“Kill Ben,” she said and I pulled back and looked down at her questioningly. She wouldn’t look up at me, just kept messing with the food on her plate.
“This isn’t like you,” I said.
“You told me to use you,” she countered.
“I did.” Of course I did. I wanted that.
“Kill Ben, Caspian. Kill him for your mate, yeah?”
“I just want to make sure this is really what you want.”
“We’re in trouble. Look around,” she mumbled. I looked around the room and saw everyone was watching us. My eyes narrowed as I swept them around the room.
Something was going on here.
Ben walked into the building and spied us. He had pale orange hair, including a mustache that he wore pointed at the tips. He even had a vest. He looked like one of those guys in folk-rock bands. I hated folk-rock guys.
I tossed a grape in my mouth and thought about how to kill him.
“You need to kill him,” Ava said. “This whole place is bad and he’s the leader. I keep saying kill him but no one wants to listen to me. I’ve seen a crowd like this before and it didn’t end well.” What did she mean by that?
“I’m listening to you,” I said in confusion.
“Caspian, you wanted to use a phone?” Ben asked as he stepped up to our table. I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled Ava in closer to me. Ava thought he was a threat and I would happily destroy our enemies.
“Do it,” Ava said in my ear and I nodded. I kissed the top of her head then turned to Brandon on the other side of me. I slid my hand around the back of his neck. His eyes widened as I brought my mouth to his ear.
“Take her back to the cabin. Get ready to leave quickly,” I whispered. When I pulled back his face was red but he nodded. I let go of him and he rubbed the back of his neck where I’d touched.
“Yes, thank you,” I said, smiling wide at Ben as I stood up. He looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. I’d use the phone first, then kill him quietly. My tongue rolled over blunt teeth. I’d bite his throat out before he had the chance to scream.
We left the dining hall and began to walk towards a large cabin across the field.
“So Caspian, that’s an interesting name. You have an accent too. Where are you from?”
“Virginia,” I said sarcastically. Ben laughed loudly like I told the best joke over. Fucking gag me.
“I’ll be honest, I know you’re from Spain. You’re famous after all, aren’t you? Are your people originally from Spain?” When I said nothing he continued on.
“You’re a singer, right?”
“Sounds like you already know everything,” I sighed, looking around the place. There was no one walking around. Which meant I didn’t have to separate him, he was already separating himself. Ben knew a lot but he didn’t know everything. For instance, that the lead singer of Nix was a monster who wanted to rip his throat out.
“You like swimming, Caspian?” He asked and I gave him my attention again.
“Why would you say that?”
“Well, you look like a swimmer,” he said, his eyes briefly flicking over my body.
“Yes, I like swimming,” I responded blankly, tugging at the too-small shirt he let me borrow yesterday. We kept moving across the camp, further away from the dining hall. The big cabin definitely seemed like where he was taking me. That was good. A big building made it easier to hide things. I’d stow his body away somewhere to give us time to get out of here before someone noticed.
We moved up the wooden steps and when he pulled the screen door open for me it creaked loudly.
“Beauty before age,” Ben said with a chuckle, waving me in before him. The look I gave him was scathing as I moved into the cabin and looked around. This appeared to be an office. We were in a big open room with desks.
Ben came into the room behind me, pressing his hand to my back. My lip jerked in agitation as he pointed further into the building.
“Look, there’s a phone on the desk you can use.”
