Page 153 of Boys Who Hunt

“You heard me.” He grabs Cora’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Cora pulls away from him and runs to me. “No, I don’t wanna go. What about Bagel?”

“Wait a minute,” Heath interjects. “The Skull and Serpent Society is no place for a child.”

“He’s right,” Max says.

“You have a better idea?” Silas quips. “Go ahead, I’m waiting.” He checks the clock. “While you’re thinking about it, whoever was after her isn’t calling back up at all.”

The sarcasm is strong.

“But what if your dad finds out there’s a kid on campus?”

“I’ll deal with him.” His eyes home in on me. “You can’t stay here. I won’t allow it.”

Wow.

I’ve never seen him this determined.

I swallow away the lump in my throat. “Fine.” I pick up Bagel and stuff him into Silas’s hands. “But Bagel’s coming too.”

Silas stares at him like he’s never seen anything more treacherous, and Max laughs under the palm of his hand.

“What the hell do I do with this?” Silas growls.

I grab the kitty box I have for vet visits and hold it out to him. “Here.”

I reach for Cora’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Heath

Ivy doesn’t wantto leave Cora in my car by herself, so Max and Silas go ahead on their bikes while I drive in the car behind them.

I just fucking hope no one saw us even though I had my face covered with a mask and Max and Silas had their helmets. We’ll have to exchange license plates quickly to avoid any involvement.

But first, we need to secure Ivy and Cora.

The slow ride up to Spine Ridge University is nerve-wracking. She keeps throwing me looks through the rearview mirror while clutching Cora like she’d take a knife for her, and I don’t doubt she will. But I won’t be the one throwing it her way.

She’s got me all wrong, and I know it’s my fault. I made her believe she should fear me like she should fear Silas. All I was interested in was using her for all my devious needs and to watch her fall apart just because I could, because it felt good to be the one to give her what she wanted instead of Max. But the more I played with her, the more the lines started to blur. And now I don’t even know what I want anymore.

I sigh as we drive up the mountain, and I look out the window to take my mind off things.

But even in the trees, a shadow of her memory dances, irresistibly poisoning my mind with sweet agony. I can still feel her body close to mine, still taste that delicious skin … still feel his lips on mine.

I touch my mouth, and for a moment, I wonder if I truly have lost my mind.

There’s no way back.

I ruined everything.

Why couldn’t I just be content with sharing her instead?

“I want you to know that just because I’m coming with you doesn’t mean I trust you,” Ivy suddenly says, breaking my train of thought.

“I never said you should,” I reply. “But I do know one thing; Silas was right. The Skull and Serpent Society is about the safest place you can be right now.”

She snorts. “I doubt that.”