Mad Love (Slateview High 3)

Not even waiting to see if the guy was dead, Kace stalked over to where Bishop was fighting the third man, swinging his fist like a wrecking ball and hitting the back of the man’s head. He went down, and Bish and Kace were on him immediately.

“Here, Coralee.” Misael thrust the gun into my hand. “Go help them. I’ll make sure that motherfucker’s dead.”

He jerked his head toward the man he’d just shot, then shuffled over to him, stooping to pick up his knife as he neared the prone body. My hands shook as I held the blood-slicked gun in a tight grip, my finger brushing over the trigger. When I approached Kace and Bishop, they had the third man on his back. He looked like he was holding onto consciousness by a thread, and when I got a good look at his face, my heart stopped.

“Eli?”

It was the kid who had transferred in to Slateview High last semester. The one who had taunted me and challenged the Lost Boys. The one who worked for—

“Luke fucking Carmine.”

Bishop bit out the words, his expression settling into an angry mask. He knelt next to Eli, grabbing the front of his shirt and shaking him. Eli’s eyes opened, fury flashing in their depths.

“What the fuck does Luke Carmine want with us? Why does he want us dead?” Bishop demanded.

“He doesn’t,” Eli spat, his gaze sliding over all of us as he seemed to become more alert. “But someone does. Someone paid him for a job, and we were just carrying it out.” He jerked his chin toward me. “She wasn’t supposed to be part of it though.”

“What?”

My skin chilled. I felt Misael come up beside me, felt him try to take the gun from me, but my frozen fingers refused to unlock. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Eli.

“What are you talking about?” I repeated, my voice a rasp.

“We were paid to take out these three fuckers,” Eli grunted, sneering at me. “You weren’t part of the bargain. Why would the guy want to kill his own daughter?”

Twenty

All the oxygen seemed to leave the room in a rush, leaving the air too thin.

What?

His… daughter?

The man who had negotiated with Luke Carmine to have the Lost Boys killed was my father.

Nausea made my stomach clench hard as dozens of thoughts raced through my head so fast it felt like I might pass out. My legs shook, and I couldn’t stop staring at Eli’s bloodied face as I absorbed the full weight of his words.

So many things made sense now. This was why my father had stopped trying to prevent me from seeing them, why he hadn’t grounded me again even though he had known I was sneaking across town instead of going to prom committee meetings. He hadn’t worried about their presence in my life because he had been making his own arrangements to end it—permanently.

As if killing the three boys I loved would’ve made me more amenable to the idea of the arranged marriage he was forcing on me.

Anger choked off my breath, and I could barely see through the haze that seemed to float in my vision.

“Why the fuck would Luke take that job?” Kace asked, his voice hard. “Going after Nathaniel’s people would spark a war, no matter who paid him to do it. Why the fuck would he take that risk?”

“He doesn’t consider it a risk anymore.” Eli grinned. He’d obviously realized he wasn’t going to live through this, so he’d decided to taunt us before the end, to lord whatever scraps of power over us he still could. “He’s been itchin’ for a fight for a long time, and he’s ready now. He’s sick of Nathaniel thinkin’ he owns this damn town.”

“Motherfuck—”

Before Kace could finish the word, Eli moved. And I realized that I’d been wrong. He hadn’t expected to die tonight. He’d just been biding his time, waiting for the shock of his words to break our guard down.

His hand swept up, reaching for the gun that was still clutched in my grip. I felt all three of the Lost Boys start to move, felt Eli’s fingers close around the barrel.

I felt my own finger squeeze the trigger, a movement so small it barely took any effort.

Then the gun fired, and the recoil lanced up my arm like I’d been hit with a baseball bat. I staggered, and Misael caught me as Kace stood and pulled the gun from my hand.

The room fell into silence, and Kace put his body in front of mine, cutting off my line of sight to the boy on the floor—but not in time to stop me from seeing the bullet wound in his chest.