my mind’s eye.
Tomorrow they’re gonna find out I’m gone and be humiliated. The whole school will know I got away. That I was undefeated by the so-called Night Keepers.
When I’d plucked forty three cards out of the water, I waded back to shore, shivering and frozen to the bone. I picked up the last of the cards on the beach, stacking them together and breathing a sigh of relief as I finished the task they’d set. It had taken me ages and more than one student had stopped to gawk at me or take photos. They’d all received my middle finger and as many cuss words as I could fit into a sentence before they made it out of earshot. I may not have been able to throw shit at the Night Keepers, but every other dickwad in this school was fair game.
I pushed my feet into my shoes, shrugging on my blazer and balling up the rest of my clothes in my hands. I was dripping wet and didn’t see the point in putting it all back on. I was going straight to the shower where I’d stand under a burning hot stream until I could feel my body again.
Tonight, Tatum. Just hold on until tonight.
***
I let Mila head to dinner before me then spent the next fifteen minutes frantically packing a bag. There was no way I could bring my suitcase tonight, but I was willing to abandon clothes in favour of my freedom.
I put the essentials into my backpack then headed out of Beech House, waiting until the coast was clear and jogging around to the back of the building. I hung my pack up in a tree out of sight then hurried back to the path with my heart in my throat.
Luck was on my side, because no one was around and my plan was coming the hell together. I’d left a note for Mila tucked inside her English textbook to say goodbye. I didn’t wanna tell her the truth and get her in trouble with the Night Keepers if they thought she knew. And she wouldn’t open that book until third period tomorrow. By then, I’d be long gone. And that note would serve as evidence that she never knew a thing about my escape plan.
I made it to the Redwood Dining Hall with a goddamn skip in my step, but had to school my features into downtrodden misery as I pushed my way inside.
That’s it Tatum, keep giving them the sad eyes and they’ll think you’re just a poor little bird with a broken wing, unable to fly. But I was gonna fly bitches. And I was gonna kick a few heads on the way out too.
I’d put on a short little black swing dress that showed off my cleavage - and my scraped up legs – and my feet were clad in white canvas shoes. Not the sort of outfit anyone would suspect me to run anywhere in. But guess what losers? I was going to run into the night like a fox in the shadows. I’d also parted my hair into pigtails to finish off the innocent yet hot look I was going for, aiming to distract hard tonight.
I didn’t wait to be summoned, I strode on up to the Night Keepers’ table and tossed the deck of cards down in front of Saint. It was still wet from the lake and made a plap sound as it hit the surface. He didn’t like that at all.
Saint shoved his plate away from it with a snarl, looking up at me with his teeth bared. He looked like he was actually going to take a bite out of me and some dark part of me wondered what that would be like. I bet I could bite him harder.
“Count them,” he ordered Kyan, clearly not wanting to touch the deck.
Kyan fished the cards up, counting them out one at a time while his eyes remained on me. On my tits to be specific. And I didn’t mind that for once. I was wearing this dress as a distraction after all. Anything to keep them from seeing a single flicker of my plan gleaming in my eyes. The push-up bra may have been a step too far. But the way Kyan wet his lips said it wasn’t. I swear he wasn’t even really counting as he finally placed the last card down and announced it was a full deck.
I turned to walk away to join