Pandora doesn’t respond immediately.
The three of us look at each other, then Blaze gets up. “I’ll drive.”
Hopefully I’m wrong. But if not…
Yeah, Pandora’s in danger.
21
PANDORA
“You don’t have to come to movie night with me,” I tell Samantha.
The brisk chill in the air makes me wish we’d opted to go through the tunnels, but it’s faster to go outside.
Also, I’ve kind of got a grudge against the tunnels right now. Sure, they’re warmer than the five degrees Fahrenheit winter, but I’ll brave seven minutes of cold over being ambushed by gossip in the tunnels.
The moon is out, anyway, so it’s kind of pretty.
“I know,” Samantha replies. “But I don’t have anything better to do.”
She’s toned her attitude down a bit, especially since the visit home, but she’s still prickly.
And scared.
I know she hates being alone, enough to where she’s willing to go to an indie movie night even though that’s not her thing at all.
“Carly said I would definitely like this one,” I say as I step around a small pile of snow. “But she said that about the last two, and she was wrong. Maybe that means you’ve got a chance of liking it.”
Samantha gives me a skeptical look, but she shrugs as she followsme onto the clearer patch of the walkway. “Maybe.” She doesn’t sound convinced either.
I tuck my hands into my coat pockets. “Fuck, it’s cold,” I complain.
Maybe I can blame the cold on the unpleasant tension in my spine. The air makes my blood literally freeze in my veins.
Not literally literal. Figuratively literal.
I jog forward a few steps. “Come on, it’s too cold for this shit. My toes are developing frostbite.”
I hear footsteps behind me, but Samantha doesn’t catch up to me.
Instead, there’s a sharp exhalation of breath, and I turn around to see what’s going on.
It’s so cold that even time freezes.
Samantha’s eyes are wide. A gloved hand covers her mouth—a hand connected to a tall, masked person.
Their other hand points a gun directly at Samantha’s jaw.
Oh.
Maybe the bad vibes weren’t in my head.
“Lynx, I presume?” I say. I try to keep my voice light.
My knife is in my hoodie pocket, which is beneath my coat. I can’t easily reach it right now. If I attempt to attack, they’ll shoot Samantha before I have a chance to do anything.
“Hands on your head, Pandora,” the attacker says.
