three turns when Blaze suddenly stops.
“What up?” I ask, glazing around. The lighting is especially bad here, with a single lightbulb a few feet away illuminating the hall. I cast around for a light switch, but I don’t see anything.
“You’re really trusting, aren’t you, Pandora?” Blaze says.
I reach up to cover my mouth so I don’t accidentally laugh. “Because I followed you down into a dark tunnel?”
“There is that,” Asch says, and he takes a step behind me so that Blaze is in front of me and Asch is out of my field of vision. “It’s probably a good thing you carry a knife everywhere you go, isn’t it? Otherwise, some sick bastards might get ideas about what they could do to you.”
“Yeah. And since you know that, you should be aware that I will fight back.” I reach for my knife and consider what to do here.
Stabbing them is easy. They helpfully brought me down here into these dark tunnels with no witnesses, and I know I can cover my tracks.
That would make one hell of a headline.Two frat douchebags murdered in university tunnels!
Part of me craves it. The blood, the violence. I could make these two suffer and decorate these walls with red.
A beautiful, vibrant design that will leave people puzzled about the artistic merit and meaning.
The thing inside my chest scratches the undersides of my ribs, urging me to go through with it.
But Rachel’s killer is still out there.
I can’t afford to lose my mostcredible lead.
Guess that means Blaze gets to live another day.
