Justin watches me through the screen for a moment.
“I want to see all A’s on that report card,” he continues as I try not to imagine all the reasons he might be seeking Saffron Banks. That is, the one main reason he might be seeking her: to kill her. I know that as surely as I know that Parrish loves me, that I love him, that I would die to protect Maxine. These are all givens. “If you please me, I’ll allow you to not only speak to Maxine, but to see her in person. Would you like that, my sweet princess?”
“You’re sick, you know that?” I snap back, unable to control myself, but Justin just raises his dark brows at me.
“Is that any way to speak to your father?” he chastises, making a tsk-tsk sound under his breath. “Reconsider your actions or I might reconsider mine.”
He hangs up on me, and I very nearly chuck my phone into the pool, stopping myself at the last minute and gritting my teeth. I slap the phone lightly against my forehead in frustration before standing up and putting it back in my pocket.
Maxx is waiting for me as soon as I step out of the door.
“Maxine?” he queries, and I sigh.
“She’s safe. She went to Justin looking for me,” I choke out, and X cringes. He feels as responsible for my sister as I do. “Apparently, if I ace all my exams, I get to see her on Saturday.” I swing my fist in a sarcastic sort of way, and then sigh. “He promised she would remain safe until then. But like, what if she decides to leave? Will he restrain her? Tie her to a chair? Start cutting her?”
“I’m assuming it’s implied that he’ll kill her if we piss him off?” Maxx asks, and I press my lips together in a grim line. I imagine that if I tried to alert the authorities—even if I went up to Itsumi, the FBI queen, and whispered in her ear—Maxine would die. I don’t know where, exactly, it is that she’s staying. It’s the same issue that I experienced with Parrish: if I tell the authorities what’s going on, Justin will kill Maxine before they can get to her.
That, and I’m certain that he’s covered his tracks so well that an investigation would take months, if not longer. Maybe he’d never even be indicted? God, what then? He’d kill us all.
“Everything okay?” Parrish asks, and I shiver all over at the sound of his voice. Maxx glances back as he moves to join us with Chasm in tow.
“Maxine is safe—for now.” I look past Parrish at Chasm. “He said if I can ace all of my final exams, he’ll let me see her in person.”
Chasm grits his teeth.
“Ace all of your exams?” he says, and then lets out a low whistle. “That’s a tough order, Little Sister.”
“We can try, right? If we start studying now?”
Chasm looks at me, but I’m not sure I like the expression on his face.
“Maybe …” he starts as Parrish frowns heavily.
“Final exams …” he begins, and then he turns and pads back into the kitchen. The three of us exchange looks and then trail after him. “Mom, I want to go to school on Monday.”
Tess stops what she’s doing—fiddling with the twins’ iPad—to look up at him.
“School?” she chokes out, like that’s the craziest statement she’s ever heard. “Absolutely not. You just came home, Parrish. You’ve been missing for weeks. I’ve already spoken to the headmistress, and she’s agreed to allow you to attend a summer program to make up for the time you’ve missed.”
“I can pass my exams. I was already ahead when I left. I know I can do this.”
Tess is already shaking her head, passing the iPad back to the twins as she stands up from her chair.
“You’re trying to jump back into life too fast. You need time to rest and recover, Parrish.”
He narrows his eyes at her as we watch the battle of wills unfold.
“Why send me to summer school when I can finish the year properly? If you think about it, I’m safer at Whitehall than I am here.” Parrish throws his hand out, indicating the Vanguard house and Tess’ face pales. She looks over at Paul, but his lips are pursed into a thin line. He, too, rises from his chair.
“We understand that you’re upset, Parrish. It isn’t fair for you to miss out on the end of your junior year—”
“I don’t have to miss out. I can take my exams; I can pass them.” He lifts his chin up and inhales deeply. “Also, I’d like to go to prom.”
Tess and Paul exchange yet another look before turning back to him.
“Honey,” she starts, but Parrish is already shaking his head.
“I’ve already missed out on enough. Don’t make me miss out on even more.” He hooks his thumb at me. “I don’t have time to get a date, but I can take Dakota.”
