Page 11

Thank God.

She walks up to us and pauses.

“For now,” she adds. She walks past us and into the building.

One.

One-two-one.

One-two-three-two-one.

I will keep it together. I will keep it together, together, to?—

Pulling on my good arm, Hunter startles me out of my anxiety attack, but I feel it there, right there.

Keep it together.

We follow after the short blonde when Misha speaks up behind us.

“I told you that everything you know is a lie.”

Lies. Lies, lies, all lies.

The air thickens and spins around me. My hand flexes where I grip Hunter’s bloody shirt.

A muscle in Hunter’s face spasms before he says, “Obviously. But tell me why I should expectyouto tell the truth?”

He doesn’t wait for Misha to answer.

TWO

HUNTER

Ifollow Luna in a daze, but part of me feels it’s important to be hypervigilant to my surroundings.

Everything you know is a lie.

Well, fuck if that isn’t the truth.

We continue walking and move past a dining area. There’s a buffet set up with various dishes on display, and it’s the most bizarre sight in the context of what we’ve just gone through in the six hours since Leo and I departed Amelia Manor for the first time.

It’s as if Martha Stewart decided to show up and play hostess for our gaggle of vigilantes.

I return my focus to Winter and try not to break down at the reality that I almost lost her tonight.

Again. I almost lost heragain.When am I going to be enough to keep her safe?

Control. Control yourself, Hunter.

Her hand moves up and down on her stomach.

I will keepthemsafe.

My focus on my surroundings continues to go in and out, and the only thing anchoring me to this moment is Winter’s hand in mine.

Her skin has a sickly cast, and I’m concerned at how her chin trembles with each step. She was so strong as I broke down in front of my….

I open my mouth to ask Winter how she’s doing when Luna interrupts the moment.