Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Despite the intricate green-and-blue mask covering half her face, it did nothing to hide that tawny fringe or her dreamy hazel eyes. There was no mistaking it. We were looking at Everleigh Starling.
“Turn it off! Take that down!” Everleigh ran at the projector, then doubled back. Her ankle bent, tipping her off her high heels. “Ahh!” She crashed hard on the floor—dazed in the wake of her classmates’ howling laughter. Forcing herself up, she raced to the broom closet. The projector was high up on a window ledge, without a ladder, it wasn’t coming down anytime soon.
Everleigh emerged with a broom. Eyes wild and bruise already beginning to color her chin, she went at the projector—shrieking her head off as she tried and failed to knock it down.
Katie might’ve helped her if she wasn’t standing in dumbfounded shock at the talents of the Book Lady.
“Everleigh did not mention this to any of her friends in HapApp of course,” I said. “She’s a lot smarter than the rest of them. She didn’t reveal any secrets that could sink her, and I read through hours of old texts. Turns out she has a reason to be cautious. That’s how it goes when you lead a second life.”
“But the Book Lady,” he murmured, neck twisting to follow a position she was tangled up in. “She’s not just selling sex, but she’s selling it in all the positions of the Kama Sutra? No one could possibly do all sixty-four. Some of those you’ve got to do a lot of stretching beforehand, and you still end up popping your back out.”
I narrowed on him amid the chaos. “How would you know that exactly?”
Grinning, he winked at me—seriously risking injury. “You can’t get jealous when you spent all last night benefiting from my experience.”
“Everything you’ve done with those girls, you’re doing with me. I will be who you think of when you remember the vadavaka position.”
Face grave, he held a hand over his chest. “Harsh punishment, Sinclair, but I bravely accept it.”
I laughed, bumping hips with him. Wilder bent down to kiss me.
“Who did this!”
Katie popped the bubble we tried to close ourselves up in. I refocused and landed on her dragging the ladder out of the janitor’s closet. One of the Handmaidens was thinking clearly—too bad for me.
Everleigh ran to help her and tripped again. Alice’s pudding cup exploded on her head, dripping vanilla crème on that fringe. Within seconds, the entire cafeteria was pelting her with food. Everleigh lay there on the floor and straight bawled.
Wilder cringed. “This is almost hard to watch.”
“Is it?” I cocked my head, searching for an ounce of sympathy. “I didn’t find secrets in her old messages, but I did find the conversations Everleigh, Piper, Gabriella, and Saylor had about my sister when the school was torturing her. Everleigh in particular thought Owen’s website and the video of her getting sexually assaulted was hilarious. She made a bet on how long before Winter left school. Or blew her brains out. None of them thought she’d last the first semester.”
Alice threw a whole tray at her head. I didn’t know what the beef was between those two, but Everleigh must’ve served it up big.
“Hmm,” I said while Everleigh cried harder. “You ask me, I went too easy on them.”
“Stop it!” Katie screeched. She fell on Everleigh, shielding her. “You monsters! What is wrong with you?” She found me through the crowd. “Luna? Luna! Help us!”
I bit off a groan. Helping Everleigh Starling was the last thing I wanted to do, but I couldn’t blow Katie off. She delivered Levi a punishment worse than I could ever come up with by taking away everything a Royal cares about. And she did that for my sister. I couldn’t walk away when she asked me for help.
I made to go.
“Don’t,” Wilder said, holding his arm out. “They’re throwing everything they can get their hands on. I won’t have you in the line of fire. I’ve got it.”
Wilder pushed through the crowd. Calm and imposing, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Katie and Everleigh. The shouting, laughing, and food-throwing slowed as he hefted the ladder and climbed up to get the projector. Like I said, a guy that could hack your bank accounts, put you on the sex offender registry, and expose all your secrets, wasn’t a guy to make your enemy.
I took my chance to run across and help them up. I shouted shame on you and other bullshit as I helped Katie and Everleigh escape. Everleigh got outside and kept running, her wails leaving a trail that followed her out into the parking lot. I doubted anyone would see her for the rest of the day. Or the week.
“Holy shit,” Katie cried. “I can’t believe— Who is doing these things!”