Page 112 of Lunar Crest University

Oscar’s eyes eventually close, and his bobbing chest stills. His hand resting on his chest falls to his side into the pool of blood underneath his body. It’s a shitty way to leave someone, especially someone who didn’t deserve this, but I have to go.

Two hundred and five.

I may not have killed him, but I’m the reason he’s dead.

Chapter Forty-Two

FINLEY

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND, 2023

Idon’t know how long I’ve been in this dark, stale room, tied to a flimsy wooden chair that gives me splinters as I struggle against my restraints. The fabric covering my eyes has a musty smell that has grown stronger over the past few hours, undoubtedly because my tears keep wetting the material.

Time goes by much slower when you’re panicking, when you don’t know if the people you love are okay. He could’ve gotten to my parents—he’s already got my best friend and set Luca’s house on fire. God knows what they did to Oscar.

My chin trembles at the thought.

As soon as we approached wherever the hell I was right now, Javier wrapped this cloth around my eyes. I’ve been shielded from everything going on around me ever since. His men tied me to this chair and left me here in the dark. Forhours.

It’s freezing in here too. Maybe that’s why I keep crying—my salty tears are so warm against my skin, it’s almost comforting. Goosebumps prick my exposed legs, and I immediately regret wearing a skirt to work last night. The least I could’ve done wasadd some stockings, something to keep me warm now, but I guess I had no way of knowing I was going to be in this position when I was picking out my clothes.

You know when you’re so determined to wear something because you think it’s cute? Where you’ll make any excuse and come up with any reason to wear it? That’s how I felt about this skirt, but now, I wish I could peel it off and burn it, especially after Javier’s dirty hands touched it in the car.

They weren’t actually dirty, but what they’ve done is.

The creaking of the door as it opens drags me back to reality at such a fast pace, my body freezes. My chest doesn’t even move because I’m not breathing. I’m too scared that if I do, I won’t be able to hear anything around me. I have to hear. I have to know what’s coming for me.

Multiple people come into the room—I can make out the sounds of boots scuffling on the floor, almost like they’re dragging something in here with them.

“Didn’t I tell you,muchachos?” Javier’s voice sends ice down my spine. “Finley wouldn’t try to escape. She’s a good girl.”

I hear a few chuckles bouncing around the room, but I also hear someone growling in protest. Before I can fully make out the sound, there’s awhack,and it’s quiet again.

“I have a surprise for you, pet.”

Pet.

Vomit rises in my throat, but I swallow it down.

A yelp bursts through my dry lips as someone yanks the cloth from my eyes, and I squint from the bright overhead light beaming down on us. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust, but when they do, they widen at Levi, on his knees in front of me, looking at me with an expression I can’t decipher. Nor do I want to. I can’t bear for him to look at me like this, like a…victim. His mouth is taped shut, and his hands are tied behind his back.

I tilt my head down at him as fresh tears streak my cheeks. I hope he can see how sorry I am, how much I hate that he’s here because of me.

“We’re going to play a game.” Javier claps his hands together, and the sound makes me flinch. “Este juego es muy divertido. Ready?”

I watch intently as he pulls something from his pocket, pouring a white substance on his hand before he snorts it from his skin. A growl escapes him as he shakes his head aggressively, blinking rapidly as he composes himself. He grasps Levi by his shoulders, hoisting him up off the ground, and I wince as I watch him stagger. Have they beenfeedinghim? He looks like he could pass out, and the bags under his eyes are a testament to his lack of sleep.

Javier whisks out a hunting knife, and my gasp is breathless as he cuts the rope from Levi’s wrists. With a dark laugh, he shoves the knife into Levi’s palm, making him hold it despite his grunts of disapproval.

“Here are the rules…” Javier says, patting Levi’s cheek. “Are you listening?”

Levi glares at him but says nothing against the tape still over his mouth.

“Youstab her, right here.” Javier turns, leaning down to poke my stomach. “Or I slit your throat.”

A sob emerges from deep in my chest as I watch a tear slip down Levi’s cheek. The thought of being stabbed in the stomach doesn’t faze me in the slightest when his life is on the line. I won’t survive if something happens to him. If he dies, we both will, because I won’t be able to live with it. But as stubborn as he is, I can see in his hazel eyes that he has absolutely no intention of stabbing me.

No.

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