Page 67 of The Hate We Breathe
I’m a killer.
I’m…theirs.
Iwantto be theirs.
“Look at me.”My eyes shoot open in surprise. I hadn’t even realized that I’d shut them until Lex’s words. When my attention is back on him, he softens his tone, but still in a voice husky with intensity. “Don’t try to hide from me when you’re feeling like this,” he tells me. “I’m not someone you need to pretend with.”
No, he’s not. If anyone understands the pain inside me, the fears, the hurt, and the aching, bone-deep anger, it’s him. Unable to speak, I nod my understanding. His grip loosens even more until he’s merely just resting his skin against mine.
“No matter what happens,” Lex continues. “I will never leave you.Wewill never leave you,” he corrects.
My eyes begin to burn, but still I keep them peeled wide open. Tears are so fucking weak. There’s no point in crying. Crying solves nothing. My body doesn’t seem to care. It provides them regardless.
With a soft smile, Lex lifts his hand from my throat and strokes a thumb under one of my eyes, catching the first and only tear that breaks free on the pad of his finger. Keeping his gaze trained on mine, he brings it to his lips and sucks the liquid into his mouth. A rumbling groan vibrates between us. My breath catches.
Eyes on his lips, I lean closer. I need a connection, a way to forget—if only temporarily—how fucked up my life is. That’s what he’s offering. A safe haven.
Before our mouths can meet, however, there’s a sharp rap on the driver’s side window. Lex’s face goes rock hard when I nearly slam my head on the ceiling of the car in surprise. Urging me closer, he turns his head to the intruder. Resisting his silent commands to lean into him, I twist towards the window as well.
Gio stands outside with an expression that could be carved from granite. He doesn’t smile or wave, but instead steps back as I reach for the door handle. Lex doesn’t stop me when he sees who it is.
I pop the door open and swing my leg up and over Lex’s lap to slip down from the vehicle. Gio looks at me and then at Lex. For a moment, I think he’s angry that it looked like we were fooling around in the school parking lot. Instead of laying into us, though, he merely nods his head to the side.
“We have a problem,” is all he says.
Lex and I exchange a glance and in a moment, he’s out of the car too, hitting the lock button and slapping the door shut behind him. Together, we follow Gio to the aisle of cars. We’d gotten to school fairly early, but we must have been in there for longer than it’d felt like because the parking lot is mostly full now.
A crowd has gathered towards the back of the lot. Students all huddle around one point and as we approach, I hear Nolan bark out a sharp “Get back” in an angry voice. Almost in sync,every single person surrounding him takes a big step away. It allows Gio, Lex, and me enough room to slip past them.
That’s when I see it. Or rather…her.
“What the fuck?” I jump forward, but Gio catches my arm. I whirl on him, mouth open and ready to demand he release me, but he cuts me off before I can speak.
“Don’t touch,” he says, lowering his voice. “The cops have already been called. We can’t disturb the evidence.”
“Evidence?” The word sounds foreign to me, though I know what he means. Slowly, I turn back to the scene before me and the woman splayed out on the pavement.
When I’d first approached, I’d assumed she were alive, but now, upon closer inspection, I know the truth.
Her legs are twisted in an awkward angle, one obviously broken. Her face is pressed into the ground and her skin is pale and almost… gray. The most disturbing piece, however, is the crown of bright, vibrant blue hair at the top of her head.Just like mine.
Nolan stands over the girl’s body with his arms crossed over his massive chest and a dark glare keeping everyone at bay. I glance around and realize that people have their fucking phones out, taking pictures. Whirling to face them, I growl low in my throat.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” A few of the onlookers who don’t have their phones out to snap pictures and videos look at me anxiously and shuffle back. They’re still here, though, not saying a word about how wrong it is. “Put your fucking phones away!”
One guy snorts and rolls his eyes at my words. “Oh, come on, it’s probably not even real,” he argues. “It’s just a dummy someone left out here—that wig gives it away.” He lifts his phone again, pointing the camera down on the dead woman. “But it’ll make for a good story on my page.”
No, it isn’t, but then again, I wouldn’t expect this asshole to know what a real dead body looks like. He probably hasn’t ever seen one that wasn’t on TV. I have and so have the guys. I exchange a look with Gio whose expression remains that placid, emotionless mask.
I take a step towards the guy. “Delete the photos and get lost, or else.”
He scoffs. “Like I’m going to take orders fromyou?”
Lex steps up to my back. “Youwill,” he states, but I don’t need his backup.
Darting forward before he can stop me, I snatch the guy’s phone from his grip and drop it to the icy ground. Then, with a smile, I lift my foot and bring it down hard on the screen.
“Hey!” he shouts, shoving forward, and several other people back away, their phones disappearing from view. No doubt, they still have the videos and pictures saved.
