Page 28 of Cruel Crypts

“Home. I assume that’s where you were headed since there’s nothing else in this direction?” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with another one of his obnoxious rap songs.

“Yes. Thank you.” I leaned back against the headrest. As much as I hated to admit it, this car had really grown on me. I mean, it could definitely use a splash of colour, but it was so comfortable. I shouldn’t get too used to it, though.

“Why don’t you have a car?” he asked suddenly.

“In what universe can I afford a car? Anyway, I can’t drive, so it’s irrelevant.”

“You can’t drive?” His voice was incredulous, and I rolled my eyes.

“No. Funnily enough, I couldn’t afford driving lessons either. It might have escaped your notice, but my mum and I aren’t exactly rolling in money.” Someone like him could never hope to understand what it was like to have to prioritise your spending, to make every penny count, to choose between going hungry or paying the gas bill.

There was only silence at my words, and I didn’t bother to try and fill it.

When we reached the house, he glanced over at me. “What are you doing today?”

Oh. I suddenly realised what this was all about. His suspicions had been raised when he found me going through his room, and he was here to keep an eye on me. Well, too bad for him I had no nefarious plans today.

“Why? What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be hanging out with your little group of friends? You spend way too much time here as it is.”

He lunged across the car, right into my space. “Yeah, and whose fault is that?”

“Notmine. I didn’t ask your mum to take me to and from school every day. Believe me, if there was another option, I’d take it.”

“Another option.” A thoughtful look came over his face. “How quick are you at learning new things?”

I stared at him. “What? I don’t know. Why?”

A slow smile curved over his lips. “You’re going to learn how to drive.”

18

ELENA

Imust have misheard him. Surely he didn’t mean that he was going to teach me?

As if he’d read my mind, he smirked at me, shifting back into his seat. “Yeah, not me. No, what’s gonna happen is I’m going to contact a friend of my dad’s who does intensive one-week driving courses with a test at the end. As much as I dislike the thought of you taking even more money from my parents, this’ll be worth it because it means that when you pass, I can move into the crypts like I’d planned and stop playing fucking chauffeur to you.”

“But I still won’t have a car,” I pointed out.

“There’s an old one in the garage that I used when I was learning. I’m sure you can use it. Come with me. You need to pass at the end of the week, which means you’d better be prepared.”

“I was going to cycle to the country club.”

That stopped him in his tracks. “Why? You’re not a member. The only reason you got to go there the other evening was because you were my dad’s guest.” He spat the word “guest.”

“I want to look for a job.”

“What the fuck?”

The shock on his face made me smile—I couldn’t have hidden it if I’d tried. He narrowed his eyes at me. “They’ll never give you a job.”

I reached for the door handle. “We’ll see.”

“Fucking fine. Come with me now, and I’ll drive you to the club after. Even though it’s a waste of your fucking time and mine.”

For someone who was so resentful of driving me around, he sure seemed happy to offer to take me everywhere today. I wasn’t above taking advantage of the situation, especially because I knew he was doing it for his own reasons, and they had nothing to do with being nice.

“Okay.”

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