Page 40

Huh. So that one was true.

Just like I suspect the pain one might have been too. And not understanding people … for someone who lies a lot, most of his statements didn’t sound like he was.

Then I remember how we started the game.

You do know I’ll lie to you the entire time.

Maybe that was the lie. Which means … were all of them true?

Fuck me. I don’t even want to think about how much I just learned in one day.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

LYNX

Every week, I’m given a list of what food people in town need. I collect it, box it up, label it, and then wait for Rooney to show up and collect it all.

Then I give him a list of what tasks need to be done as payment for the food.

By the time Rooney pulls up in the late afternoon, I’m still working on getting everything together.

Today was supposed to be easier. The kind of streamlined day that I settle into with the ease of a lion on the hunt. The type of day I know down to my bones. Where things fall like dominos to my productivity. No more Sasha means no more distractions.

Or at least, it’s supposed to.

I’m still stuck in his snare.

Rooney jumps out of the truck, and my eyes lock onto his every movement. He’s dressed in his usual baggy jeans, tight T-shirt, and baseball cap, but he’s got the mark of magic all over him. The hundreds of freckly blemishes all over him and those mismatched eyes are markers of the other that exists inside him.

“Need help?” he asks.

“You touch my crops and you lose your fingers.”

His laugh is deep and throaty, designed to lure people like the soft, fluffy pelt of a polar bear. I know better.

“Normally, you’re done by now.” He picks up an apple from one of the boxes and takes a bite. “Something on your mind?”

A helpless little fool? “The fact you’re touching my things.”

“Technically, this is …” He moves the side flap of the box with his boot to read the name. “Viv’s apple. She loves me, she won’t care.”

“She also won’t be able to make her apple pie without the right amount of apples.” I grab another one and replace the one he stole. If Rooney didn’t do so much for this town and source everything I need without question, there’s no way I’d be able to exist alongside him. I’ve come to learn that everyone in the End has their purpose though, and as much as he sets my hair on end, I tolerate his unnatural existence. And make sure to keep my pack safe from any wicked games he might want to play.

“You’re less prickly today,” he says.

“I definitely am not.”

“There’s less of a bite to you. No energy. What’s got you looking so drab?”

Every word he speaks is like nails dragging down my spine. The last thing I enjoy is people paying attention to me, especially someone like Rooney, and I like it even less that I’m letting Sasha get to me to the point where it’s obvious.

“Ahh …” Rooney says, like the answer has just come to him. “Where’s your knife?”

“None of your business.”

“Is that what’s gotten you so down? I can always get you a new one.”