Another nod.
I grin beneath my mask.
It really is starting to feel like old times.
"Gentlemen!" I shout as I step from behind the shelving and pluck the mask from my face. "Great party."
They hide the bottle and share a look.
Ghostface takes off his mask. I recognize him as Aurora's classmate. The one who brought her binder to her apartment that first week.Bailey.
"Who the fuck are you, man?" he asks. "You weren't invited."
"I've got Ghostface," Atticus says.
"But I wanted him."
Atticus pulls the skull from his face and pushes back his hood, and I think Bailey might've actually pissed himself at the expression on Daddi's face.
He tosses the skull mask and cracks his neck. "He's mine."
I shrug. "Dead is dead, I guess."
"Wait, what are you doing?" Bailey shouts as his friend backs away, but there's nowhere to run.
Atticus advances on Bailey, and I take my time stalking his pal, reveling in the smell of fear permeating the air.
"Please," he mutters through his mask, and I think it might be cathartic to kill someone dressed as Atticus. I might enjoy it a littleextra.
"Don't beg." I roll my shoulders back as the thrill of the hunt pumps extra blood into my muscles, lacing my tone with venom. "This is the part where you scream."
46
THE LAST DANCE
AURORA
"You have to look down the pool cue," I explain to Maisie. "See this spot here." I point to the side edge of the eight ball. "If you hit here, it'll go straight for the side pocket. Try to see the angle, and when you shoot?—"
"Nice and steady," she finishes for me, then thrusts the stick into the cue ball. It hits a little off the mark against the eight ball, but she gasps as it ping-pongs against the mouth of the pocket before tipping right into the hole.
"Yes!" she jumps up and down, almost knocking out the couple standing nearby with the cue. "Oh, shit, sorry!"
I come around to give her a low five, and she grins from ear to ear. "Oh my god, does this mean I won?"
I nod. I let her, focusing more on using the match to teach her rather than playing, but technically, she did sink the eight ball.
"I'll play you," someone says, and we turn to see the guy whohada cowboy hat on smiling at Maisie. "If you're up for it."
Maisie whirls back to face me. By the gleam in her eye, I can tell she wants to—badly—but she doesn't want to leave me out.
"Go ahead, show him what you learned."
Her eyes crinkle as she turns and starts to tell the cowboy wannabe that she might still need some pointers.
But I lose all interest in their conversation when my eyes lock on a dark mask with glowing redX's for eyes and an equally bright slash of a smile.
He stands leaning against the wall in the opening between this room and the next, watching me.
