Evanescent - By Addison Moore Page 0,30

one.

She shakes her head in distress. Crap. The last thing I wanted was to worry Laken.

I continue down the line before jogging out to meet with the team.

Just touching her for that brief moment enlivened me in ways that only last summer I would have denied existed. “True love” was just some hippy-dippy concept that came from the land of unicorns and rainbows.

A slow spreading grin takes over as I crush my helmet over my head.

I wonder if she felt that spark? If she feels anything at all for me? Who knows? Tonight just might shape up to be the luckiest night of my life.

“Flanders.” Flynn barks while shoving his hand into my shoulder. We step outside the huddle for a moment. “Found an entire tribe of the fuckers setting up camp by Olsen Creek. Mostly men, but some jacked up women—a few girls.” He says it with the hint of a greasy smile, and this unnerves me.

Flynn Masterson should be required to stay ten feet from all girls on the planet, living or dead.

“The Counts want them all gone—they just gave the order.”

“All?” His brows pitch. “With what, your bad breath?”

“I thought maybe you could use your killer charm. Hit on them and they’ll voluntarily off themselves.”

“Shit. We need to act, and we need to act now. You need to stall.”

“If I don’t flush them out before Christmas, the Counts will move on. They’ll assign the job to someone else.” And, in a way, I wish they would.

Flynn sighs, spraying a white film through his nostrils.

“Dude.” He shakes his head. “You must have pissed them off pretty good. Sounds like they’re sending you off on a suicide mission.”

I cast a quick glance into the bleachers and spot Wes. The harsh stadium lights bleach him out a dull grey like stainless steel.

“I don’t know about a suicide mission,” I say. “Sounds more like murder.”

Eradicate the Spectators—off me in the process. I can think of one person that would benefit.

I watch as Laken smiles and waves in the distance, swaying her hips for the crowd.

Wes has found a way to eliminate more than the Spectators from this planet. He’s engineered the perfect plan to make sure I’m one of the casualties.

Well played Wes, but the game isn’t over yet.

Not by a long shot.

Once the bodies and debris clear off the field, Melville House becomes the central location for debauchery. Most of the resident jocks are holed up at Melville, so it only makes sense. Plus, it’s the most distal male dorm on campus, and hardly any of the night patrol gives a shit what goes on down here. I guess they figure enough cash runs through this place, the kids are entitled to a little fun. Most of the house parents are former residents, so they tend to turn a blind eye once the beer starts to flow, and blunts brighten the periphery like a string of Christmas lights. Rumor has it the house parents have been known to stock a liquor cabinet or two.

Bodies file into Melville and stream throughout the overgrown room like swarms of locusts. I wish it were empty. That it was only Laken and me. I wonder if that will ever happen, if Laken and I will ever happen. If Wes gets his memory restored, I’m pretty sure she’ll renew her relationship with him. I’ll have to savor those stolen moments of the two of us in my bedroom. She’s been staying with me every night this week. Jen seems clueless, and Hattie doesn’t care, but something tells me if Wes found out, he’d have my ass on a pole.

“So I got my dress.” Grayson appears from nowhere. Her blonde hair holds the slight scent of bleach as she moves in close, tucking her hip into mine. “It’s actually teal, so forget all about the turquoise. We’ll need to get you a tie to match. Don’t fuck this up, kay? I’ve got a professional photographer who might use us in a print ad if I play my cards right.”

I bet “playing her cards right” includes entertaining him in a horizontal position later in the evening. Although she slept with Flynn while I was with her for less than a print ad. Or at least I thought I was with her. Not sure what I was doing in the first place.

Her blood red lips keep yapping, but all I can think about is how I will most assuredly “fuck things up” because I didn’t even realize there