Page 23 of Marked

“You need sleep, Emi,” he said. “Time for bed, I think.”

Before I could explain how my limbs were too heavy to move, Sley crashed through the forest and halted near the edge. The orange glow from the fire cast her in harsh shadows, making it appear as though she was burning up in front of us. “Are you kidding me, Blake?”

His mouth dropped open. "Wha...”

“You avoid me but see no problem propositioning my best friend?” Her gaze twinkled with mischief.

“No, I—” Blake leapt to his feet. “That’s not what I?—”

Sley held up her hand. “Save it, messenger. You can explain it to me tomorrow. Right now, I need my friend before she falls asleep and lands in your fire pit.”

“Me?” I jabbed my chest with my thumb.

“Yes, you.” She stepped around the fire to latch onto my arm and haul me to my feet. "There’s been another theft.”

I blinked away the sleepiness still clinging to my mind as Sley’s words registered. Another theft? My gaze slid to Blake.

“Oh, he already knows, remember?” Sley said.

“Not about the new theft.”

She shrugged. “Hard to keep a secret in this town. Everyone will find out soon enough.”

“How did you find out? We were just at the bonfire together.”

“Had a feeling.”

I tilted my head and tapped my foot.

Sley sighed and looked away. “I was avoiding Graham and went by the storage house to check on it. Maybe even to hide in it. I found the door open.”

Sley had absolutely planned to hide in the storage house. “What did they take this time?”

“Do I look like someone who walks into a dark building at night by myself?” she asked.

“You were literally going to hide in it.”

“That was before I found the door open, and it made everything creepy.” Sley dragged me toward the path that led to the storage house through the forest. “We need to investigate,” she said, her voice laced with determination.

Blake watched us with a mix of concern and confusion. “I’ll go with you,” he volunteered, his earlier weariness temporarily forgotten.

“No.” Sley spun to him and jabbed her finger in his direction. “You stay here. We don’t need any distractions.”

“We?” I whispered.

“Shh.” Sley tightened her grip on my arm, silently urging me to walk away with her. With a final nod to Blake, I stepped into the shadows of the forest and let Sley lead me to the large storage house on the edge of town.

“He wasn’t propositioning me, you know,” I said.

“Oh, I know.”

I raised an eyebrow.

Sley turned to me and winked. “If he had, he’d have a black eye.”

I barked out a laugh and nodded. Violence wasn’t always the answer, but if Blake had offered me a warm bed while avoiding my best friend—who liked him a lot more than she let on—I wouldn’t have been sitting casually beside him on a log, struggling to keep my eyes open. “I’m not sure I would’ve actually punched him. Not unless he was being a jerk about it.”

“Maybe not, but you would’ve had some things to say.” Sley hesitated. “Did he…ask about me at all?”

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