Page 30 of Dare To Break

Eli eyes me across the room for a lingering moment, one eyebrow arching up when I make the mistake of peeking his way.

I ignore the clench of my stomach muscles. It’s as though I’m waiting on the edge of a razor blade. Waiting for the truth to come out. I keep expecting Kellan to leap up and tell everyone who I am. Maybe I should just do it myself, like ripping off a Band-Aid. Nausea rolls through me.

Get your shit together, Gray. You can’t let paranoia win. It’s going to hover over you like a specter. This is what they want.

Jace makes eye contact with me and spends half the class giving me goofy eyes, trying to make me laugh. By the time it’s over, I’m feeling a little more relaxed.

On my way out of the door, I pause at his table. “Thanks.”

He gives me a half-smile. “I like seeing you smile. It’s far more pretty than you looking like terrorized prey about to be eaten by a predator. I get it, though. Travers scares pretty much everyone.”

Oh, you have no idea.

The thought that he might hate me when he learns I’m Eli’s stepsister leaves a heavy weight in my chest. Lacy might still like me, but I doubt others will be so nice.

“I’ll catch you for that run later?”

Not if I go running early.

I don’t reply and slip past him with the other students, and head down to my locker.

I’m in the process of opening my bag to slide some books inside when something white catches my eye. I reach in to pluck it up. A note folded in half. I hold it up to the light. The paper feels thick between the pads of my fingers, expensive. I tilt my head and unfold it. Words printed in elegant black handwriting leap up at me off the page.

Replace the coffee beans with frozen peas in the cafeteria.

Holy shit. Is this a dare?

I cast a quick look around, scanning the sea of faces. No one is watching me. There’s no one lurking around. The crowd surges through the hallway, and my backpack feels heavy on my shoulders.

Fingers curled around the note, I keep it scrunched in my fist. I dump the rest of the books in my locker, close it and hastily make for outside.

I exit the building, setting off in a random direction, the piece of paper still curled in my hot, sweaty fist. I keep walking as I unfold the crumpled piece of paper.

Replace the coffee beans with frozen peas in the cafeteria.

Am I going to do it? From what Lacy told me, everyone else does. Why did they pick me? Who issues the dares?

I stare down at the message as if it has some hidden answers.

Maybe I should just hand it in to one of the teachers? What if someone finds out. What will they think if I don’t go along with the dare?

Chapter 20

Eli

The rest of the week passes without incident. Arabella is clearly avoiding me, other than a couple of sneaky glances during class, after our eye-war the other day. That suits me. It puts me out of her mind and means when I finally make my move, she won’t be expecting it.

I haven’t avoided her, though. I’ve just been careful to make sure she doesn’t notice me. I’ve tracked her movements and noted her patterns. Followed her like a creepy fucking stalker, according to Kellan, anyway. But there’s a reason behind it. I need to know her routine.

She goes for a run every evening before dinner but has avoided the path which goes through the woods since the first day. I make a note to figure out a way to get her to redirect her route. I want her back in the woods, where I can turn her into a rabbit for my inner wolf to hunt. That’s something for later, though. First, I need to hook her attention and start the game.

Friday evenings are social evenings at Churchill Bradley. The school makes sure there are events, dances, parties, game nights, and other clubs available. It’s all done to ensure we don’t leave the grounds, and for the most part, it works. If everything is available, students are too lazy to leave. But there’s an added excitement to the air tonight. The first week of school is complete and no one has heard of a dare being issued. Anticipation is a heavy weight, and students talk in hushed whispers while they ease open their lockers, only to hide their disappointment when they don’t find a thick parchment sheet folded into a small square on top of their books.

I spend part of the evening in the tomb, sketching. It’s quiet, and I can relax there without needing music in my ears to drown out the noise around me. Kellan will come and get me at some point. He’s far more sociable than I am and enjoys being around other people, even when he makes them nervous. Maybe that’s part of the appeal. I’ve never bothered to ask him.

“Eli?” Right on schedule, Kellan slips through the door and crosses over to where I’m sitting cross-legged with my back propped against the coffin holding Lord Churchill Bradley.

I glance up at him. “You know, in all the years we’ve been coming here, we’ve never opened the coffin and said hi to the lord.”

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