Corrine stares at me, eyes wide. “You—you’re—” Her hair is braided, her face painted with dramatic makeup. I wish I could say I was happy to see her, but it’s too late for that. Not here, not now. Not like this.
Her lips part, and her eyes flicker to the far corner of the dark room but then right back to me.
I follow her gaze to the corner but see nothing. Is there someone there? Is someone watching us? “What are you doing here?” I ask, head shaking. Maybe it’s a stupid question.
“Me?” Her voice cracks. “What about you?”
I bite my lip. I have unfinished business here.
“You want everything, don’t you? The powerful boyfriend and power beyond imagining. Of course you’d try to take it from the rest of us.”
My eyes widen. “Leave now,” I tell her softly. “You can still get out. You don’t have to do this.”
She sneers at me.
“This is how my sister died. Did you know that? She had a secret boyfriend too. Was yours the person who pushed you to do this?”
She bites her lip.
“Who is he? Tell me, please. Actually, I’ll walk out with you. I’ll plead and beg for information about your secret boyfriend. I won’t enter if you don’t.” And I mean it. Corrine could very well be the key to my sister’s death. Her story is so much like my sister’s. She’s been dropping hints about a powerful boyfriend. She’s been talking about becoming powerful. And now, she’s here. It’s possible her boyfriend is the same one who did this to Liz.
And even if not, he deserves punishment too for what he’s done to her.
Corrine crosses her arms, her face showing her embarrassment for a moment, then she straightens her shoulders. “I don’t owe you anything, Candice. You don’t get to know all of my secrets. Especially since you’re keeping a ton of your own. I’d almost say I’m surprised to see you here, but Jarron saw the truth, didn’t he? He never even wanted you; he wanted your sister.”
Anger curls in my gut, but at the same time, I’m hit with pain. She’s not wrong. Maybe. I shake my head.Doesn’t matter.
Fingers snake between mine. A comforting hand. I look down but see nothing.
“You always thought you were better than us. Well, now, I’m going to prove that you’re not. Without him, you’re nothing.”
I look down at my feet, trying to keep my anger at bay.
“Corrine,” I say softly, swallowing down the shame and pain. “Can’t you understand my concern? You’ve got this secret boyfriend just like my sister did. A boyfriend who made her think she needed power. And now, you’re here, entering the Akrasia Games just like her. Do you know what they’ll make you do to earn that unimaginable power? Do you know they take bets on which one of us survives? My sister’s boyfriend may not have killed her, but he’s responsible. He did that to her. And what if it’s the same man who’s manipulating you now? They get something out of it, don’t they? Getting someone to enter? It’s a big game to them. And it’s us who pays with our lives.”
For a moment, her face is slack with shock, but she recovers quickly. “You ended up here too, so what does that mean? Maybe it wasyourboyfriend,” she spits in response. “That makes even more sense. Jarron seduced your sister—she’s the one he really wanted, you know—convinced her to do this competition so she could be worthy of him. But she wasn’t strong enough. She was weak. Just like you. And now, Jarron’s doing the same to you, and the result will be the same.”
She knows so much. How does she know so much?
I can feel the tension radiating from the warm body next to me. I squeeze Jarron’s hand.Keep calm,I mentally coach, wishing he could hear me.
“Corrine,” I say again, throat tight. “You don’t have to do this.”
Fear flickers in her eyes. “What about you? You’re here too. You’re going to—you—” She shakes her head, and a new wave of anger washes over me. Whoever did this to her, made her think she needed to do this… That person will die by my hand.
“I want to stop it,” I whisper. “I want to stop you from getting hurt. I want to stop them from hurting anyone else. And if itisJarron behind all of this? I’ll fucking gut him.”
Corrine frowns, unsure for the first time.
“I won’t let you hurt him,” she says.
“Who?”
“He’s even more powerful than Jarron. He runs this school.”
Fire burns in my chest, hot and scorching, tearing at my insides.He runs this school.
He rules supreme at Shadow Hills Academy.
