The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play #1) - B.B. Reid Page 0,39

minutes made sense. Why would Ever, a boy who had everything, join a gang of murderers?

Inside the Range Rover, I turned the AC up as high as it would go, closed my eyes, and imagined it was the wind whipping at my face as I defied death. Suddenly, my heart was racing in a good way. My skin tingled as I chased the high. It felt better than ever before.

Because I’d finally found revenge.

A quarter mile from the school, on my way back to the palace, I spotted the Crown Vic. The tint shielded the driver, but I knew it was him. That left me with two choices. I could go home and tell Thomas what I knew or follow him and see what he was up to.

An hour later, I was trailing Ever through seedy New York neighborhoods until he turned down a street with an abandoned building at the end. There was no way I could go unseen, so I parked on the main road. It was a good thing this part of the city seemed deserted. A Range Rover wouldn’t be easy to miss. I hopped out and prayed his truck would still be there when I returned.

Jogging down the path, I spotted the Crown Vic parked among a sixties model Impala with gleaming black paint and chrome grilling, a red Porsche Cayman, and a black Camaro with white stripes. It was probably stupid—no, definitely stupid—but I inched closer until I reached the shadows hugging the condemned building.

With my back pressed against the side of the building, I sifted through the voices spilling over the moss and vine-covered threshold until I recognized one. There was a window above me, and if I stood on my tiptoes, I could see inside. I didn’t have to question if they’d kill me if I were caught.

My life had become one big irony. Rosalyn uprooted us from our home to protect me from these monsters only to have one of them living across the hall.

I’d laugh if I didn’t want to live.

I glanced up at the window again and realized I was much too curious for my own good. Standing on my tiptoes, I rested my fingers on the brick windowpane to keep myself balanced. I took in the intimate group of menacing men. I could hardly believe Ever was one of them, but there he was in all black with a skully cloaking his gorgeous hair. He had his mask in place as a man who looked like he ate babies raged. The tattoo on the back of his shaved skull marked him as Exiled.

There were three others. The one closest to me had brown hair swept back from his forehead with the sides shaved close. His back was to the window, so I couldn’t see his face, but I could see the mark at his nape. The other two stood in the shadows of the building, making it impossible to see their faces, but I was willing to bet they were Exiled.

My attention returned to Ever, and my heart stopped when I saw him staring straight at me. I ducked and considered what to do. It was too late to run. I could already hear them moving. I had no chance of making it to the car and even less of fighting them off, but I searched for a weapon anyway. There were bits of broken glass lying around, so I picked up the biggest one and ignored the pain when it bit into my hand.

Moments later, instead of fighting for my life, I listened as the cars started and drove away. I dropped the glass but waited an extra minute before peeking around the corner.

Ever was a mere foot away with his shoulder propped against the wall looking seconds away from strangling me. I screamed and landed on my ass.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded as he stalked me.

I crawled backward on my hands until I realized I couldn’t fight from this position. As soon as I hopped up, he gripped my biceps and turned our bodies, pressing my back against the wall.

“I asked you a question.”

“Let go of me!”

His fingers tightened, but when I grimaced, he immediately loosened them. Maybe he wouldn’t kill me after all.

“Why did you follow me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You were up to something, and I wanted to know what.”

His hands fell from my arms, and I was grateful. The rage in his eyes shook me to my core. “How much