Page 49 of The Devils They Are

"And what's the end result?" I ask quietly.

Rylan's eyes darken, a storm brewing behind them. The baby blues become clouded, murky, swirling around as he holds my gaze.

"We'll—"

The words are cut off as his cell rings, the sound of Lawless Dragons'Imaginary Insanityblaring. He sighs, but doesn't let go of my hand, digging into his pocket.

"What's up?" he answers, still locking eyes with me.

Slowly, his brow furrows as he listens to whoever is on the other end, before he finally breaks the tension and looks away.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," he says, hanging up.

Cold reality hits me like ice water, but before I can pull back, he brings my wrist to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss along it. "Duty calls, princess. I'll walk you out."

I don't sleep that night. Not even a wink.

After I left Rylan's house, the two of us continued to text like nothing had happened. But it had.

Something had shifted between us, and being in the unknown was not a place I liked to be.

It takes all my willpower to remember that this could just be a game to him, an excuse to gain leverage. Even when my body urges me to touch him.

Fuck. We almost kissed, I think. It felt like it.

We're not friends. We're still enemies. And even though we agreed on peace, it would be stupid of me to give in to temporary urges.

But also, why? Why do I feel like this?

There's no doubt in my mind that I'm attracted to him. Hell, I'd be crazy to deny the fact that Rylan Astor is gorgeous. They all are. But that's not an excuse to forget about my wits and risk everything.

I paid a quick visit to Mom afterwards, barely escaping the rain as it suddenly returned and pelted down on Ridgeview Valley. We were starting to hit the peak of this terrible weather forecast, and I was thankful for the excuse to stay inside. I tell myself that the rain is the reason I took pity on Rylan and let him get inside my car. As for the gym shorts? I can't explain that. And even more confusing was the new pair that now sit on the top of my dresser staring at me.

It's obvious he paid for them—I saw the receipt in his bag when he pulled them out. But the idea that he's being nice is so foreign to me that I begin to obsess over the reasons as to why he's doing this.

Blackmail. False sense of security. A game.

It can't just be out of the goodness of his own heart. Wolves don't change—all they do is fool people with sheep's clothing.

Pulling the covers over my body, I scroll social media for a bit, noticing that the posts of the fallen kings are becoming less frequent. I had asked everyone from Cedar not to share them anymore, and they hadn't. But in the Willowbrook public pages, a few people were still causing drama, but they quickly vanished, likely on the receiving end of scathing threats.

As darkness takes over my room, my mind is plagued with more thoughts, replaying things over.

I'm going insane searching for reasons, fighting back the feelings of guilty pleasure that want to take charge.

Especially since I keep circling back to one sure thing…

When I left Rylan's and drove to the hospital, I had to pass Willowbrook Academy.

And his truck was absolutely parked in the parking lot.

Chapter eighteen

Bexley

Thewarehouseispackedto the brim. It seems like every student from Cedar Heights and Willowbrook is here.

I'm not sure if it's because we made a display of allyship this past week and people think it's a load of shit and we're going to punch it out, or if they think there's news to be heard. But either way, people can barely move around. It's also Thursday night and I'm certain everyone is keen to blow off some steam before the weekend.

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