Page 86 of Stars and Scars

“She’s a symbol for the weakness infecting modern culture–”

“Bullshit.”

Wyatt closes his mouth. The bespectacled man reaches for the switch, but Wyatt waves him off.

“You might not agree with our goals or our methods, but we speak the truth no one else wants to admit,” Wyatt says, sounding like he’s up on a pulpit. “Influencers don’t deserve the power they wield over our culture. Only people with the proper intelligence and credentials should be allowed to have so much influence.”

“People like you, right?” I say.

He shrugs.

“Why not me? I’m a world-renowned artist, who has kept this stinking cesspool of Hollywood relevant for the past forty years. And when they have no more use for me, they just write me off? I don’t think so!”

“None of this explains why you targeted Charlotte.”

Wyatt clears his throat.

“She made herself a target when she accepted the LA Points of Brightness Award, even though she did nothing to deserve it. Such an award should go to, to…to someone who truly deserves it.”

I’ve got him now. I start laughing, both as a distraction and because I legit find this funny.

“You’re kidding me. You mean, you sicced your cult on Charlotte because she won an award and you didn’t? That’s quite a swerve from targeting tech companies to an internet influencer. There’s not even a cash prize that goes with the Points of Brightness award.”

“It’s the prestige!” Wyatt bellows, his face turning red. “I deserve recognition for my contributions. Instead, the world turns all of their attention on people like Charlotte, who are only dragging us down as a species. Why, if I…”

He frowns, tilting his head to the side.

“What is that sound?”

“Oh, that would be gunfire,” I say, my heart hammering like mad in my chest. Charlotte’s eyes glisten with renewed hope.

“G-gunfire?”

The look on Wyatt’s face is utterly priceless. I’d shock myself ten more times just to see it.

“That’s right, asshole. I’m not always the brightest bulb, but I do learn from my mistakes. This time, I called for backup…and you are all so, completely,fucked.”

23

CHARLOTTE

Everyone's eyes are on Grayson. That gives me a chance to act. Good thing Wyatt didn’t pay as much attention to my social media feeds as he should have.

Otherwise he’d have known I have double-jointed thumbs. I slipped free of the stinging rope while they were preoccupied with taunting Gray.

I get rid of my gag and grab hold of Wyatt’s gun, pulling it out of his grasp. He shouts and tries to retrieve the weapon. In our mad scramble, it flies out of both of our hands and skids across the floor.

Wyatt’s face screws up with rage.

“You fucking bitch, you just don’t know when to quit, do you?”

I can hear commotion across the room, but I can’t spare a second to look. I’m facing off with a man who, despite his advanced age, is six inches and a hundred pounds heavier than I am.

But I can see it all over his face. He’s underestimating me.

Wyatt tries to grab me by the throat. The training Grayson gave me takes over and I smack his hand away and follow up with a hard stomp on the instep of his foot. Wyatt bellows in pain. While he’s distracted, I dive for the gun.

I pick up the heavy pistol and roll over onto my back, leaning up so I can aim at Wyatt. Once he sees the gun directed at his face, Wyatt’s eyes bulge out and he screams, running down the hallway.

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