Page 936 of Lessons in Cruelty

Lord, the fireplace is turning this cabin into a sauna.

“I think pajamas are perfectly appropriate for Christmas Day,” Rooke calls out from the sofa. “Fox is a friend, Haven. Care to retract your claws?”

She glances to the side but keeps her back turned.

“Sure, Bash,” she says sweetly.

She steps backward a few paces before turning and heading for the sofa, as if she doesn’t want to let me out of her sight.

I didn’t come here in the cruiser. I’m not even fucking armed.

But can I blame her and Kai for being paranoid? Hell, I’m still not sure if I’ll turn them in or not. The only person who does seem sure that they’re safe is Rooke.

Haven goes to sit next to him, sandwiching him between her and Kai.

I’m not even remotely surprised when he stretches his arms out on the backrest, encircling them both as Kai lights up the joint and hits it so hard the cherry glows.

The ice cubes in my glass clink as I take a sip of whiskey. It’s fucking delicious. The whiskey I buy tastes like honey-flavored corn syrup with notes of iodine. I don’t even want to think about how much each sip costs. It’s probably been aging in a barrel longer than I’ve been alive.

I’m on my second sip, still trying to figure out how to wipe that smug look off Rooke’s face when my chest tightens.

I took this drink without thinking.

There could be fucking ricin in here.

That would be just Rooke’s style, too. Something tasteless, that’ll look like a heart attack. They could bundle me back in my truck and drive me off a cliff. No one would ever be the wiser...

Because Rooke’s right. I haven’t shared those ledger pages with anyone. They’re in a nook inside my house, hidden until every evening when I take them out and obsess over them.

Just like I obsess over these three...

Kai blows out a massive cloud of smoke that taints the air with the smell of weed before passing the joint to Haven. She takes it from him without moving her eyes off me and hits it.

Rooke arches an eyebrow when I stare at him as I gulp down the rest of the whiskey like a college kid taking a shot. I grimace at the burn before slowly setting the glass down at my feet.

“Let me guess…” Rooke pretends to muse, rolling his eyes to the heavens. “You’re wondering what those names did to draw my attention. Why they deserve to be put down like rabid dogs.”

Kai and Haven’s faces turn stony. Haven lays a hand on Bastian’s leg as if to calm him, and Kai reaches over and lays his hand over hers as if to calm her.

Haven then holds out the joint to Rooke. He considers it for a moment and then takes it from her, studying me over the coiling smoke as he continues.

“Would listing their individual sins help ease your conscience?” He takes a hit from the joint, blows it out. “It’ll take a while.” Another hit. His voice is tight as he holds this one in. “You might have to spend the night...”

“That won’t change anything.”

I have no doubt Kai and Haven both know about the list of names left on my car seat. One of them had to have torn it out of the original ledger, and it wasn’t Rooke.

No wonder Kai starts glowering at me. “You telling me you haven’t done anything with those names yet? I thought that’s what you were after? You were ready to get on your fucking knees for the truth...then Bash gives you exactly what you want and you don’t do fuck all with it?”

I suddenly wish I had another glass of whiskey, even though I can already feel the effects of the first.

Kai and Haven were in Rooke’s bedroom the day of the fire, listening to me proposition their professor while he lounged on the couch. I remember their picnic baskets piled against the wall by the front door, wine peeking out under a blanket.

They’d been ready to run.

I’d been ready to stop them.

Instead, I went home with a list of names in exchange for their freedom.