There doesn’t appear to be a basement to this house or anything else that might have stone walls and bottles of wine lined up in careful order on wooden racks. We search the house together, and then Maxx scouts the yard while I watch from a window, so as not to violate the specifics of the Slayer’s order. He moves back inside just in time for Chasm to show up.
He’s got a plastic bag in one hand, a frown on his pretty lips.
“Kimber’s in the car,” he says, lifting up the bag as I move over to take it from him. Our eyes meet and my breath releases in a rush. There’s so much tension between us, it feels like the world might snap on the fine, thin length of that garrote. “We grabbed a coffee and headed straight to the pet store; I told her Maxx was bringing home a bunny.”
“I’m assuming she doesn’t know what, exactly, it is that you purchased in that store,” Maxx offers dryly, leaning one elbow against the counter, his body slouched comfortably against it. All around us is a sea of chaos, pillows strewn everywhere, closets torn apart. Chasm lets his eyes trail over it all and then looks back at me.
“Not exactly.” He exhales and releases his grip on the bag. “But I assume you’re going to make the lie right and take the damn rabbit home?”
“Tess won’t like it,” Maxx offers up, giving a loose shrug of his shoulders. “But we’ll make it work. Maybe we’ll name it Kota?”
Chas’ lips twitch as he shakes his head.
“Little Sister seems more apt,” he offers, and I give him a look.
“How about Gamer Girl?” I quip, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, the small, tiny shred of joy we’ve managed to find in the situation is gone. Everything we’re doing is for Parrish and yet, with every day, he drifts farther and farther away from us. The ache for him in my chest has gone from a gushing wound to a throbbing pulse, and I hate that. I hate that time is passing by without him, that I’m forming a new friendship with Maxx, that … whatever Chasm and I sparked before he went missing is starting to burn.
“Gamer Girl,” Chasm agrees, running both of his palms down his face. “I like that.” He drops his hands by his sides. “You’re sure about this, Little Sister?”
“I’m sure about it,” I say, squeezing the handle of the bag and doing my best to distance myself from the dead thing contained inside of it. If I’m wrong, Parrish will be as still and quiet as this rabbit. But I don’t think so. Regardless of who the Slayer actually is—that is, if he truly is my bio dad, a man named Justin Prior—nobody would go to lengths this great without an ulterior motive.
The ulterior motive here is very clearly me.
Killing Parrish over a technicality would destroy everything he’s worked to build with me over the past eleven days. Do I believe he really will kill Parrish if I refuse his demands or break his rules? I do. Because it means that I’m a person who can’t be directed, controlled, or modeled into whatever it is that he wants me to be.
A killer, just like him.
I ignore the thought—even though it’s undoubtedly, undeniably true—and head up the stairs.
Maxx follows me up, getting far too close to me as I approach the cage.
“This is a lot for me, I’ll admit,” he says, his voice low and tense. “For me to trust you like this.”
I turn to look at him, but I don’t know how to respond to that.
“Maxine trusts me, isn’t that enough?” I ask, redirecting his focus back to my sister. To his girlfriend. He waits for a moment and then shakes his head slightly.
“I’m choosing to trust you for you, not because of Maxine,” he admits, and then he takes the bag with the frozen rabbit out of my hand. “Take the bunny and go, I’ve got this.”
I scoop her up in my arms, deciding that we really will call her GG for now—short for Gamer Girl—and worry about Tess’ reaction later.
I wait at the bottom of the stairs, watching out the open door as Chasm turns his car around and takes off down the gravel road that leads to the street. I don’t dare step a foot outside of that cabin until Maxx rejoins me.
“It’s done,” he promises, and I exhale, moving out into the rain and rushing over to the Jeep. He’s right behind me, reaching past me to open the door. I don’t look at or acknowledge him as I climb in. Our world is already messy and broken enough.
Whatever is going on between us is impossible and not worthy of putting words to.
