“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does—”
“Go!” He shoves me. Not hard, but enough to make me stumble. “Get the fuck out of here before he comes back!”
Thea grabs my arm, pulls me backward. “Lex, we have to go.”
Axel is staring at me, his face twisted with fear, rage, and desperation.
“Pretend you don’t know me,” he says again, quieter this time. He’s pleading. “Please.”
Then he turns and runs. Disappears into the dark.
I stand there, frozen, until Thea drags me away.
We don’t talk on the walk back. Don’t say a word until we’re inside my dorm, door locked, lights off.
I sit on the floor, back against the bed, and finally let myself break.
Thea sits beside me, wraps an arm around my shoulders, and doesn’t say anything.
Because what is there to say?
My brother is in trouble. Deep, dangerous, life-threatening trouble.
And I have no idea how to save him.
But I’m going to try.
5
Koa
I’m around the brick corner, hood up, breath small in the cold air.
Not waiting. Watching.
From here, I can count heartbeats at thirty feet. Can see the tremor in someone’s hands before they know they’re shaking.
The girls come out from the darkness. Both in hoodies, dark hair. One is terrified and the other furious. They thought they were invisible. They’re not.
Axel is still on the ground, blood dripping from his nose onto the concrete. He’s trying to push himself up, failing. His hands slip in his own blood.
Oxy materializes beside me, silent as smoke. He jerks his chin toward the girls. “They saw.”
“They sure did.”
“We should—”
My hand clamps down on his sleeve. Small. Authoritative. “No. I want to see the family drama unfold.”
Oxy hates chaos. Hates disruptions to the order. But he knows better than to question me twice.
I watch the furious one step toward Axel. She looks tall, hoodie hanging loose, hands tucked in pockets. But her posture is wrong for someone scared for her brother. Her shoulders are back. Her jaw is set.
She moves toward Axel, and I can see her mouth moving, can’t hear the words but I can read the shape of them.What the fuck…
Axel sees her. His face goes white. Even from here, I can see the panic.
