Page 13 of Vile Boys

“Thought so,” I quip, and I move past him.

“Nathan’s going to be destroyed if you don’t help,” he says, his voice all serious.

I pause and think about it for a moment. “Your guy … not mine.”

“So you’d let a fellow student die?” he adds.

I swallow. “If that’s the lesson, then so be it.”

And I walk off, leaving him seething with rage.

But I don’t care. His emotions do nothing to me. They haven’t for a long while.

Brushing it off, I walk back to the dance floor, but to my surprise, her friend is alone, and she’s nowhere in sight.

Where did she run off to?

I look around at the couples in the hallways smooching, but none of them are her. I’m obsessed with finding this girl.

“Ares.” Caleb’s voice makes me stop in my tracks as he whispers into my ear from the side. “Her name is Crystal Murphy.”

A devilish grin spreads on my face.

Of course, it is.

Crystal Murphy.

Such an innocent name for such an innocent girl …

It’s a pity I’ll have to destroy her.

“Thank you,” I reply.

“She’s out on the terrace beyond the kitchen,” he adds.

My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “I’ll deal with her.”

I walk through the crowd toward the kitchen. Another door at the other end is wide open, so I head out. There’s a small fenced-up stone terrace with seats, and the music is still audible out here, albeit far less loud.

But the one thing that makes me pause is the girl in the pink dress, staring off into the distance like she’s waiting for a certain someone to come and whisk her away.

A wicked smile forms on my lips.

There she is.

CRYSTAL

I take a deep breath and close my eyes to calm my unsteady heart. It’s dark outside anyway, so there’s nothing to see. Just a few minutes away from the dance floor is all I need to calm down.

Suddenly, a hand snakes around my waist, and all the adrenaline comes flooding right back in.

“Are you afraid of death?”

My eyes burst open at the sound of his voice.

It’s him.

My body tightens as he moves closer, my fingers thrumming against the pocket in my dress, where I keep the small knife I’ve always brought everywhere since that night.

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