Problem handled. He was so fucking good at this. A natural born leader, like his dad. Not someone who was going to wind up dead in the back of a red pick-up truck. He turned to walk away.
“Ellis?” Ana’s voice stopped him in his tracks. Weren’t they done here?
“What?” He was impatient and didn’t bother to hide it.
“Who dies first?” Ana looked at him directly for the first time. Therethey were…Danny’s eyes. Ellis almost flinched. Almost. “In your plan. Who crosses the line first?”
Who was she?He was getting a bad feeling about her. Danny was something—everything. People had loved him—no one more than Ellis. Maybe the twin was more like her brother than he’d thought.
He needed to end this. No more wasting precious time. He’d been watching everyone from the moment the bus exploded. It was a useful skill—sizing up the opposing team. Ana had given her weakness away at the pool last night.
“I think you know the answer to that.” He looked pointedly towards Alex and Caden’s retreating backs. “We’re playing the Balloon Game after all, aren’t we? A morality game. Who’s the guiltiest? Who most deserves to die?”
Ana followed his stare; her face dropped, eyes widened. For the first time, Ellis could read her expression clearly. Fear. He had her.
“That’s right.” Ellis’s voice was matter of fact. “When it comes to guilt, we have our first two volunteers. Caden got Hunt stoned off his face before he killed himself.Guilty.As for Alex—we all know why he’s here, don’t we? We all know what happened a year ago.Guilty.It’s a pity, I like the guy.”
Ellis turned to face the pool. A thin line of smoke had appeared. Raya must have lit the fire already. His eyes narrowed.
“As for whodeservesto die…well, let’s see. Anyone who has attempted suicide in the past would be bumped right to the top of that list. I mean, clearly, they don’t value their life if they’ve tried to kill themself before. Tragic, really.”
Ana had been warned. He could tell from the shocked expression on her face that she understood his message very well.Challenge me and I will hurt the people you love. I will see to it that Alex and Raya cross the line.He hadn’t wanted to play hardball, but she’d pushed.
“Now, forgive me if I stop wasting what little time we have left,” he said, turning his back on her. He walked away; relief coursed through him. That had been harder than he’d thought. He hadn’t gone ten paces when her voice stopped him again.
“I have a name, you know.”
Slowly, he turned. There was something in her tone that set off his alarm bells. She was standing still, head dropped, eyes locked on him. There it was again. Danny. He could see it. As if he was standing in front of him. Danny, the rock star, the hero. His Danny.
The little mouse was gone.
“It’s Ana,” she said, her voice low and dangerously calm. “My name is Ana. You’ll want to remember that.”
With that, she turned her back to him and walked away.
Ellis watched her go. He tried to smile, but there was a new feeling in the pit of his stomach, fluttery, nervous. They’d played their cards. Shown their hands. He’d pushed. She’d pushed back. He was going to have to be careful. Very, very careful. He had a possible challenger. Ana Reyes was the unknown factor. This was about to get interesting.
Well, fine. Ellis could do interesting. He was his father’s son.
Game on, little mouse. Game on.
18
Ana
31:06
There were two dusty bottles of water and an expired Twix bar in Ana’s mini-fridge. Score!
She dropped the bottles into the heavy crate next to her. It was already loaded with random drinks, snacks, and out-of-date sodas she’d collected from other rooms. She was stocking the bus shelter—who knew how long they’d be stuck there for.
Carefully, guiltily, she ripped open the Twix wrapper. There was no point in saving it—it would just disintegrate in the heat, she rationalized.
Holding the chocolate close to her face, she breathed in the intoxicating, sugary scent. How many hours had it been since she’d eaten? Too many—that was for sure. She reached out the tip of her tongue and gently, oh so gently, licked the already melting chocolate. This was as close to heaven as she was going to get today—hopefully.
A shuffle behind made her jump.
Alex was standing in the doorway, his arms full of a random collection of pink bedding and pillows. He grinned. Ana blushed.
