Page 139 of Lady Killer

I wanted to ask why.

I wanted to scream.

But I had to stay focused.

“Th-thank you.”

“See, now that wasn’t so hard. One more thing before we get started. The Blackwells.” The voice crackled ominously. “Whoever you have waiting in the shadows, call them off.”

“One—one second.” I opened my messages. Less than a minute until Alister texted again.

Patience, mija.

I counted down from twenty in my head, and sure enough, when I hit four, the phone buzzed again.

Alister: Anything?

I quickly typed out my response and hit send.

“It’s done,” I whispered into the phone.

“If they interrupt us, she pays the price. I’ve been quite generous with your friend, but that can change.”

“What do you want?” My voice cracked.

“You know what I want, dearest Penelope. None of them have lasted as long as you did.”

My knees buckled.

They know . . .

They know . . .

“What is it that makes you so special, Penelope?”

I pressed my weight up against the door.

“How did you keep going death, after death, after death?”

They know . . .

“By all accounts, you should be a broken husk by now, but here you are . . . thriving . . .”

They know . . .

“ . . . and what you did to those boys . . . You deserve the deaths you have coming, Penelope . . .”

They know . . .

“I can’t wait to be the one to end you.”

They know . . .

If they knew this . . . did they know everything?

They kno—

White flashed in front of the peephole.

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