Page 57 of Boys Who Taint

The knife falls from my hand and clatters on the wood, and he swiftly kicks it away, out of sight.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I already told you. I’m the ghost that haunts your nightmares.”

God, even when all he does is whisper, it still makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up because of how unholy it feels.

I try to glance over my shoulder, but he abruptly adjusts his position and pushes the knife further against my throat, until I can feel it when I swallow.

“Don’t look. You look at me, and it ends right here.”

I suck in a breath through my teeth. “What do you want?”

He breathes into my ear. “You’re asking the wrong question.”

My entire body shivers as his arm tightens around me, fingers digging into my skin. “I don’t—”

“What did you want? What did you crave?” he whispers.

It slides off my tongue like a sworn promise. “Revenge.”

“Exactly.” I can almost hear him smile. “The question is what are you prepared to give to get it? How much are you willing to sacrifice to end Levi’s life?”

“How do you know I want him dead?” I ask.

The knife is dangerously close to my skin. “How do you think?”

“You were in my room.”

“I wasinyourlife.”

I swallow against the blade, feeling the metal push down along with my muscles.

“You know about Mavis,” I mutter.

He tilts his head. “I wastherewhen she died.”

My heart stops momentarily.

The eyes I saw in the woods that night.

Was it him?

“I’ve been watching you far longer than you can imagine. And I’m willing to kill to get what I want … What I’ve always yearned for.”

“Me,” I murmur.

He nods against my skin. “Now tell me how much you’re willing to give.”

I shudder in place as blood droplets begin to roll down his arm right where I cut him.

Am I willing? Am I capable? Could I murder another human being?

Or do I just want to have the choice taken away from me so badly that I’d agree to anything as long as it would spare me of the guilt I’d have to carry for the rest of my life for killing the one person I once trusted more than anyone else?

“You already made your decision when you placed that paper on the stool … now use your words.”

I swallow away the lump in my throat.

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