I shook my head, numb. “N-no. No. I caught my heel and tripped...” I waved a hand at the drain grate which was now stained red with my attacker’s blood. “He just came out of nowhere. What the fuck just happened, Beck?”
His face tightened, the skin around his eyes pinching as he cringed. “Please don’t, baby. Please don’t shut me out again. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.” He wrapped his arms back around me, hugging me tight to his chest. His heart was thundering, and the way he stroked my hair it seemed like he was shaking a little.
I frowned, confused, then it clicked. I’d called him Beck again, and he’d taken it as a sign that our earlier progress was ruined.
“Hey.” I pushed back from him just far enough that he could see my face, see the sincerity in my eyes. “Sebastian. I’m fine, I promise. That scared the shit out of me, no joke. But it’s pretty far from the worst that’s happened in the last few months, you know?”
He looked unconvinced, but Dylan arrived then and it was suddenly all business again.
“Did he say anything to you?” Dylan asked, after he’d checked behind every car, pillar, and shadow in the whole damn parking garage. “Anything at all?”
I shook my head, hugging my knees as I remained on the steps where Beck had put me. “Nothing at all. Just popped up out of nowhere and started swinging his knife.”
Dylan and Beck exchanged a look. “He was trying to be quiet,” Beck said gruffly. “A gunshot would have alerted us. He was no amateur.”
Dylan shook his head. “They’re getting bolder. They really want Riley out of the way, but I can’t figure out why.”
I eyed Beck closely. “So Katelyn can have Beck. It’s the only explanation.”
Huntley was desperate to secure their second vote.
Beck looked extra pissed and disgusted then. “I’ve called the cleanup crew,” Dylan advised, distracting us. “I’ll wait here until they arrive. You two should get to school.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Just ... go to school after someone tried to murder me?”
Beck nodded. “He’s right. If Katelyn had anything to do with this, we want to see her reaction when you turn up alive and well.”
I gaped at him. “But what if one of you guys were the intended victim?” I changed my story. “It was your car he was hiding beside.” I might have just been the unlucky one to come out first.
“True, but considering all the threats sent to Delta recently have been centered around you, it’s a pretty safe guess that this was an attack on you.” Dylan shrugged like it was so fucking common to get death threats—or attempts.
“Wait, what?” I blurted, “All the threats? There have been more than one? What the Hell, Sebastian? You told me about one!”
Dylan grinned at us both. “Sounds like you two are back on good terms,Sebastian.” He dodged just in time to avoid the punch Beck was about to deliver to his midsection, and backed up a few steps—still smirking. “Go on, I’ve got this handled here. You two sniff around Ducis and see if any blondes are acting suspicious.”
Without really giving me any opportunity to delay further, Beck did a quick check of his car, and then had me bundled into it and out on the road in no time. The short drive to Ducis Academy gave me just enough time to reel at what my life had become. It wasn’t even nine in the morning and already I’d fought off a drug hangover, seen a totally naked, totally gorgeous man coming out of my shower, had a coffee, been almost murdered, and seen a guy shot.
“Fuck,” I swore as Beck parked in front of the Academy. “I forgot to do my English assignment.”
Beck just shot me a puzzled glance, and I burst out in borderline hysterical laughter.
Someone had justtried to kill meand I was worried about my English assignment.
Yep, another one on the list for my future therapist.
26
School passed uneventfully again. Katelyn didn’t seem to register any shock at seeing me alive so she was either the best actress in the world, or innocent—in this case.
I did, however, get called in to a meeting with the academy guidance counselor just before the end of the day.
“You’re failing,” she told me, when I sat down in front of her.
I blinked a few times while this sunk in. “Sorry, what?”
“You’re failing,” she repeated, slower this time, like I was an idiot.
“How?” I demanded. “I know I’ve missed a couple of assignments and taken some time off but you don’t understand everything that’s—”
