Page 78 of Unmask
He frowned. Mason rarely frowned. That was Kreed’s full-time job. “I’m not sure I should show you.”
“No more secrets,” I reminded him.
“Fuck,” he hissed through his teeth, sparing his twin a glance as he slid the paper across the table.
I unfolded it, hands trembling. The handwriting was messy, scrawled as if it had been written in haste or fury, lacking any punctuation.
Ticktock, sweetheart, you’re on a timer
One more day before the stakes rise, and so will the price
No cops No Corvo No games
We’ll be in touch
My breath snagged in my throat, turning to glass. I stared at the ink like I could unwrite it. My fingers curled around the edges, creasing the paper. “They know I’m here,” I whispered.
“Son of a bitch,” Mason muttered, already grabbing his phone. His fingers flew across the screen as he stood. Across the room, Maddox’s posture changed in a second. His back peeled off the wall, his light-green eyes hardening as he started toward our table.
Poppy glanced between us, brows drawn together. “What’s going on? What is it?”
I pushed back from the table, the legs of my chair scraping loudly against the linoleum. I was standing before I even realized I’d moved. My knees wobbled beneath me, but I forced them to lock in place. “They sent me a message,” I said, voice hollow. “They’re watching me.”
Poppy’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Mason was already speaking low into the phone, voice clipped and hard. Probably calling Kreed. Or Evan. Or someone else on the Corvo payroll.
I stared at the note a second longer before balling it in my fist, my nails biting into the paper. This was their move. Their warning shot. They wanted me off balance. Shaken. Afraid. And it was working. Not for myself but for Kenny. They knew exactly where to stick the knife and twist it.
I couldn’t give them the satisfaction.
I wanted to find out who this fucker was, and if he or they were part of my father’s crewandhad betrayed him, I wanted him to hurt as I had, to feel pain and fear. He needed to taste his own medicine.
As Mason filled Maddox in, I slid my phone from my back pocket, fingers flying over the screen, and hit send. For the first time since this whole nightmare started, I meant it more than anything I’d ever said.
I want this asshole to pay. I want revenge.
17
KAYLOR
My phone vibrated in the middle of digital art class, the sound rattling the table so loudly that the guy next to me spared me a glance. Aside from the clicking of keys and mice, the class was generally quiet, which made the buzz of my phone amplify. I quickly snatched it off the desk, desperately wanting the text to be news about Kenny.
Brock’s name popped up on the screen. Using face recognition, I unlocked my phone, my eyes scanning over the message. For a second, I’d forgotten my earlier text at lunch and the damn note, hope of something positive clouding all other thoughts, but it all came crashing back as I read my cousin’s response.
Brock:Are we talking the Ravens or the kidnappers?
Me:Whoever was stupid enough to take my best friend.
Brock:And if you don’t like what we find?
Me:It doesn’t matter who. They dug their grave the moment they messed with my friends.
Perhaps I was more like Brock than I realized.
I snuck a quick glance around the room to make sure no one caught me on my phone. It went off again, and I assumed my cousin sent another text, but no, it was a message from Rusty. Word of Kenny’s disappearance had probably gotten to him, and he was freaking out, as he probably should.
Rusty:I’m sending someone to pick you up after school.
