Shit.
He has a point.
Like, we all finished our exams a little early, but I’m pretty sure that sound I’m hearing now is the final bell of the day. Crap, crap, crap.
“I’ll admit: he wanted me to arrange a meeting with you anyway.” Lumen twists her hands in the fabric of her skirts again. “I figured if I got caught early, I could make up an excuse. Anyway, he wants me to get Dakota to come somewhere by herself, to meet me.”
“And then what?” Parrish prompts, but she just shakes her head.
“I don’t know, but I’ve got a really, really bad feeling about it. I’m supposed to lure her somewhere and then leave, and I … I just don’t like the sound of that.”
I crinkle up my face, glancing over at Parrish and Chasm as X steps forward to fall in line beside me.
“This guy—this blackmailer—why wouldn’t he just blackmail me to get me to go somewhere?” I wonder aloud, but then it hits me. Because he would know that I’d try to bring the boys with me. If he explicitly told me not to bring them, I’d be suspicious. I’d know something was coming. But if Lumen were able to convince me to come meet her somewhere … I mean, I’d still tell the boys, but I wonder if that was part of Justin’s experiment, to see if I would. To see if I’d sneak off to see Lumen against their wishes.
“That’s what I was wondering. So … here we are.” She spreads her hands helplessly. “I need help getting out of this. The thing that he’s blackmailing about is … it’s bad.” Lumen shivers and closes her eyes, like she can shut out the horror of whatever this ‘bad thing’ is.
We all pause at the sound of rustling nearby, and Lumen’s eyes go wide.
She turns and stumbles over to the hedges, spreading the branches to look through as Chasm does the same.
He makes a scoffing sound.
“Danyella,” he says, but when I move forward to look myself, I see that she’s already taken off and is walking quickly back toward the school.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it. She followed me.” Lumen grits her teeth and then sighs heavily. “Okay, I will deal with her. Don’t tell her anything. I want to keep her innocent in all of this.”
“Seems like she knows enough to think to follow you?” Chas adds, giving Lumen a suspicious once-over. “What the fuck did the two of you do that has you afraid enough to follow a crazy kidnapper’s orders?”
“Leave Danyella out of this,” Lumen repeats as she points at him, and then she turns to me. “I don’t know what Veronica is up to, I swear it. She’s gone off the fucking rocker, and I think it has something to do with your dad coming back into town. Her dad might seem all friendly with him now, but the Fishers have like, a whole vendetta with Justin Prior.” Lumen squats down near the hole in the hedge, and I see that she, too, knows her way around the cameras here at Whitehall. “I have to go after her, but I’ll be in touch. We can pass notes like we’re old-school. Don’t text or call or even come near me where anyone might see.”
She ducks out and disappears as Parrish scowls.
“I don’t trust her,” he says, but I’m watching the hole she just disappeared through, deep in thought.
Justin is manipulating Lumen against me. I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure. Nice to know daddy dearest only pretends to be on my side. Also, nice to know that I was right: there are opposing forces at work here, aren’t there?
“We need to go,” Parrish says, giving my outfit a harsh frown. “If Tess asks, you … spilled something on it. And be careful if you raise your arms. If she sees those cuts, we’re going to be on lockdown for the rest of the century.”
“I don’t trust that girl for shit,” Chasm says, lying on his back on Parrish’s bed and looking up at the ceiling. We should probably be studying, but I think we both just need a small break to recover from today. It was … well, let’s just say it was fucking insane.
“Why not?” I ask, turning my head to look at him. I’m lying on the bed on Chas’ left, waiting for Parrish to extricate himself from Tess’ grip and join us. “I mean, I don’t either—at least not yet. I’m just curious as to what your reasons are.”
“If she really does need to lure you somewhere,” X interrupts, pausing beside the bed and looking down at the two of us like he might still be in overprotective mode. I appreciate it, actually. That, and I find it too cute that he rushed down to the academy to Chasm’s aid. “Then this would be a smart way to do it, act like she’s learned the error of her ways.”
