Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
“Where are you going?” I ask as he casually strolls out the door.
He lowers his mask over his eyes again. “I’ve got a … rendezvous with a particularly interesting friend.”
Lana
“Lana, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Irina says.
I pull my pillow away from my face and look at her, but her words doesn’t really register.
“Have you been here the entire night while we were out partying?” she asks, leaning against the doorjamb.
Well … yes. After what happened, I didn’t know where else to go, so I came straight to the sorority and hopped under the shower. But no amount of rinsing can get rid of this taste in my mouth.
“Sorry, I had to leave. Felt dizzy so I came back to my room to crash,” I lie.
But I don’t want her to know that someone on this campus knows I’m a killer.
And that he used me in exchange for his silence.
“You feeling okay?” she asks, sounding concerned.
“Yeah,” I reply, smiling as I tuck my hair behind my ear. My hand briefly lingers near the missing ribbon, and I swallow away the lump in my throat. That fucker has two of them now.
I wonder if she’ll notice.
“I can fix you something to drink if you want,” she says. “Or get you an ibuprofen.”
“I just need some rest,” I say. “I had a good time, though. Thank you.” I clear my throat. “Did you dance with a lot of guys? Snatch some hot dude to make out with?”
“Oh yeah, some hot guy started dancing with me halfway through the night.” She kicks off her heels and holds them with two fingers. “He was so fucking ripped that I had a hard time keeping my hands to myself.”
I smirk. “A successful night, then.”
“God, it was so good. I’m just missing my fur coat, but I don’t care. I’ll see if I can get it tomorrow. I’m way too drunk to care.” She giggles. “All I can think of is that dude with his hot suit.”
Suit.
My veins grow icy cold.
“Well, anyway, good night!” She sashays off, stumbling through the hallway as I turn around and face the ceiling, hearing my own heartbeat in my ears.
Fuck.
It must’ve been one of them. A suited-up guy is too much of a coincidence. No way any of the other students here at Spine Ridge would show up to an informal party wearing one. Was it one of his friends, or was it him? Did he see me dancing with Irina and Brooke and decide to go after them instead to get information about me?
“Fuck,” I mutter, punching the bed, but it doesn’t reduce my anger by even a little, so I grab my pillow and scream into it.
Some fucker out there knows exactly who I am and that I kill people for fun. And not only that, he fucking used it against me and turned me into a wet puddle with my own fucking knife.
It feels like the entire ceiling is caving in on me.
Why? Fucking why?
All I wanted was an outlet. I’m the princess of the family, the one who needs to excel, the one who’s supposed to take over my father’s grand business because he deems my brother irresponsible. He chose this college, not me. I was just here to study and be steamrolled into the company.
I just needed the release.
This one part of me that no one has to know about.
And now they do.
Sighing, I get out of bed and march downstairs toward the kitchen to grab a chocolate bar, munching on it until it’s all gone.
“Wow, and I thought you wanted to lose weight,” Jason says.
I frown when he steps into the kitchen, still wearing that white mask he got at the party. I threw mine in the trash immediately when I got home.
“How’d you get in here?” I ask.
“Hey, Lana!” Brooke waves from the hallway, her lipstick smeared and one of her broken heels in her hand.
“Well, that explains it,” I mutter, and I take another bite.
“Where were you? You disappeared on us out of nowhere,” Jason says, lifting the mask so it’s on top of his head.
“I’m gonna go upstairs and crash. G’night!” Brooke yells from the hallway.
“I was exploring the Phantom building,” I say.
“And? Did you find something interesting?”
“Nope,” I lie.
Not gonna bother him with the nitty-gritty details, especially not when I’m still trying to keep up that good-princess persona I have going for me.
“Bummer. I’d hoped skipping out on more dancing with me would’ve been worth your trouble,” he muses as he plants his hands on the counter beside me, trapping me. “Because I definitely missed you.”
“Did you, now?” I muse, raising a brow as I put my hands around his waist.
“We don’t need a party or the music to dance.” He lowers his mask again.
I snort. “Why are you still wearing that?”