the other rites, you’ll work with a partner. There’s a caretaker on site and we’re instructed to leave the marks between nine p.m. and three a.m. this Tuesday.”
“On a school night?” I blurt. All their eyes shift to me in varying degrees of amusement. One sentence just confirmed my excruciating lameness. It’s just hard getting out of the house at night with my parents watching. “Never mind. I’ll figure it out.”
Emory calls the meeting to a close and I stand, grabbing my bag. I turn to Reyn, excited that we have an excuse to finally talk, but he’s already filtering out the door behind Caroline. I watch, stomach twisting in disappointment as he leaves. It’s almost as bad as that night of the bonfire, wondering if I’ve done something wrong. Even if I hadn’t, it just always feels like all of Reyn’s problems are because of me.
“Hey.” Emory bumps our shoulders together once everyone else has left. “I can probably talk to Mom and Dad, try to get you an alibi.”
“Oh.” I try to play off my sullen mood. “No, it’s okay. I can wing it.” He’s already talking to them about Reyn. If I want to be treated as an equal, I can’t keep counting on Emory to have all my difficult discussions.
“Well, other than myself, Reyn is the most likely to get in and out of there with no trouble.” We walk toward the staircase and he turns to lock the door with his key. “I’m going with Aubrey.”
“You really like her, huh?”
His cheeks tint but he shrugs like it’s no big deal. “She’s cool. Way less demanding than Campbell. Less mean, too. Plus, she’s…” he looks at me and I see him mentally shift gears from whatever other compliment he was going to give her, “… uh, cool.”
“Right.” My eyes narrow and for a split second, I wonder what he was about to say. What do guys like in a girl, anyway? Of course, then I’d have to live with the knowledge of my brother liking something about a girl. Blech. “Well, for what it’s worth, I like her, too.”
He gives me a small grin. “Honestly, that’s worth more than you’d think.”
There’s a beat where I want so badly to tell him about Reyn. To share this enormous, all encompassing, life-changing thing I’m going through. The confession is like fire on the tip of my tongue. Maybe he wouldn’t really care. We’re all friends now. We’re Devils. Emory likes Reyn.
But I know better.
Emory’s approval has limitations. He’s getting something out of this—his best friend back. And I’m getting something too—the article. If he scratched the surface on my relationship with Reyn, god knows what else would come out.
“Reyn and I will do fine,” I say. “The odds of getting caught are pretty slim.”
“He’s uniquely skilled for this type of prank.” We reach the top of the stairs, but before we go outside, he says, “One thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
He turns to me, face serious. “You guys need to get in, leave your mark, and get out. Don’t let him take anything. I know for a fact they inventory everything in there. It’s a historic home, filled with historic Preston Prep artifacts. It’s like putting a fat kid in a candy shop, but he needs to keep his hands to himself.”
The snort happens without warning, and I slap a hand over my mouth and nose. It’s not the candy shop comment that gets me laughing. It’s the idea of Reyn keeping his hands to himself. I know for a fact that’s something he struggles with.
“I’ll try to keep him in line,” I reply, “or distract him somehow.”
He grins. “Thanks V. You know, I’m really glad we’re doing this together. The three of us? It’s like old times, before—”
“I’m glad, too,” I finish before he can wallow in the memory of what happened. It’s the first time that the thought of actually completing this article gives me pause. Emory and I have built this fragile, new trust with one another, and the thought of breaking it makes my chest ache. He’s opening up to me, about Aubrey and Reyn, and who knows. Maybe if he had a little more time to get used to the idea, I could open up to him about Reyn, too.
Am I really ready to burn that all down?
I’m still thinking about it that evening as I add the details of the new rite to my notes, staring at all the material I’ve collected. Because of