Tray drove us to school and got into his own vehicle. A second later, he peeled out of the parking lot and I stewed. I knew he wanted me to follow him, but Tray hadn’t made that demand.

So, I just sat there, in my car and thought of my options: follow Tray back to his house or go home.

I chose to go home. I needed another shower and a change of clothes. Plus, I could do with some peace and quiet. Tray couldn’t get mad at me for going home; he’d be irritated that I didn’t follow him, but would be livid if I went to Pedlam.

So I went home. Austin was downstairs and I assume he was hanging out with friends—I could hear other voices, including a few girls. Interesting. I made a mental note to go down and embarrass him later. I couldn’t do it now, not when my emotional wiring was so frayed.

“Hey, honey.” Shelley bustled around the kitchen.

“Hi,” I replied, hopping onto a stool, “what are you doing?”

“Oh, Austin brought a bunch of his friends home. He never acts like it, but it means a lot to him if I prepare some food for them. Gotta do it, all those kids like to eat, you know.”

I grinned. “He got a girlfriend down there?”

Shelley sent a radiant wink and a grin my way. “That’s my thinking too. Maybe we should ‘investigate’ later, hmmm?”

“Looks like homemade pizza,” I murmured, watching her take a pan out of the oven.

“Oh, hmm mmm. Austin’s favorite. Mandy always liked the same. They have the same tastes in a lot of ways. Pizza, lasagna, and now Mandy loves salads. Poor thing.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Taryn. I forgot to ask how your friend is. The one in the hospital?”

“Uh—” I didn’t even know, except that he was a liar. “He’s…in rare form again,” I replied, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Oh good. I was worried about you, you know. I know that you’re having a hard time with moving here from Pedlam. You must have a bunch of good friends back there. I’m sure you miss it.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, realizing that I did. At times I missed it so much that it was painful. Right now I wished I could just turn my back on it, forget it ever existed, but it was hard.

“Hey, I was thinking,” Shelley said brightly. “Why don’t you and I go swimming again this evening? You know, after Austin and his friends eat and everything? I thought it would be fun. What do you think?”

“I—” I started, but she interrupted me before I could blow her off.

“Great! Let’s plan on heading out in two hours.” Then she was at the stairway, calling, “Austin! The pizza’s done, guys. Come and get it.”

A second later, I had just enough time to step out of the way when Austin and five pubescent boys and three girls rushed upstairs, zeroing in on the pizza in record time.

The girls were slower, looking a bit uncertainly at the pizza. I knew how they were feeling. They wanted it, they were salivating for it, but being skinny meant not eating. Especially in front of boys, who were inhaling the food without chewing.

“Hey, your sis is hot, man!” one guy said, his mouth moving around a mouthful of pizza. He nudged Austin. “You never told us that.”

The girls were staring at me intently, raking me up and down, checking me out.

“Shut up, dick,” Austin retorted, wiping his mouth.

“Austin,” Shelley reprimanded, looking stern, but just failing. You could see the way she adored her son.

“Whatever.” Austin rolled his eyes. “Mom, where’s the pop?”

“Oh. I’ll go and grab some. I left them in the car.”

“Why don’t Austin and all his friends go and get them?” I suggested, staring down one of his friends, seeing a hand reaching out to cop a feel, he was getting perilously close to my ass for his own livelihood.

“Oh, come on!” Austin cried out.

“Go,” I ordered. And they went, but Austin flicked me off—it was becoming his favorite gesture—just as they slipped out the door.

I looked at the girls. “Okay. Quick, grab a few pieces and head downstairs. I’ll hold ‘em off for a while.”

Each looked gratefully at me, giving me looks of godlike idolatry as they grabbed their plates and darted downstairs.

“Well,” Shelley gave me an appraising look, “I didn’t even think of that.”

I leaned a hip against the counter. “I’m a girl and I remember what it was like when I was that age.”

Pretty soon, the guys bounded back inside, each with a twenty-four pack in their arms. Unloading them on the counter, they each grabbed another piece of pizza. I tapped one of the boxes. “These can go in the pantry, where the pop always goes.” I gave Austin a pointed glare. The kid was testing the boundaries right now, he knew where they went. I knew he was only acting like this because his friends were here, but Shelley was just letting him get away with it.

Fine. I’ll be the bitch.

Grumbling, Austin showed them where to go—half of the guys knew where they went anyway—and when they came back, I saw his hand slowly raising, his finger was inching upwards…

“If that finger touches the air, you’re computer’s going to mysteriously come down with a virus and all your porn’s going to be gone.”

The finger stayed in place, and the hand was lowered back to his side, but he still glared at me.

The rest of the little dudes inched away from me. The one who tried to touch my ass suddenly looked like the pizza had gone down the wrong tube.

“Whatever.” Austin shrugged, saving face, and then they grabbed the rest of the pizza, some pop, and headed back downstairs.

Shelley was fighting back a grin and burst out laughing the second they were around the corner.

“Oh, dear. I shouldn’t be laughing, but I’ve never seen Austin handled like that. I’ve never been able to get him to do anything.”

I shrugged and went to my own room. It should’ve been her job, not mine or Mandy’s. We weren’t the parents.

When I got to my room, I sat at my desk and did homework. I worked for a good hour straight, getting most of everything done, including a paper that’s due at the end of the semester in psychology. Mrs. Maslow would be so proud—it was on Pavlov’s behavioral conditioning. Ivan and his dogs had nothing on him and those little rats.

“Taryn.” Shelley knocked and poked her head through. “You think you’ll be ready to go pretty soon?”

I checked my phone, no calls. Thank God.

“Yeah, give me five minutes,” I replied, starting to look forward to a good swim.

A moment later we were in the car and Shelley was pulling back out into the road. She was so excited, swimming just cleared her head and she loved that it was something we could do together. And she loved how Austin and I seemed to have bonded. Really. His friends couldn’t shut up about me, they thought I was so cool. She’d heard it herself, when she went down to hang out with them and watch a movie. She talked the entire way. I stayed silent.

Holy hell, the water felt great. It felt great to do my own thing again. I spent an hour on the diving boards and two hours doing laps. I felt alive when I pulled myself out.

I saw Shelley at a patio table, talking with a slim, older guy. He looked to be in his thirties, and he didn’t look half bad. I saw the shoulders and knew he was a swimmer or had been a swimmer.

“Taryn!” Shelley gushed, extending a hand to me and pulling me to her side. “This is Mr. Greenly. You know, the coach I was telling you about.”

“Hi,” I said stiffly, feeling uncomfortable. Didn’t Shelley know I hated to be hugged by now?

“Prescott saw you on the diving boards. He’d like you to try out for the swim team. Isn’t that magnificent?”

“Uh—” I must’ve looked in pain, because Prescott chuckled.

He murmured, “Coach Greenly.” He extended a hand out and shook mine. “You have a lot of talent. If you’re interested in getting pushed and training to your potential, come talk to me. My office is in the rec center, just off the pool.”

It actually sounded tempting, but I couldn’t think about it right now. I had enough on my mind.

On the way home, Shelley was already planning my future: what scholarship I was going to get, what schools I should apply to.

I sighed in relief when I finally managed to escape to my room. I closed the door and quickly laid on my bed, exhaustion seeping into every bone.

I must’ve fallen asleep, because I woke up to my phone ringing. It was ten at night and the hallway was dark under my door.

Rolling over, I grabbed it—Mandy.

“Hello?” I asked, disoriented.

“Hey, where are you?” she asked.

“At home.”

“Mom and Dad home?”

“I dunno. We went swimming and then I fell asleep, but I think everyone’s asleep. The hallway’s dark and I don’t hear anything.”

“Thank God.” She breathed in relief. “Listen, if Mom and Dad ask, tell them I came home late and left early.”

“Are you at Devon’s?” I asked, laying my head on my pillow.

There was a moment of silence on the other end before she answered, “Are you going to go off on me if I say yes?”

“No,” I muttered. “You already know how I feel.”

“Yes, I do,” she sounded annoyed, “but this is my decision.”

“I know, I know. I’m just looking out for you, you know. We’re sisters and all,” I mumbled, feeling awkward. All this new family stuff was new to me.

“Okay,” she trailed off for a moment, “I thought you’d be at Tray’.”

“No. We’re…he’s not happy with me right now.”

“You guys had a fight?”

“I guess you could call it that. I don’t know what it was.”

“But you’re not over there?”

“No.”

“And you’d like to be?”

“Yeah.”

“But you can’t because of whatever it is?” Mandy was just good at this game.

“Yeah.”

“You’re in a fight,” she announced proudly.

“Are you happy about this?” I asked, confused and annoyed.

“Yes! Tray is in a fight, with a girl. A girl. And it’s my sister. That’s awesome!” she cried out excitedly.

“I cease to understand the significance. All I know is that I can’t go over there until I make a decision about something…one that he’ll be happy with.”

“What was the fight about?” she asked curiously.

“I want to go after my friends. He doesn’t want me to.” I kept it short and simple. It was the basic gist of it anyway. She didn’t need to know all about Galverson and Tray’s eighth grade year of hell.

“Oh.”

“Oh…what?”

“Nothing. Just, oh,” Mandy commented.

I heard a muffling sound on her end and asked, “Is that Devon?”

“Yeah. Amber and Erin are here too. We just ordered some food.”

“Who’s Erin?”

“A friend of mine. She’s on the student council with me,” Mandy replied, her voice half-turned from the phone.

“Alright, I’ll pass along your lie to Shelley and Kevin.” I laughed, hanging up. I got up, brushed my teeth, and changed into my pajamas. I crawled in my bed and curled underneath the covers. I was asleep within moments.

*

The next morning I had a realization: Shelley and Keven had no clue as to what went on in their own home. None. Mandy didn’t come home last night and they didn’t even noticed. They didn’t care.

To tell the truth, I was surprised they passed the adoption agency’s investigation. Kevin was never home. If he wasn’t at the hospital, he was off with his golf buddies or at a medical conference. And Shelley was just clueless all around.

I was a bit surprised that their marriage worked. I saw no interaction between them. But I knew there must’ve been something between them, Shelley went on a lot of the conferences with him. Which is what she was packing for that morning. When I entered the kitchen, I saw three suitcases on the stoop and Shelley was flying from the kitchen, down the basement, back up, and then up to their bedroom. Occasionally she made a side trip to the foyer closet. Then back to do the entire routine again.

It would’ve been funny if I hadn’t realized, at that moment, that I was more a boarder—not paying rent—than a daughter. This is how Mandy and Austin must feel.

“Uh,” I spoke up, “Mandy wanted me to let you know that she took off early this morning for school. She needed to do some stuff with student council.”

“Oh, okay,” Shelley mumbled, distracted. She stopped, suddenly, and turned to me. “You have a good day at school, Taryn. And don’t forget to talk to Coach Greenly. He seems like a very nice man.” Then she was off again.

Grabbing an apple, I left and saw Austin waiting on the curb with a sullen look on his face.

“Hey, punk. Need a ride?”

He glowered at me for a moment and then stood up slowly, following me to my car. As I pulled out onto the road, I asked, “So, another conference, huh?”

“This one’s in Switzerland,” he snapped, slumping in his seat. “They’re going to be gone for freaking three weeks. It’s a month-long conference, that’s what Mom said.”

“And your dad?”

“He’s an asshole,” Austin mumbled, looking out his window.

I dropped him off outside the middle school and was surprised when he said, “See you later.” No middle finger goodbye this time. We were making progress.

When I got to the high school, I parked in my normal spot. The hallways were crowded, like always, but there was excitement in the air: the football team was leaving for the play-offs that afternoon.

Which meant no Devon for two days.

Which meant Mandy would be annoying as hell for two days.

Which meant…fuck.

First period was exhausting. All the cheerleaders were out—they’d gotten permission to finish their decorations for the pep-rally. The football players were leaving immediately after the pep-rally, which meant we got out of sixth period twenty minutes early. I’d yet to decide if was going to attend or skip. Who wouldn’t skip? Seriously.

I actually attended health for second period. No Tray. Molly informed me that he had skipped, along with all the football players.

So needless to say, school passed without event. Every class was full of just normal average students and some of the discussions were actually fun. Interesting to listen to, at least. I got into a debate in history. I knew way more about the Roman Empire than whatever her name was.

Molly told me later that she was our soon-to-be valedictorian.

Imagine that. But I did know more than she did. And the teacher agreed with me.

And…surprise, surprise: sixth period was magically full. It was like everyone that was skipping decided to attend sixth period. And I have no idea why.

Hearing the last bell, everyone filed out and chaos ensued. I swear, half the students took off for the parking lot and the other half went to the auditorium. I was still torn: to skip or not to skip?

“Hey,” Molly piped up from behind me.

“Hi.” I gave her a lazy grin.

“You going out?” She gestured to the parking lot.

“Uh…I haven’t decided if I’m skipping or not.”

She looked confused. “Um…the pep rally’s in the parking lot.”

I shut my locker and replied, “Yeah. I knew that.” I’m such a moron.

“Ookay—”

As we both walked down the hallway, I was a bit surprised. The pep rally committee and cheerleaders had outdone themselves. In the middle of the parking lot stood a huge corral and to the side was a livestock trailer filled hay and miniature donkeys.

In the middle of the corral was a stage, with the cheerleaders all standing up and waiting.

“Hey, Rawley!” one of the cheerleaders called out.

The crowd went wild.

As the cheerleaders proceeded to perform their cheer, I saw Tray in the back of the parking lot. He was sitting on the top of his SUV, with a few other guys. I also saw Aidrian Casners standing right below him, smiling up at him. When he looked down, her chest was perfectly displayed for his eyes.

Okay. I guess I never really decided he wasn’t a bastard so he really wasn’t letting me down right now.

The cheerleaders finished their cheer and the coach came onto the stage. Speech one was given, speech two (by the football captain, which was the guy that was sitting by Tray) was done, and then the trailer opened and the donkeys were led out.

Even I cracked a smile at that.

The rest of the pep rally consisted of twelve football players riding the donkeys as they attempted to play a game that resembled ultimate frisbee, but with hands. And donkeys.

It was a sight I’d never experienced before and I was suddenly glad that I hadn’t skipped.

Molly was giggling the entire time.

I nudged her, pointing to the corner by the picnic tables. “Aren’t those your friends over there?”

“Yeah, but they won’t come watch this. They’ll just stay over there.”

“How come?” I asked curiously.

Molly didn’t answer, not right away. I asked again, and she said, faltering, “Because Kayden and Angela were made fun of one time during a pep rally.”

“What?”

She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “They got picked by the crowd for a relay and Kayden tripped and broke her nose. Then one of the football players called her Rudolph in the microphone for everyone to hear. You know, because of the blood.”

“Oh—” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, then Angela tried to help, but Kayden tripped again and fell on her. Angie Hodgkins called Angela a handicapped elf, said she couldn’t walk and hold Rudolph at the same time.”

I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I knew kids could be assholes, but where were all the teachers?

“The teachers thought it was all a show.” Molly explained, no longer giggling.

“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. Molly wasn’t saying anything, but she must’ve had her own share of humiliation. There was a reason the three of them had banded together. Why they were called the Invisibles.

For the first time since I’d been here, I was glad I had come to Rawley. I was happy I met Molly. She wasn’t an Invisible anymore and I’d take anyone on that tried to humiliate her again.

“It’s in the past,” she murmured, her voice cracking. It wasn’t in the past. It was one of how many incidents that have happened in the past.

“Why are you friends with me?” I asked honestly, dumbfounded as to why she’d want to be my friend. I was a bitch. It’s what I was known for and yet this Invisible had singled me out. She’d talked to me, and she continues to talk to me.

“Because you’re not one of them,” Molly answered matter-of-factly.

“But—”

She turned and met my gaze, seeing the torment in mine—it must’ve been there—I was feeling it. Molly spoke truthfully, “You’re different. You’re…you’re one of us but…you’re one of them.”

Molly continued, “I don’t know. I just…knew you wouldn’t turn on me like them. You’re not like that.”

“I’m a bitch.”

“Yeah. You’re a bitch to them. You’re a bitch to who deserves it. Not me. Not Angela or Kayden. You’re anything but a bitch to us.” Molly wiped away a tear at the corner of her eye.

I was at a loss for words. My throat suddenly tightened.

Drawing in a shuddering breath, I muttered, “I…I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

When I got to my locker, the hallways were completely empty, which was a good thing. I heaved a sigh of relief. I didn’t need to get into anything with anyone.

“Hey.” I was tapped from behind.

Turning, I saw Props standing, looking aggrieved. It was the only word I could think of to describe him.

“Hi.”

He handed me a flash drive. Gesturing to it, he said, “That’s for you. Everything. All trails, all traces, everything. Where each and every account wound up at.”

I was surprised. It had been a day. Within twenty-four hours, he had everything I asked for.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, well,” he shuffled slightly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “you get what I wanted?”

“Yeah.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah. You’re taking her to a concert at the Seven8 on Friday.”

“Oh yeah. Third Wave. They’re Aidrian’s favorite.”

This guy was a littler stalkerish.

“Um…yeah. I told her you’d show up with the tickets on Friday.”

“How’d you get her to agree to it, man? I mean, I never thought…you know.” He was excited and riding a wave of insomnia no doubt.

“I have to get the tickets first, but be ready Friday. I’ll get directions and her phone number—”

“Already have it. I know where she lives too.”

“Oh…um…okay.”

“The concert starts at eight, so I can pick her up at six-thirty.” The dude was all business now. He was gleaming.

“Alright, I’ll pass the message.” Then off he went, bouncing in the hallway giddily.

Just then a wave of students came back in from outside. The pep rally must’ve finished because lockers were quickly thrown open and bags were all grabbed. Every football player looked on a mission as they grabbed their stuff and darted back out to the parking lot. Their Greyhound must’ve been waiting.

I caught a glimpse of Mandy through the crowd. She was bouncing up and down, probably on a high from the pep rally. She threw her arms around Devon and gave him a long kiss.

Then my eyes trailed over their shoulders and met Tray’s. He’d been watching me and was walking towards me.

I grabbed my purse and nudged my locker door shut, slipping the flash drive into my front-pocket.

“Hey,” Tray greeted, standing a few feet away.

“Hey,” I said softly in return. I still didn’t know what I was going to say and I was very aware of the flash drive in my purse.

“Some of us are going to Rickets’ House tonight—early play-offs celebration, but we’re all heading out to Crystal Bay right now.” Crystal Bay was a local lake that had a small cave which dipped into the cliff overhanging it. On the bottom of the cave was a green-blue pool of water, which literally sparkled when the sun slanted onto it. It was gorgeous and one of my favorite places to swim. I’d gone there once and I was itching to take a dive off the cliff, but when Mandy had taken me, it was too early. That was when I was nice and quiet—before the real Taryn came out.

“Are you asking me if I want to come?”

Tray rolled his eyes. “What the fuck do you think?”

“I don’t…I can’t. I have to go to Pedlam to get those tickets I promised Casners.”

I saw the tension enter his body just at the mere name.

“It’s not like that,” I reassured him, not really knowing why I was reassuring him. “I’m not going for you know. I haven’t decided—”

“I don’t get why it’s such a fucking hard decision! It’s a no-brainer Taryn!” Tray stood there, his jaw clenching.

I didn’t like him yelling at me and I couldn’t stand that he was so angry with me. And I hated to admit that it bothered me so much.

I reached out and slid a finger into the front of his pants and pulled him close. Against his chest, I whispered, “I’m sorry, okay?”

Reluctantly Tray slid his arms around me, one of his palms resting underneath my shirt, just inside the back of my pants. He bent his head next to mine and I felt his breath on my neck.

“Before,” I started, “before I would’ve already been over there, demanding answers, but now…you got in my head, alright? I just have to be the one to make the decision. Me. Not you.”

“And I don’t understand why it’s taking so long,” he said roughly, but he pulled me tighter against him, dropping his forehead to my shoulder.

“I don’t know why either.” I bit my lip, raising my arms around his neck. “But I promised your playmate tickets and those are in Pedlam, so that’s where I have to go to get them.”

He went rigid again.

I said quickly, “I won’t come across Jace or anyone. Promise. I can slip in and out and no one will ever know I was there.”

“How long?” he asked harshly. God—he really hated that I was going to Pedlam. Remember the days when he didn’t give one shit? Fond memories.

I grinned at my thoughts, but I answered, “Not long. Get in, get out. It shouldn’t take long at all.”

“I could come with?” he offered.

His offer earned him a deep long kiss. Of which both of us were breathing hard when I whispered against his lips, “Trust me. This is a one-woman job. They won’t have any idea I was been there.” I took a deep breath. “I could come to Crystal Bay when I’m done.”

“You’ll have time?”

“When are you going to Rickets’ House?”

“Like, ten tonight.”

“I’ll call when I get back. If you guys are still at Crystal Bay, I’ll show up. If not, I’ll just come to your place. Shelley and Kevin are heading out for a month-long conference today anyway, so no parents to check in with.”

“Fine.” He gave me another hard kiss before he left for his locker.

After that, I headed to my car. I made sure I had everything I needed in my trunk and then I was on the road, heading for Pedlam. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking back to when Tray and I were just fuck buddies.

I turned the radio on and let myself get lost in the music. When I got to Pedlam, I circled the block, one down, from the Seven8. There was an apartment ramp, which came up right against where the Seven8’s basement ended. I parked in the ramp, and found a small, hidden door that connected the two complexes. I don’t even know if Jace knew about it. I found it, accidentally, one time when I was upset with Brian. I’d needed time alone so I went looking for a hiding spot.

I quickly checked to make sure there weren’t any added security alarms.

There weren’t, so I picked the lock and headed inside. The basement was pitch black—like always.

The nice thing about me—I didn’t need light. I’ve always had excellent night-vision. So I just moved to where the maintenance elevators were and pushed ‘em open. Clipping my karabiner to the elevator cable, along with a glick’s lock, I hooked my ropes from the karabiner to my waist, and I started climbing up. Sliding the karabiner right along as I inched upwards.

It was a workout and one I hated doing when was on a job, but sometimes there was just no way around it.

So I kept inching upwards. It took about thirty minutes until I came across the sixth floor where the club manager’s office was located.

I braced myself between the elevator cables and the doors. Pressing a Listening Ear—it’s a very cleverly named device, and there’s no sarcasm in that statement—against the doors, I listened to make sure no one was in the hallway. There shouldn’t have been anyone there yet. It was around four in the afternoon; the staff wouldn’t start heading in for about two more hours.

I gritted my teeth as I pulled open the elevator doors, and slipped through. The doors shut immediately, sliding smoothly back in place. I was exposed in that moment, and I hate it. Stupid Jace didn’t want to put venting shafts from the elevator, said it would be too easy for someone to break in. The only nice thing was that this floor was the least populated. Most of the staff either headed up to the private suites or to the conference rooms on the second floor. \Jace told me once that they couldn’t put cameras inside the boxes, so they put them up in the hallways instead. That way they had a record of who was going in and out.

I quickly darted down the hallway and picked the lock on the manager’s office door. Jace had hired two of them, Noble and Richard. I always had to grin—Richard. It was too easy. I liked to refer to them as Noble Dick. The funnier thing is that they didn’t even get along; both were complete opposites. But both were control freaks. Which was why I knew one of them would have copies of backstage passes and some last-minute tickets in their desks. They never trusted the other to take care of that stuff so they acted as if they were the only club manager.

Inside, I quickly rifled through the bottom drawers of Noble’s desk first, making sure to put everything back in its place. They weren’t there. The second drawer didn’t have ‘em either. Turning, I caught sight of a pile on his chair. The guy was just messy. Everything was a mess, but I knew Noble knew exactly where everything was.

Looking through the pile, I saw a packet of back-stage passes, banded together with a rubber band. I grabbed two and—a sense of triumph flashed through my body—I saw a file labeled ‘Third Wave Tickets.’ When I opened the file, I saw a stack of tickets for front row seats.

I grabbed the tickets and the back-stage passes, stuffing them in my little pack that was plastered against my back, and headed back out. Just before I reached the door, I heard voices.

Fuck.

I quickly slipped out the door and ducked into an office further down. Thank God the office was empty. I couldn’t be caught in the manager’s office. And I really couldn’t let them know that I had ever been there.

As I lifted the window, the door suddenly opened and I had just enough time to register that it was Jace’s voice.

“Yeah, I’m looking now. Fuck off. I’ll get the fucking gun and head down in a minute—”

He must’ve seen me.

I looked over my shoulder, poised just on the window frame, and saw his cellphone drop to the floor.

He was frozen in place, staring at me.

And then I jumped.

Landing on the patio, three floors down—fuck, that hurt—I rolled to the end and grabbed the under-railing as my body continued to fall towards the ground. Closing my fingers around the metal—damn, it fucking hurt—I could feel my skin tearing away. But I dropped to the ground, seemingly a second later, but my assent was slowed—slightly—by the railings.

I didn’t have time to look up, I didn’t dare. So I ran, sprinting down the alley and trying to blend in with the crowd on the street.

Gritting my teeth, I quickly wrapped the end of my shirt around my hands, pressing it against the wound as I doubled back. Walking down the parking ramp, I got to my car and climbed inside, quickly starting it and getting out of there. I only took enough time to grab a towel in the back. I tore it in half and wrapped each end around my hands.

As I reached the outskirts of town, I pulled over. I deposited everything in my trunk, swearing at myself—I’d lost my ropes, karabiner, and glick’s lock—when I’d had to change my escape route.

First rule of burglary: plan on being caught. That meant: always have an escape route ready. And it meant taking everything with you that you couldn’t afford to leave behind, and what couldn’t be traced back to you.

The items couldn’t be traced to me—not that it mattered. Jace already knew I’d been there. He wouldn’t know what I stole though. No, he’d probably think I’d been there looking for secrets or whatever the hell else that he was hiding. Not front row tickets and backstage passes. And that’s quite alright. Jace could think whatever he wanted.

But my equipment was expensive. Shit, it was really expensive.

I got back in my car, and leaned my head against my seat tiredly. I inspected my hands again, gently prodding to check on the bleeding. It had stopped, but the dried blood glued the towel against my skin. When I’d need to re-bandage, I’d probably open the cuts again.

I started the engine and headed home. I needed to drop my stuff off, disinfect my hands, grab a transparent seal to place over my hands, and then head to Crystal Bay. Complete with my bathing suit. There was no way I was going to pass up a chance to dive off that cliff.

Literally.