The lovable protector of the group wasn’t all smiles and charm. Like all of us, darkness twisted inside him, and one night, it exploded in the worst way imaginable.
Gage grabbed his shovel and hopped into the hole with me. “Kill, switch with Slate. You’ve been at this the entire time.”
I shook my head and used the now grimy black button-down shirt to wipe sweat from my forehead. “I’m good.”
It was my fault they were even involved.
“I think Kill’s idea is brilliant.” Axel motioned to the headstone perched behind us. “No one will ever look for Alicia Montgomery in a fresh grave in Copper Cove Cemetery. The ground is already disturbed, and there’s no reason to suspect anything.”
“What if someone needs to exhume Gertrude Farleigh’s body?” Slate jerked his chin toward the headstone.
Gage scoffed as he sank his shovel into the soft dirt. “She was a hundred and died of natural causes. No one would ever need to dig up her body.”
That was precisely why I’d picked this spot. We got lucky they buried the old lady today. Hopefully, she wouldn’t mind sharing her grave with the unfortunate freshman who caught Sebastian Davenport’s eye.
Acid oozed up my throat as I once again pictured what could have happened if he’d pounced on that snarky little lamb in red instead.
Would it be her grave I was digging right now?
My fingers tightened around the shovel’s handle so hard splinters jabbed into my palm. Damn it, what was it about that girl that had me so unhinged? The overwhelming desire to protect her... it made no sense.
Maybe it was because against Bass, she’d have no power. And I knew what it felt like to be powerless in the face of monsters.
“What about that girl who was listening in?” Axel asked, as if he’d plucked her image from my brain.
“What girl?” Slate passed the water to Axel.
The colossal football player took it and twisted the cap off. “The one in red with a butterfly mask who crushed my balls when I caught her spying.”
Every muscle in my body turned as cold and hard as marble. “Like I told you earlier, she didn’t hear or see shit. Nothing to worry about.”
Gage’s relentless stare burned into me as soon as Axel mentioned a girl in red. I met his gaze, my nostrils flaring, and the monsters behind the cage threatened to burst out. He arched his eyebrow at my reaction. Since he practically dared me to snatch her before my brother could, Gage knew exactly who Axel spoke of.
“If Kill says she’s not a problem, then drop it.” Gage tossed another shovelful of dirt out.
I breathed a shaky sigh of relief and focused on the task. “After we bury the body, we need to finish the next part of my plan.”
Axel leaned over the grave, his dirty blonde hair falling into his face. “There’smore?”
“While her roommate is still passed out at the Sigma Delta house, we need to sneak into Alicia’s dorm and collect all of her things.” My stomach roiled at resorting to this bullshit to protect Bass. “I want to make it look like she ran away.”
Slate nodded. “Smart. I never would have thought of that.”
Gage gave a humorless laugh. “That’s why you’re not in charge of this.”
And then I had to take care of the last part of this plan alone. As much as I wanted to protect her, I couldn’t have this come out. I’d lose everything.
I had to find my girl in red to ensure she remained quiet—by any means necessary.
CHAPTER 10
YOU CAN’T BE HERE
Lexi
“You really didn’t have to walk me to class.” I glanced at Micah through the curtain of auburn hair swept up in the breeze. A chill tainted the air, rising from the jagged bluff, and it was only September. I wrapped my arms tighter around my light jacket. It would be frigid here in the winter.You wanted cold, Lexi…
“Of course I didn’t have to walk you, but I wanted to.” He offered a warm smile, chasing away the icy frost that had settled into my bones since I’d raced out of the Sigma Delta house last night. That dark voice had plagued me all night, and nightmares of a crying girl had kept me tossing and turning until dawn.
