Lost Boys (Slateview High 1)

It would be stupid to argue. I could tell none of the guys were going to bend on this. And besides, I wasn’t sure I wanted to argue—there’d been something in Kace’s tone that made a shiver of fear pass down my spine. The Lost Boys’ feelings for me might be growing murky and complex, but for a lot of kids at Slateview, things were still very black and white. They hated me, and if they got a chance to fuck with me, they might take it if they were drunk enough to forget the consequences.

Jessica gave me a wink, already crawling back on to Liam’s lap. “Come back around sometime, Cordelia!”

“It’s Cora—you can call me Cora,” I corrected.

Before she could answer, I was following Bishop, Kace, and Misael out of the house.

Nineteen

Misael drove this time—something new, but I wasn’t going to question it, even knowing that Bishop was the only one with a license. I was mostly interested in what we were doing. Or, rather, what the guys were doing.

After all, I was the only one out of the loop on this one, and being the only one out of the loop, I felt like I needed to sit back and observe until I knew exactly what I’d been brought along for. It couldn’t be anything too bad, or they wouldn’t have brought me. They didn’t want me alone with kids from Slateview, so obviously they wouldn’t bring me into something worse.

That’s what I told myself anyway.

The drive wasn’t long, but it was quiet. Misael didn’t joke, Bishop didn’t talk, and there was no music. The only sounds were the rush of air through the windows and the light strumming of Misael’s fingers against the steering wheel. I kept an eye on where we were going. Not too far away, along the same route the guys had driven when they took me to the old warehouse. We didn’t get that far tonight though. Instead, Misael pulled off down an alley between an old brick building and a dark house that looked like it might be abandoned. I squinted; Misael had cut the headlights before pulling into the alley, but I realized a car was sitting at the other end, shrouded in darkness. I opened my mouth, ready to ask what was going on, but Misael shushed me before I could speak.

“Not right now,” he muttered.

He sounded so serious that I took the direction and snapped my jaw shut.

Misael left the engine running as Bishop and Kace hopped out of the car, heading toward the other vehicle at the end of the alley. No one got out of that one, and Bishop leaned into the car while Kace stood beside him, looking like a bodyguard with his arms crossed over his chest.

They were only over there for a few moments. I couldn’t see into the car to make out who was inside, and it was dark enough in the alley that it was hard to make out what was going on, but it looked like Bishop reached in through the car’s open window and pocketed something given to him.

Then he and Kace strode quickly back, sliding into our car. The dark vehicle at the end of the alley flashed its lights, and, seemingly in response, Misael backed us up, pulling back onto the road.

“Flint wants us on a run,” Bishop said. “’bout an hour, tops. VIP gets the whole load. Harrington on Lucifer.”

I had no idea what the hell any of that was supposed to mean, but Misael seemed to. He nodded, turned the car music on low, and hummed to the beat as he turned down another dark, quiet road.

I was sure we must be headed to a not-so-nice part of Baltimore, until I realized that we were nearing and then entering a relatively upscale suburb. It wasn’t as affluent as where I used to live—but it was certainly several steps up from the kind of life the kids of Slateview were living. It only made me even more curious. Questions buzzed under my skin like a swarm of bees. The Lost Boys ran the school with impunity, and I could respect that. They obviously had shady friends—and I could even understand that, considering where they grew up. It probably wasn’t the best thing, but who was I to judge? My dad was in prison, for fuck’s sake.

This, though… I couldn’t help the uncomfortable feeling that settled into my stomach at the idea that there was something bigger at play here. What were they doing here? What kind of job would require them to be here? What was the meaning of that strange, cryptic phrase Bishop had uttered?

I held my tongue though. No one else was talking; in fact, they all seemed a little tense. For the moment, that was enough to keep me quiet too.

Misael brought us to an abandoned lot, a small, unlit swath of concrete just behind a nice but closed gas station. I pulled my phone out and glanced at the time. Two AM. Much too late for anyone in a good neighborhood to be working. He cut the gas, and Bishop and Kace hopped out of the car.

“Back in a bit. Don’t get into trouble.” Bishop ducked his head to speak through the open driver’s side window.

I had no idea what kind of trouble we could get into when there was no one around, except perhaps the odd stray cat or something, but I kept my mouth shut. We watched Kace and Bishop walk away until the darkness made it impossible for me to see them anymore, and then I slouched back in the seat.

“I actually would have taken that party over this,” I said quietly.

Misael laughed.

“What, you don’t like a night out on the town with some good lookin’ guys?”

I raised a brow and looked at him. It was so dark I could barely see his face, even though he was sitting less than two feet from me.

“I think I’d like it more if said boys told me what was going on.” I turned in the seat to face him more fully, fishing for a bit of information.

He shrugged evasively. “Just work, Princess. That’s all it is.”

Uh huh. Sure it was. But if he wasn’t going to offer up information, I wasn’t going to press. Not yet, at least. I’d ask again when the deed was done and Bishop and Kace were back. Then one of them would have to tell me something.

I sighed, leaning my head back against the seat. I looked up at the sky, and for the first time since moving, I saw the stars. It sent a strange, melancholy pang through my chest.