Page 69 of The Unravelings

“Okay. You got this. Totally got this. You can face JJ. You’re a smart, capable agent. Not just Olivia. Agent Seven,” I mumble to myself, staring directly into my green-tinted eyes, hiding my true color from the world. “No more freaking out.”

I’m Oliver now and will be until I get into their stupid gang and go through the stupid initiations.

At least, that’s what I have to remind myself as I open the bathroom door and walk out into our shared space.

“Oli!” Simon gleefully says, jumping out in front of me and causing me to yelp. A grin stretches across his lips. “Epic fucking party tonight on Syndicate Row.” He leans in. “Word on the street is Malic and Wilder are recruiting for the first time. So, you know it’s going to be wild!” He waves a hand excitedly. “But I’m just there for the party. Did you know they had strippers last time? Strippers!”

Simon waves his phone in front of my face, displaying the SlamApp filled with pictures of male and female strippers, half-nude, and dancing inside Malic and Wilder’s house.

Right next to the idiots—Hux, JJ, and Mack’s—frat house.

I blink several times. “Recruiting?” I say without thinking.

“Oh, yeah. But we can go for the booze and whatever else they have planned. Dancing. Daniel invited me to meet him there. And I’m inviting you to accompany me.” His cheeks turn a bright red at the mention of Daniel.

“Daniel?” I raise a brow.

Simon’s eyes dart over his shoulder, and then he leans in. “I met up with him at the graveyard party. We used to… You know.” He gestures with his hands after slipping his phone into his jeans pocket. “And we’re talking again.” Happiness glows in his eyes as his blush grows by the second. “So? Will you accompany me? Be my babysitter and make sure I don’t do anything too stupid?”

I want to snort at his request for a babysitter. I’ve seen him in action. He never misses an opportunity to have fun.

“I won’t be interfering with you and Daniel?” I grin at his eager expression.

Not that I’ve ever interfered with any of his other hookups before. Well, except Jordy. I don’t think they ever had a chance to really connect.

He scoffs. “Nooooo. I need you there so I don’t do anything stupid.” He holds his hands together and pouts, sticking his bottom lip out. “Please, Oli. Don’t make me beg.”

“Okay,” I laugh.

Malic and Wilder might not be my marks like Hux, JJ, and Mack, but they’re up to something, too, working under a mysterious boss and all. Greenwood is a big place full of crime; eventually, something will turn up worth taking back to Veritas.

If I’m going to be forced to be here, I might as well bring them all down.

“Yes!” Simon shouts, pumping a fist with a whoop of excitement.

“But first,” I cringe at the thought of where I have to go. “I have a tutoring meeting until seven, and my advisor is making me go.”

Because I’m failing my classes, thanks to the devil waiting for me.

“Oh! Tutoring? Well, have fun! Text me when you’re done, and we can meet up.”

And just like that, I slowly make my way out of our dorm room and the building with a weird sense of foreboding slithering through my veins and weighing down my shoulders.

The warm air penetrates straight through my shirt as I weave around students milling around on campus, conversing and laughing with one another. A longing I haven’t felt in years splinters through me.

I had that once. Three best friends turned boyfriends who I laughed and joked with. They pestered me, and I pestered back.

I rub at my chest. Memories I don’t want rush through my mind, torturing me more than I already am. Leave me alone. I don’t want to think about them right now. Our history. What our lives could have been like if they had never harmed my family and me.

It’s something I’ll never forget. Or forgive.

They were there. I’m fucking sure of it. No matter how big JJ’s puppy-dog eyes get.

My stomach flips when I step into the empty library. Only a few students sit at open tables, leaning over books and typing on their laptops. It’s so quiet that static fills my ears.

The glorious smell of old and new books hits my senses as I wander farther through the stacks. I was never a reader growing up, opting for movie and TV show marathons to take my brain away from my daily torture. But one of my favorite places in the small library downtown was the movie section. Whenever I needed a friend on the screen, I lost myself in my library rentals. I couldn’t afford to own DVDs. I didn’t even have a TV in my damn room because my dad took everything from me and sold it. Books would have been convenient. A way to lose myself in something easy to hide, but they never did it for my overactive brain.

“Another one?” Hux grins, swinging an arm to allow me inside his mansion.