Dead Girls Never Talk

Slowly, I felt dread slide down my spine like thick mud. Where is Sister Mary? My slow footsteps took me over to my bed, which was neatly made, just like I’d left it. Chips of yellow paint flicked off the headboard as I ran my finger along it. “This isn’t right,” I said, turning around and seeing Cade watch me from across the rectangular room. There were at least ten beds in here, all in a single row, but only one had ever been used. Mine.

“What isn’t?” he asked, raising his chin, making the honed lines look sharper—as if he needed to look any hotter from across the room.

“She never leaves the orphanage.”

I dropped my head down to my bed with an evident crease in between my eyebrows. Where is she?

Cade began walking over to me. “Then, let’s wait for her.”

I sighed, feeling frustrated. “But what if she doesn't come back tonight? We can’t stay here all night. We do have school tomorrow.”

“Take a breath.” Cade’s hands fell to my shoulders, and he gave me a light squeeze. “We have some time. The Rebels will let me know if something is off, or if Tate somehow finds out that we left.”

I inhaled and then blew out a breath, which landed right on Cade’s chest. “Okay,” I whispered, taking a seat on my bed. Cade walked over to the window directly behind the bed and rested his shoulder against it. The candle wasn’t lit, and I kind of liked it like that. If we were in the dark, then no one from the outside knew we were in here.

And there was potential that someone couldhave been watching, which was probably what Cade was thinking as he peered down to the darkened road. My hand found the sheathed knife in my pocket again, and I ran my fingers over the worn leather, wondering where Cade got it from. Was it his? Who gave it to him? His dad? His mom? Did he get it specifically for me? I liked the idea of having a way to protect myself, considering the fact that, every so often, I would be reminded of that dreadful night where someone came from behind and hit me out of nowhere. Even if I could have fought back, I didn’t have a way to do so other than with my fists. Having this knife felt comforting, but I couldn’t deny that Cade looked really, really good standing behind me, peering down through the window, ready to stop anyone from hurting me.

I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Too much time had passed.I knew it when I felt a dip in my bed. I was confused and disoriented, and when I found my hand sweaty from holding onto something, my eyes flew open, and I unsheathed my knife and rounded on the person who had slipped beside me.

The silver blade was to their throat, and my legs clamped over their hips with my heart no more than a nuisance in my chest.

Cade’s hand clamped onto my wrist so hard I held back a yelp. When I saw his fierce glare from down below, I gasped and immediately let go of the knife handle, allowing it to slide down his neck and onto the spot on my bed that I was lying on.

“Oh my God,” I rushed out, trying to climb off his lap. His other hand slapped down onto my hip to keep me there. “I’m…I’m sorry,” I said, putting my shaking hand to my mouth. My eyes immediately went to his neck, which had the thinnest line of blood trailing from it. “Holy shit, I cut you.”

“Good.” His voice was hoarse, and it rubbed at parts of me that were fueled by adrenaline and excitement. “You weren’t kidding when you said Tobias taught you how to use a knife.”

I slowly rested my legs and sank down onto Cade’s middle. His hand on my leg didn’t loosen, and neither did the one on my wrist. His eyes looked even darker in the room, especially given that mine hadn’t adjusted from my accidental sleep.

“He is a scary-good fighter. He was trained to—”

“Kill. A black-market killer. Yes, I was, too—in a way.” A dark chuckle left him.

I nodded, glancing at the window behind the bed. I couldn’t imagine what Cade had been taught over the years from his father. Someone who dealt in illegal firearms and had a hand in the Covens, an elusive place for creating black-market killers…it had to be terrorizing.

The moon had moved, and I could no longer see it in between the stars. “We should go, right? How long have I been asleep?”

“We can stay a little while longer. It’s been pretty quiet out there,” he said, finally dropping my hand. His heart was a thundering clap against my palm that I couldn’t stop focusing on.

Silence passed between us as I ran over scenarios involving Sister Mary and her whereabouts when Cade spoke again. “What else did Tobias teach you? Besides knifing someone in your sleep.”

Both of my hands rested against his chest now, and I zeroed in on the tiny trickle of blood running down his neck. I seriously cut him. “What do you mean?” I asked, reaching up slowly to wipe at the dribble. Cade’s chin moved to the side, giving way to his wounded neck, showing off his strong features and bobbing Adam’s apple.

“Did you two fuck?”

I paused, my finger pressing gently over the wound. There was a strange part of me that wanted to reach down and press my lips to it, like I used to do with the little girls when they’d bang up their knees from running too fast over the chipped sidewalk out front.

“Would it make you angry if I said yes?” I wasn’t sure why I was toying with him. We were in uneasy times and physically in a place that we shouldn’t even have been in, and here I was, prodding him to react. The truth was, I liked it when he got jealous. I liked it when he proclaimed that I was his. I liked being wanted by him.

“No.”

Immediately, the room grew quieter, and as soon as I wiped the blood from his neck with my thumb, he grabbed onto my hand with my red-stained finger in between us. I was aware of what I was pressing down on with my middle and was completely and utterly exhilarated.

“No?” I asked, tilting my head so my hair fell in between us. What the hell are we doing? If one of the nuns heard us or saw this…they’d drop dead.

His head shook slowly, almost in a predatory way. “No.” Cade shifted beneath me, and I felt the hard nudge, even through my jeans. Something tightened, and I held my breath, wanting nothing more than to move over him. “It would just give me an excuse to prove to you that you’re mine and not his.”