Page 20 of In Shadows We Dance

"I'm serious, Ileana. He's not someone you want to fool around with. He'll eat you alive."

"Oh believe me, I'm doing everything I can to stay out of his way. I don't want his attention, so you don't need to worry."

"Worry?" She frowns, then blinks at me. "Oh, no! No no no no. I'm not warning you away from him because I want him. God no!" She shudders. "He gives me the creeps. Most of the girls avoid him. I just wanted to tell you to be careful, and to say thatif he ever makes you uncomfortable, come and sit with us. You don't have to be alone."

I'm not sure what to say to that. I've gone through years of school with this girl, and this is the first time she's ever made that offer.

"Thank you." I try hard not to make the words sound more like a question, and I think I succeed because she gives me a bright smile.

"Okay. Good. I'd hate to hear something happened to you, when I could have helped stop it."

"Stop it? What?" Cold fingers of dread creep down my spine. "What kind of something?"

She looks from side to side, then leans across the table and lowers her voice. "Carlisle and his friends like to play games ... sometimes they don't end well for whoever they pick as their playmates."

CHAPTER 10

Predator’s Dance

WREN

“Didyou sleep at all last night? You look like hell.” Monty drops into the seat beside me. “Still obsessing over your ghost girl?”

I don’t look up from my phone. Another dead-end search. No posts, no tags. Hours of database digging burn behind my eyes, but sleep isn’t what I need. “Is that a problem for you?”

“Yeah, actually it is.” He leans in, voice dropping. “I’ve never seen you like this. Usually, you’re bored by now. The interest fades, and you’re already onto the next game.”

Nico claims the chair opposite. “Exactly. Like Jessica. Remember her? Nowthatwas classic. Getting her to think she could pay for college with an OnlyFans account, and watching her fall for the wholeyou’re so smart, Jess, so independent…”

“Until pastor daddy got that anonymous email.” Monty’s grin turns wicked. “Complete with screenshots. That was fucking art. The way she ran out of school crying. Think she’s still at the private Christian school they shipped her off to?”

“Or Amanda,” Nico continues. “Remember how she thought she was so special because you asked her to meet you at your house? The look on her face when we all showed up …”

“The way she ran through the woodswaspretty special, though.” Monty steals my untouched fries. I let him without comment. Food isn’t what I’m hungry for right now. “Crying about how she thought you actually liked her, and that she was okay withyouchasing her, but not all of us because she’s a …” He smirks around the fry. “... agood girl.”

“Then there was Marcus.” Nico again. Apparently the two of them are reminiscing over our greatest hits. “Mr. Student Council trying to hide his gambling debts. Those screenshots of hisdaddy’s credit card receipts hitting the principal's inbox …”

“Oh, what about the football team captain last spring?” Monty is openly laughing now. “What was his name? The one sending dick pics to his girlfriend’s best friend?”

“Ryan Matthews,” I supply, finally looking up. “That one was way too easy. Barely worth the effort.”

“Exactly!” Monty leans back, studying me. “Everythingis too easy for you. You get bored after a couple of days, then move on to the next challenge. But this girl?” He gestures toward the library. “You spent all night digging through every database you could hack into, and for what?”

“That’swhat makes her so interesting.” My voice carries an edge that makes both of them tense slightly.

“Interesting?” Nico laughs. “Since when do you findanythinginteresting for more than five minutes? You’re acting like some lovesick?—”

My hand shoots out, fingers wrapping around his throat, and I drag him halfway across the table while I stand. The cafeteria noise fades as I lean forward.

“Choose your next words carefully.”

“Jesus, Wren.” Monty’s voice carries genuine concern. “What the fuck? He didn’t mean?—”

I release Nico, who rubs his throat, eyes wary and pinned to me. The fear in his expression sends a familiar thrill through me, but it’s nothing compared to what I feel when I’m watching Ileana.

“Yes, he did. But he’s wrong. This isn’t about love.”

“Then what is it? Because this isn’t our fucking normal. That sophomore last month? The one who thought she was pregnant? You posted her fake test results to the school social media account, and moved on to something else before lunch.”

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