Miscreants: Next Generation (Badlands 8)

But what does he mean?

“Did something…you mean about Francis? I’m fine.”

“Not that. He deserved what he had coming. I wanted to make sure you felt safe.”

“Wow, you really don’t hold back,” I joked. “I don’t feel any kind of way. I’m sure whoever did it isn’t going to go on a mass murder spree, picking us off one by one.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he replied with a light laugh.

The atmosphere shifted without warning. A feeling of awareness washed over me. Without needing to turn around, I knew he was watching us.

Jonah saw it too.

His attention briefly went behind me. Before I could say anything else, he grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “If you ever want someone to walk with you, just let me know. I’ll see you next week.”

What the heck?

I watched him walk away, super confused. What was that all about? Jonah and I were friends but not overly close. I turned back towards Samael’s, and, as I already knew, he was watching me from the doorway.

His stare was intense. I almost felt as if I’d been caught doing something wrong. Trying to shake off the unnerving feeling, I walked up the pathway.

“I need to talk to you.”

“I was going to say the same thing to you,” he replied, moving aside so I could come in.

We went to the den as we usually did, but today I didn’t have any interest in his mom’s juice jars.

I sat down on the sectional and got straight to the point. My time was limited. Bella was probably done in the kill room by now and getting cleaned up before she joined us. Samael sat a whole cushion away and looked at me with what I dared say was expectancy.

“What is it?”

“Do you know anything about what happened to Francis?”

“Yeah.”

I blinked, a little taken aback. Yeah? It was so blunt and final.

“Are you the one—”

“Doesn’t everyone know?”

Oh. That’s what he meant…of, course everyone would’ve heard the details by now.

“I wanted to talk to you about that, too. That guy you were just with. You sure that was a good idea?”

“Jonah? What’s wrong with him?”

“Is he worth the trouble he could bring you?”

What was going on with him? Yeah, we kissed, and he made the promise to protect me, but what did that have to do with this?

At my delayed response, he continued to stare. Concentrated. Focused. I felt like I was under a microscope. I rubbed the back of my neck to alleviate a sudden prickling sensation.

“Relax, Lils,” he said softly, offering a smile that went nowhere near his eyes. “I just want you to be safe. Francis got his lips cut off. What if Jonah were to lose his hands?” He stood from the couch and went towards the fridge.

I stared at him, at a loss of words.

I think I understood what he meant now.

CHAPTER FOUR

Four years prior

I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

Not only would it be dark soon, but there was also light coming from inside some of the rooms and this building shouldn’t have had any electricity.

Samael didn’t seem bothered by this. When was he ever, though? I don’t think he knew what fear was. I believed he would never lead me into a dangerous or unpredictable situation. For this same reason, I was even warier of this place.

I had a knot in my gut that seemed to twist tighter the closer we got to it. I didn’t understand what this feeling was. Apprehension?

Bella stared at the decrepit building with an expression that made her look even more like her mom. When she abruptly stopped walking, the rest of us did the same.

Samael turned his head, looking at her. “What is it?”

“Why did you bring us here of all places?”

“I thought we agreed to do something exciting?”

“We did, but so far the most exciting thing that’s happened is us sneaking off the compound.”

Leave it to Bella to get a rush from something like that. If we’d been caught…

Well, it was a good thing we weren’t. I could imagine how much trouble we were going to be in once we returned.

My mom was probably picking out my grave marker right now.

“More like death-defying,” I mumbled.

Samael’s dark brown eyes flickered to mine, and I realized he’d heard me.

“Life’s a lot more terrifying than death.”

Bella, who hadn’t caught what I said, frowned at him. “What does that even mean?”

I knew exactly what he’d meant. Before he could reply, I gave his hand a gentle squeeze and repeated her prior question.

“What are we doing here?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“What kind of surprise?” Bella asked. “How do you know something is in there?”

“If I answered either of those questions, it would ruin everything. I’ve been planning this for a long time. Lilith knows all about it.”

What?

My mind jolted at his implication. I had no idea what the heck he was talking about.