Page 161 of Chaos Kills

“Here.” Mae holds up the glass for me. “Drink it.”

She’s bossy, too.

Careful not to touch her, I take the beverage and hold it before she runs back toward the house, and Bay remains where she is.

“It’s not poisoned, I promise,” she nudges. “Unless you want a juice box.”

I stare at her, kinda weirded out by how she remembers I like apple juice. Vivian always got me tea, and I hate tea.

“If you don’t drink it, Mae will be back out here again. Because I can guarantee she’s watching you through the door or the window right now. She made it herself, so she’s proud of it.”

It sounds like a trick.

However, what could a kid possibly do to me?

Unenthusiastically, I take a sip of the sugary and sour drink, not ever having it before, and welcome the coolness.

“Are you building a treehouse?” I nod, pulling the glass from my lips as Bay looks up at what I’ve already done. “Are you hungry?”

I shake my head, even though she’s not looking at me.

“Well, dinner is at five-ish.” I’m not sure why she’s telling me that, but I chalk it away as normal-people shit. “When do you want to talk?”

My fingers squeeze the glass I’m holding harder because she told me she was going to talk to me about leaving South Shore.

I’ve just been holding off on it.

“Why?” The question leaves my throat and head before I can stop it. I can take care of myself, but I need to take care of her, too.

“Why, what?” She keeps her blues locked on the tree, and I’m not sure if it’s for my benefit or because she’s that enthralled with it. “Why am I leaving South Shore?”

I bob my head, which she thankfully takes as an answer.

“A lot of reasons.”

I find myself wanting to know every single one of them, but what does she owe me?

Nothing.

I haven’t begun to gain her trust. I’m not part of the inner circle she’s created and that has crumbled in her wake.

I’m a stranger.

One who might be related to Wallace and Torin, but a nobody nonetheless.

“I want to say thank you for everything you’ve done,” she mutters, inhaling a deep breath as she does. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was forced to be with Ramsey. What you did…what you sacrificed, kept Emilio off me for a moment and…after my dad…I can’t deal with it, so…I appreciate you.”

I welcome the silence that falls around us, but I’m still tense. She’s talking about feelings and appreciation, but I don’t know where to go from here.

I’ve been watching Bay since I discovered who she was. I know this girl, more than I should, but I can’t fully read her mind yet.

I don’t understand her endgame.

“Anyway,” she continues, finally dropping her attention from the tree and glancing back at me. “Whatever you need, you’ve got it.”

I swallow the lump in my throat because there’s so much more I want to ask. Like how could she leave Reeve and Torin?

This is her home.

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