Page 87 of Lethal Attraction

I drop into a crouch, elbows on my knees, staring at the ground as if the gravel might explain things better than anyone else has. It doesn’t. The rocks remain spectacularly unhelpful.

Standing again, I drag a hand down my face. “How long have you been...” I wave vaguely in her direction. “You know. Murder-adjacent?”

“Since I was old enough to hold a gun.”

I blink. Then blink again. “That is a horrifying sentence.”

Thalia offers a tiny shrug.

“Your parents—” I begin.

“Trained us.” She gives me a weak smile. “Surprise.”

“That’s not a surprise, Thalia.” I stare at her. “A surprise is finding twenty dollars in your jacket pocket. This is discovering your girlfriend was raised by a homicidal version of the Scouts.”

Her smile wobbles.

I look out into the darkness, trying and failing to process any of this. Assassins are real. There’s an entire warehouse full of them behind me. I watched multiple people die tonight.

“Reed?” she asks carefully. “Are you okay?”

“I-I—” Another laugh escapes me, sounding slightly unhinged even to my own ears. “No, actually. I think I’ve moved past okay. I think I’ve entered a brand-new emotional category.”

Her brow knits together. “What category?”

“Confused mental screaming.”

Despite everything, a snort escapes her.

I turn back toward her, prepared to continue my very reasonable breakdown, when something sharp suddenly pierces my bicep. My mouth falls open at the syringe sticking out of my arm.

For a full three seconds, I simply stare at it. Then I look at Thalia. Then back at the syringe. Then back at Thalia. Then the syringe again, just to confirm it hasn’t magically disappeared.

It has not.

“What the fuck did you just inject me with?” I whisper.

She offers me an apologetic smile and holds up a small vial. “I may have been saving this.”

Midazolam.

“You drugged me again,” I slur slowly.

“You were spiraling!” She reasons.

“I was processing!” The moment the words leave my mouth, the ground shifts beneath me like someone grabbed the entire planet and tilted it thirty degrees. “Oh, fuck.”

Thalia presses her fingers to her lips with equal parts worry and amusement as she watches me. I hate that at this moment she looks absolutely adorable with her blush painted over her cheeks and chest.

My knees suddenly decide they’re no longer interested in supporting my body weight before I drop. “Oh, we’re shutting down now.”

Thalia crouches, cupping my cheek as she gives me a wicked smile. “Don’t worry. I’m gonna take good care of you, okay?”

“What does…that mean?“ I breathe as my eyelids grow heavy.

She places a finger over her lips, shushing me as the world goes dark.

Chapter twenty-four