he hurt you?” I asked in a low voice.
She hesitated, and dread crawled through me. “Not physically. He-he drugged me. Twice. And it was him. Be-behind all the other stuff.” Her voice trembled.
I spoke very calmly. “Listen to me. I want you to go and wait for me in my car. Can you do that?” She nodded, and I ran a reassuring hand down her back before I released her. “You’re safe now,” I murmured, before glancing over at Preston. He nodded, coming forwards and taking hold of her arm gently, and I handed him my keys before I returned my attention to a struggling Dylan, who was being restrained by a masked Kian.
“Everyone else can leave us.” I raised my voice. “This is between me and Rossiter.”
“I’m staying.” Kian’s voice was threaded with excitement, and it almost brought a smile to my face. Almost.
“I’ll keep an eye on the grandma,” Lena muttered, before following the others down the side of the house. Once they were gone, I stretched out my arms, cracking my knuckles, enjoying the anticipation, before I nodded at Kian to release Dylan.
“I’ll give you a ten-second head start. Just like you did for Raine. Ten…”
As Dylan stumbled away from us, I laughed, letting him run down the garden, losing himself in the shadows. “Make sure he doesn’t escape down the side of the house,” I told Kian, then flicked the switch on my mask to turn it off.
“On it, but I’m playing, too.”
Instead of answering, I started stalking down the garden, Kian moving down the opposite side, ready to block Dylan if he made a run for it. Both of us moved silently, listening out for the telltale sound of Dylan’s breathing.
There.
The panicked sound carried across the night air, and I struck at the dark shadow crouched beside the hedge, grabbing him easily. “You picked the wrong girl for your sick obsession,” I gritted out, as I dragged him back up towards the house, throwing him down on the grass. He collapsed in a heap like the coward he was, whimpering and covering his face.
“Don’t hurt me.” His pathetic, shaky voice grated on me, and it was all I could do to restrain myself from—
He lunged for me, something sharp and metallic gleaming in his hand. I twisted away at the last moment, my reflexes honed from countless fights at the bowl, and snapped his arm back.
The howl he let out was almost inhumane.
“You might wanna get that arm looked at,” I suggested, swiping his knees from under him so he fell to the ground. His arm dangled uselessly, a weird lump protruding from under the sleeve of his jumper, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Instead, I continued. “You ever come near Raine again and it won’t just be your arm that’s broken. Every. Fucking. Bone. In your body will be broken. Not only that, but do you know who Raine’s closest friend is?” I paused for a moment. “Lena Drummond. I don’t think I need to remind you just how powerful the Drummond family are.”
Kicking at the ground, I saw the needle glinting in the weak glow of the security light. “You tried to tranq me? Why? Why did you fucking target Raine?”
Dylan groaned, his eyes unfocused.
“You fucking—” Before I could stop myself, I brought my Nike-clad foot down, booting him in the ribs. Dimly, I became aware of Kian pulling me backwards. Only after he’d booted Dylan, too.
“Carter. Stop,” he said urgently. “Raine.”
My vision cleared, and I straightened up. Crushing the needle underfoot, I spun on my heel and jogged away from Dylan, towards my truck. Towards Raine.
She was all that mattered, now.
40
Standing with Kian and Xavier at the top of the steps at the entrance to Alstone High on Monday, everything was the same, yet different. I accepted the praise from students as they passed us, congratulating us on our win, but the football game seemed like it had happened so long ago. I’d driven Raine to school this morning, as I would every morning, and I could tell the trauma of the last couple of days was still getting to her. She’d spent the last two nights in my bed, not wanting to be alone while her aunt was working overnight, plagued by nightmares that I did my hardest to soothe away. It was no surprise—Dylan Rossiter had completely blindsided all of us. The one good thing about it all, though? There was a connection between me and Raine that