“I think the name Wesley is pretty… compared to mine,” Milk said.
“What’s yours?” I asked, angling my body to look at the back seat.
“Typical name… very common,” she said.
“Still wanna hear it,” Dog said, watching her.
She sucked in a breath. “It’s Penelope. Last name’s Canavan.”
“You look like a Penelope, unlike Wes,” Devil said.
“I swear to God, Devil. I swear to God.”
“Penelope is a beautiful name,” I said.
“I agree, it is not bad, dear Pen,” Upper said, lightly tapping her head.
She grinned.
Dog didn’t comment on her name.
“I’ll go next,” Upper said, clearing his throat and rubbing his hands together. “I’m Archibald Avington Otto Farraday, the fourth—or fifth, I can’t be sure… I didn’t stay in the palace long enough to study the family history books before I was booted out, so I don’t know exactly how many Archibald Avington Otto Farradays there were before me.”
“I can’t remember anything you just said,” Dog voiced.
“Me neither,” I admitted.
Laughing, Upper relaxed on his seat. “My name’s Archie.”
“I knew,” Devil said, looking out the window.
“How?” Upper asked.
Devil’s response was a shrug, and that was that. He wasn’t divulging how he knew. “Everyone knows my last name. My first name’s Elia.”
“That sounds like a girl’s name. Like the female version of Elio,” Dog said.
Devil groaned and gritted out, “It’s unisex.”
“Your father was cruel,” Dog said.
“He disowned me when I was six. Right after killing my mother in front of me. Cruel doesn’t do him justice,” Devil said, bringing a bit of silence.
I broke the silence with a clearing of my throat. “Well…” I spoke, quickly calculating the consequences of what I was about to reveal. But Elio’s people knew it and still didn’t knowme. I was also positive Devil and Dog hadn’t caught on to Chika using my last name after he had us on the school bus.
“My name’s Zahra. Zahra Faizan.”
I caught the instant freeze in Devil’s shoulders.
I stopped short when he looked at me, and I caught the recognition in his eyes; his brows were furrowed just a bit ashe observed me like I had spoken a lie that would fuck up this version of me in his mind if it were true.
I didn’t back down from the stare, but he looked away first.
Did not utter a word.
He knows something.
“You look like both your names,” Dog said.
