38

Evan

Piper wants me to let her friends go. I want to give her that. I want to give her the world and watch as she burns it to the ground around us.

She’s capable of that, and I can’t wait until she realizes it. There is nothing more exciting than watching someone reach their potential, but everything is so much different with Piper. It’s not like watching Caleb, Owen, and Matt realize they wanted to do this, too. They don’t mean to me what she does.

But I can’t give her this. I can’t let her friends go because as soon as Hazel and Priya go, they will talk. We’ll be hunted like foxes. I won’t ever be on the wrong side of the food chain.

“Piper,” I say. “You know I can’t do that. Your friends are going to go straight to the police.”

She turns to face them, her eyes wide and pleading. “They won’t. They’ll make something up; they’ll stagger their returns and tell everyone they couldn’t cut it on their own. No one has to know about this.”

Hazel nods her head fiercely, tears running down her cowardly face. She wouldn’t say anything, either, because she only thinks of herself. Priya is different; she would do the right thing, bound by morals and sticking to laws. Dull. Safe. Hideous.

My money is on Priya to squeal in the first five minutes. She’ll be straight down at the station before I’ve even had time to skip town. I’m not risking everything for these people. I don’t care if they live or die. I only care that I start again with Piper and Caleb.

“Babe, you don’t believe that,” I tell her. “I don’t want you to lie to me ever again.”

She lowers her hands from my face and turns her head back to me. “Evan, I need this from you. Please just give me this.”

“Don’t you see? This is the last thing before we can all get out of here.”

“Who is we?” she asks.

“Me, you, and Caleb.” Who does she think it is? “Piper, the world is ours.”

“I… Evan, no, this isn’t right.”

“Hush. I can see it in you, screaming to escape. Don’t worry and don’t think. I’ll show you. I’ll show you everything.”

Blinking through tears in her eyes, she drops her shoulders. “I’m not a killer. I could never hurt anyone.”

Caleb laughs. “I told you we should have sent her to room zero before you decided to bring her in on this, man.”

“Shut up, Caleb!” I snap.

“I’m just saying, Evan. It would have been nice to know what she’s capable of beforehand.”

“I know what she’s capable of. She just doesn’t yet. Trust me, I’m right about this.”

Maybe I should have let Piper get a taste for the kill before I did this, so she would know firsthand what it feels like to be a god, but I couldn’t do it. What if she didn’t win?

She’s like a doll—a beautiful, petite doll who has no idea of the fierce, deadly woman hiding within. Her ability to stay calm and even crack jokes in the face of terror proves everything I need to know for now.

Piper is one of us. I can’t wait for her to realize it.

“Evan, we need to go,” Matt snaps. In the distance, I hear the faint sound of sirens. The fire is raging now, smoke filling the sky.

Another pane of glass from the windows at the front is smashed out. I grin.

So what if there’s years of hard work being burned to the ground? It was beginning to get dull anyway. I need more. I want to do something different next. I don’t even know what that is, but the possibilities are endless, only restricted by my imagination. Thankfully I have a good imagination.

It’s been a hot summer; there are forest fire warnings and barbecue bans all across town. I knew the second Piper suggested setting the place alight that it wouldn’t take long for the fire department to come. But that only makes it more thrilling. It’s time-sensitive. We’re minutes from being caught, and this isn’t over yet.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins.

“I’m not leaving without her! End this and let’s go,” I tell him.

“No, you’re insane. We can’t take her. She’s a damn liability, man. Why can’t you see that?” Matt shouts.

I turn as he throws his hands up, shaking his head at me with disgust plaguing his face.

How dare he.

My stomach is burning hotter than the building next to me. I reach out and grab Caleb’s gun. Without hesitation, I aim and shoot.

Matt falls to the ground. The wound in the center of his forehead seeps blood.

Turning my gaze to Caleb and Owen, I ask, “Either of you want to leave her behind?”

Caleb’s response is immediate. He shakes his head. But Owen hesitates.

“Owen?”

“Man, I’m on your side. I always am. But there are people looking for her, so don’t you think we have a better chance of getting away if the cops turn up here and find all of them dead?”

Wrong answer.

I don’t hesitate that time, either.

Owen’s body slams to the gravel, blood trickling from the hole in his chest.

Looking up at Caleb, I say, “Why do they have to be stupid?”

He opens his mouth and snaps it shut. With wide eyes, he stares at Owen and Matt’s lifeless bodies.

“Caleb?” I prompt.

Oh God, don’t tell me he’s upset by this?

Shaking his head, he glances up and smirks. I get the old him back. Who cares if Matt and Owen are dead? They had no major role, merely right-hand men, there to do as they were told. It’s me and Caleb who drives this. We do all the real work, the thinking. We’re responsible for what we’ve created. Without us, Matt and Owen would be bored out of their minds, playing good little citizens and always wanting something more.

They would also still be alive, but what’s the point in living if you’re stuck inside a bubble of what you should do?

Caleb clears his throat. “Matt has always been stupid. I’m surprised by Owen, though. I thought he was more dedicated than that. While I can’t disagree that it would be easier without her, we both know there is no fun in easy.”

He gets it. He’s always been my right-hand man. I can count on him.

“Do you want to chase them or…?”

I swing around. Piper, Hazel, and Priya are running.

Sighing, I shake my head. “My poor Piper hasn’t realized she’s not the lamb anymore.”

“How much more of a head start are you going to give them?”

“Five, four, three, two, one.” I smirk at him and step over Lucie and Theo’s bodies. “Let’s get my girl.”

We take off, sprinting toward the woods where they’re now lost. I know the forest like the back of my hand. They won’t get far.