Page 85 of Perilous

The answer isNone of the Above.

It’s notes and cards. Like a girl who keeps a shoebox of all the love letters from old boyfriends and shit like that.

I pick a random envelope and read the note inside.

Annika,

A sunrise mademe think of you.

A reminder that tomorrow has the chance to arrive. It’s not promised. One day we will all see our last sunrise. Our last sunset. And we’ll probably never know.

It’s a little bit haunting when you think about it. But it’s also really beautiful too.

The letter goeson and on, reading more like sad poetry than anything else.

It’s when I get to the bottom of the letter do my eyes get really big.

“Oh, fuck,” I announce loudly when I see who has written the letter.

I quickly check the envelope, just to check the date when this was sent in the mail.

It takes a lot to get my heart thumping but right now my heart feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest.

I keep the letter and the envelope. I collect the papers I printed from the printer. And then I get the fuck out of Holom Alistair’s apartment.

Somehow I now have to tell Annika that her entire life is one big lie.

ChapterTwenty-Six

ANNIKA

When I toldDemonic I was going to cut his dick off if he didn’t let Molly into my apartment, he seemed excited about that. Which freaked me out. Grossed me out. And at the same time it made me feel safe. Peri and hisfriendswere fucking psycho.

“Am I going to be threatened with a knife again?” Molly asks without so much as ahello.

I guess I can’t blame her for that. I did scare the hell out of her last time we spoke.

“I can’t promise anything,” I tell her, which is the dead honest truth. I don’t stop there. “I literally have no idea what’s happening next in my life.”

“And you’re happy with this?”

“I feel…visible.”

“Those guys are more than just insane, Annika. They are violent. They are dangerous. Everything we’ve ever heard about them has to be true. I don’t think you realize—”

“Do you know what beingclaimedmeans?” I cut in.

I suddenly have this sense of power over Molly. She’s no longer this wild card, kind-of-a-slutty best friend of mine. She’s feeble. Small. Scared of Demonic. Worried about Perilous.

For the first time ever I feel like I have the upper hand with her. This time Molly cannot outdo me. Not that I’m turning whatever my life is into a competition, it’s just nice to not give one fuck about Molly and her drama.

Which makes me wonder why the fuck I even asked Molly to come over. A force of habit thing I guess.

“Want something to drink?”

“Yeah. Alcohol. Lots of it.”

“Rough night or something?” I ask.

---