Page 115 of The Catalyst

Beth warned me weeks ago that I wouldn’t like Teigan’s boyfriend, Malakai, and she was right about that.

I can’t put my finger on the reason why. Outwardly, he’s nice and conversational, but my skin crawls when he looks at Beth or Aimee. He doesn’t look at them in any sort of way. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t look atanyonewith any kind of emotion. It’s all fake smiles and perfectly placed jokes like he’s an actor and life is a Broadway show. I can’t get a single read on him, and that’s close to impossible. I can read everyone, even Ollie, but not Malakai Harris.

I don’t feel right leaving them alone with him, but at least I can watch him from this spot and make sure he doesn’t do something that puts him on my chopping block.

Beth gets up from her seat when she sees me through the window, taking a drag off my smoke, and leaves the restaurant before approaching me.

“Give me that cancer stick,” she demands, an irritated scowl on her face.

I have no clue why she is so pissed, but I hand her the cigarette anyway. Even if she crushes it, I can always light up another one.

My woman surprises me by putting the smoke to her lips and taking a deep drag, leaning against the tailgate of my truck. She blows out the smoke like she’s been chain-smoking for years. Then, she takes another long hit before handing it back to me.

“Can we talk about how I’m pretty sure my childhood best friend is dating a sociopath?” she asks as I take a drag off my cigarette, but when she snatches it from me again, I pull another one out of my pack and light it up for myself. If she’s going to barely let me get a drag in, I’ll just let her have that one.

“How about we talk about you suddenly taking up smoking?”

She cackles through the breath she lets out, clouds of gray bursting through her lips. “I’ve been stealing your cigarettes for months,” she confesses to this horrible offense, and I stare at her, mouth gaping in mock horror.

“How dare you?” She flashes a guilty grin. “I thought Charlie was swiping my smokes.”

“Nope, Mr. O’Reilly. You got me addicted via secondhand smoke. I don’t smoke much, though. I gave myself the rule that if I can’t steal one off of you, then I can’t smoke. I read a study that said as long as you smoke four or less a day, it won’t cause worse damage to your lungs. I don’t know if it’s true, but if it’s not, these things will kill us both.” She takes another drag off the smoke and blows out the cloud, dropping thecancer stickas she called it to the floor. “Like…Have you noticed how…weird Kai is?” she asks, her brows knit together with worry before we look back to the window.

Delaney, Teigan, and Aimee are laughing and talking to the weirdo, who seems to be putting up the facade of normalcy.

“He’s not weird. Just fake as hell.”

“That’s even worse.”

My gaze jumps back to her, and I watch her chew on her nail like the thing offended her, and she wishes it a horrible demise. “Hey. What’s the matter?”

She drops her hands and lets out an exasperated breath. “I’m concerned. He gives me similar vibes to Martin’s dad, but it’s different. He actually had emotions and thoughts in his eyes. You could see his intention. I can’t get a read on Kai. He’s like a mindless zombie on the inside but pretends he’s like everyone else on the outside. He has them all fooled, and worst of all, Teigan is none the wiser. She thinks he can do no wrong.” She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth before gnawing at the plump flesh. “Even if I said something, she wouldn’t listen to me. She has this whole fantasy of him in her head. She’s brainwashed. I’m afraid for her and Delaney. He’s bad news. I can feel it. The man isn’t normal. It’s like looking into the eyes of Ted Bundy. His eyes are dead.” Her frown intensifies, and I put my arm around her, silently letting her know I’m here for her–no matter what she needs or wants to talk about. She leans her head against my shoulder, and the little shit snatches the smoke out of my handagain. However, this time, I say nothing and kiss her temple.

I can’t do anything to help her friend. As far as I know, this Malakai has done nothing in Grove Hill, and I can’t take action if he hasn’t stepped out of line. That’s all there is to it.

CHAPTER 44

BETH

Wrapping my arms around Teigan and Delaney, I barely hold in my tears. I’ve missed them so much, but I can’t make them stay. I can’t rip them away from Mr. Future Serial Killer over there, but what I can do is make sure they know I’m always here if they need me.

“We’ve missed you so much, Bee!” Delaney shrieks as she squeezes me.

I snicker. “Missed you, too, runt.”

“We’re gonna see Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow, but let’s chill after, okay?” Teigan mutters as she pulls away.

I try to memorize how they look right now. Young, happy, and thriving. I need to keep this image in my mind. I feel the despair leaking from their impending future. Something terrible is going to happen when they go home, and there’s nothing I can do to save them.

And I have the feeling it involves Malakai Harris.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“It was nice to meet you officially, Beth,” Malakai says from where he’s leaning against his car, his hands stuffed in his letterman, a friendly smile on his face.

I wish I could say the sentiment was returned. Maybe then I could pretend this was all in my head and truly enjoy the rest of the time I have left with them.

“Night, guys! It was nice to meet you!” Aimee calls from her car and gives me a look to let me know she’s going back to my house, and I nod.

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