Page 230 of Wicked Brutal

Iz immediately starts forwarding. “Finally. My moment.”

“Your father said every angle, not become TMZ.”

“GlossX archivist.”

X looks at Kaid. “Anything else?”

Kaid reads the next message. His face changes. “He says we got under his skin.” Silence. Ally goes still in my arms. Kaid looks up. “Victor knew he was being recorded. Kept going anyway.”

Danny’s expression sharpens. “Lost control.”

“Not fully,” X says.

“No,” Danny agrees. “But enough.”

Iz looks at me. “He left Ally.”

I look down at her. Yeah. He fucking did. Called me. Expected me to come. When I didn’t, he crossed the hall instead. Then dragged every ugly thing he knew about us into the open because five teenagers laughed at him. Arthur’s right. We’re getting to him.

That should make me feel better. It doesn’t. It makes Victor more dangerous.

Cat checks the clock. Her face changes. “Okay.” Nobody listens. She claps once. “Okay.”

Kaid looks at her. “What?”

“Time.”

Ally’s fingers tighten in my blazer. “We’ve been in here five minutes.”

Penny looks at the time. “Six.”

“Traitor,” I mutter.

Cat points toward the door. “The whole school just watched that happen. Half of them are trying to figure out where everybody went. We cannot have nine people missing from class in the same locked room.”

She’s right. I hate it.

I look down at Ally. “Straight to class?”

She nods. “The girls are walking with me.”

“After school?”

“Cassandra has Tobias.”

“Straight there?”

“Yes.”

She rises onto her toes and kisses me. Quick. Effective. When she pulls back, her forehead stays against mine. “I call you.”

“Okay.”

My thumb catches against the ring when I take her hand. I freeze. Ally looks down. Then turns her hand over and threads our fingers together, hiding the diamond between our palms.

“Temporary,” she says. I look at her. “It’s temporary.”

My throat tightens. “Damn right.”