Page 86 of Pin-up Girl

That was right, they were fuck ups. They drove some kind of vintage convertible.

“Don’t shut your door all the way, in case they can hear us.” I lowered my voice as I got out of the Caddy. The house looked quiet, cute in a glamorous cookie cutter type way. We barely took two steps toward the house when a gunshot fired from inside the house.

Without processing what the hell could possibly be going on, I sprinted up the steps and busted the door down. Another shot went off, this time much louder than before. It had to have come from the back of the house, directly in front of us.

Running to what I remembered was the old sitting room, I skidded to a halt in the door. Milo collided with me, and we both slipped on blood that was rapidly spreading across the tile floor.

“Fuck. What the fuck? Why is Derek lying on the ground? Does he seriously have a hole is his fucking,fuckinghead?” I clutched my hair and tugged to make sure this was real.

“Emmett?” Milo’s voice sounded weird. Whatever he wanted me to see, I didn’t think I wanted to see it. Why was it so quiet in here?

Someone touched my shoulders, and I jumped back, holding my hands up to warn away whoever it was. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, the blood even seemed to have a sound as it pooled at my feet, where Derek, our fucked up frat brother, lay.

Jules stood by the wall with Elise in his arms. He had her face tucked into his chest, and a gun sat not that far away on the table. Just sat there, like it was a fucking decorative piece to compliment the yellow daisies.

He faced the hallway, slightly turned so he could see us while pretending the massacre behind him didn’t exist.

“What happened, Jules?” Milo’s words were barely audible. Who was he trying to be quiet for? Derek wasn’t going to care.

“Oh my fucking God,” I moaned. This just kept getting worse. Derek’s dad, Justin Waterford, our current number one enemy, sat slumped over one of the chairs. More blood was trailing down his face and spattered against the wall behind him, like it was some kind of angry abstract art.

When I looked back at Jules, I was relieved they were alive. At least, I thought I was relieved. My emotions felt like they were trapped outside my body.

Jules used one hand to sign.

Justin wanted to share some secrets he thought would tear us up. Make life with Elise harder.

“That’s it? Apparently, they were pretty fucking upsetting! We’ve never crossed this line before.” I pivoted on my heel to take in the room again. There was some sick kind of draw, pulling me in and preventing me from looking away for too long.

“What did he say?” Milo rubbed his temples. “Tell me right now what he said so we can fix this.”

I turned around, giving Jules my full attention. Whatever he was about to tell us, I needed to hear it.

One of Jules’ hands moved up and down Elise’s back, but she didn’t seem to notice. Without a twitch or a hello or anything when we walked in, I’d bet my life she was in shock. I couldn’t see her face, but even if I could, I doubted she’d see me.

Short story long, he said he wanted to make us hurt in more ways than one. He was the one that personally sent Elise. And he made sure to tell us he picked her specifically for us, because…

He swallowed and cast his gaze down for the briefest of moments. When he lifted his head back up, such stark pain radiated from him that I nearly stumbled back a step. It was so strong, I hurtwithhim.

Remember the winter I lost my voice?

We both nodded.

When I comforted an Infinity girl? There was a little more to it than that. I tried to save a girl that wasn’t supposed to be saved. It was…It was Elise’s sister. And I tried to get her free.

Then, he explained everything. Every. Fucking. Thing.

I was mind blown. I was devastated.

I was fucking pissed as hell.

“What happened with Justin and Derek?” This was why Milo was the leader. He kept a cool head while I was freaking the fuck out.

Derek had us at gunpoint, and when Justin told her how her sister died, she went apeshit and snatched the gun from Derek before anyone could react. After she shot Justin, Derek tried to take her down, so I puthimdown.

For just experiencing his first kill, he was calm. For a second, I almost believed he was covering for Elise, but he had no reason to. She killed Justin. He would tell us if she killed them both.

What were we supposed to do with two dead bodies, one of which was an elite member?

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