Page 30 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

His phone chimes. “Fucking parents,” he whispers to the cat. He stands, placing a hand on the closet door to keep his balance.

It clicks, and I realize with horror that I hadn’t closed it all the way. Blood sings through my ears, blocking out my breathing.

But he doesn’t seem to notice. “Shoot, I’m gonna be late.”

He moves deeper into the apartment, grabs something, then hurries out. The door slams, the lock flips, and I let out a slow breath. Talk about a close one.

And then I realize he’s going to meet Sky. As in, right fucking now.

Baker waits for me across the street. His arms are folded over his chest, and I get the distinct impression that he’s trying to hide his amusement.

“Thought for sure I’d have to come to your rescue,” he says when I stop in front of him. “What happened?”

“He forgot a paper or something. I hid in the closet.”

He snorts. “You’re an idiot.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” I reply. “He’s going to meet her right now.”

“Well, there’s time to intercept him,” he says. “If we run toward school instead of toward the Fens.”

Yeah… that could work.

I nod sharply, and we take off.

Running brings back the strangest memories. Not bad ones, necessarily, but flashes of a past I’m not sure I’m proud of. Running with my friends, yes. The football and lacrosse teams in the fall and spring, staying in shape on the treadmill in the high school’s basement workout room when snow made the roads tough to travel.

I would slip out the house when my parents argued and run through the woods.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have abandoned Jake at the house. Sometimes he followed me, stumbling in my wake, but most of the time, I was alone.

“What’s the plan, exactly?” Baker asks.

People on the street dodge out of our way, but I’m not sure if it’s his large frame or the scowl on my face that does it. Half intimidating, half adored. The girls who came to our parties always tried to flirt with me. For a while, I leaned into it.

They wanted to fuck the Howl fighter, and I gave it to them.

I involuntarily shudder. The sex wasn’t the problem—it was that I didn’t care. Each lay was just another notch on the post, so to speak. None of them mattered.

We round the corner and come into view of the school. The gates are open—they have been since the dead girl’s boyfriend was arrested—and I immediately spot Sky. She’s gnawing her lip, staring down at her phone.

And it appears we beat Mitchel here, because she’s alone.

Almost like fate.

Her head jerks up, and she meets my stare. I’m not sure what I’m expecting—maybe her usual glare—but her eyes are wide.

It isn’t anger or annoyance on her face…

Her terror is familiar. Easily recognizable, like a favorite scent. But this feels off. Tainted, somehow. Her fear isn’t my doing.

She rushes toward me instead of away, and the world crackles around me. We’re in a jar filled with lightning, and I have tunnel vision.

Sky stops just in front of me, shoving her phone under my nose.

I snatch it and read the headline, and my stomach bottoms out.

Another girl reported missing in Boston.

---