Page 52 of Deadly Little Hearts

Maybe we can.Maybe we can help fix things between the two sides.“Let’s check out the station.I want to see proof it was the Hood.”

Amirah’s eyes light up, and she jumps off the bed and scurries into her closet.“This is the best thing you’ve said all day.”

It’s risky going there, but Amirah is right.I’ve been stuck on my phone or at Hazen’s place for more than a week now, and I’m itching for an adventure.Sneaking around watching Lucas at the docks the other week gave me that thrill I’ve been chasing, but since then, the guys have been preoccupied.I’ve only seen them briefly or when one of them rolls into bed in the early hours of the morning.

Amirah comes back out wearing a black hoodie, leggings, and sneakers.

“They won’t see you coming,” I say with a smirk, and she rolls her eyes.

“I wanted to look like you,” she snaps back, and I glance down at Gage’s hoodie, which I practically live in now, and black leggings.She’s right—we are matching.

“Twinning!”I sing in a high-pitched voice.

Amirah shakes her head, throwing me a black ball cap.I pull it on over my hair, tucking any loose locks behind my ears.

Amirah opens her door and peers outside, then shuts it quietly.“Gage is at Hazen’s with him, but not sure if Lucas is there or not.Have you heard from him?”

I shake my head.“Not since this morning.”

“The best way out of here is the balcony.There are guards at the stairs and front door, and I’m sure they wouldn’t let Princess Freya leave her castle,” Amirah teases.

“I doubt they’ll be up for Princess Amirah prancing down to the tracks, either,” I retort, and Amirah smirks.

“I’ll message Jeremy; he’ll turn a blind eye for me.”She grabs her phone from beside her bed and types away.

I slide off the bed, push my feet into my high-top Chucks, and follow her out the balcony door.It’s dark out here—a quarter moon sits high in the sky—and my shin smashes into something hard.I curse, rubbing down my leg.Amirah turns on her phone light, illuminating the ground and her stupid fucking outdoor lounge chair.

“Bit late for that,” I say through gritted teeth.

She chuckles, moving toward the side of her balcony.She passes me her phone, and I shine it toward her.

“When I whistle, you follow me.If I don’t, then stay there.Got it?”she asks.

“Yes,” I say quietly.

She peers over the railing before hoisting herself over.I lean forward, providing as much light as I can.She scales down the drainpipe like she’s done this a million times before, and she probably has.

Darkness takes her and I pull back.There’s not much lighting on this side of the house, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching.If I’ve learned anything from being around The Brotherhood, it’s that they have eyes and ears everywhere, even if you can’t see them.

My heart hammers against my rib cage and excitement bubbles up inside me as I wait for Amirah’s signal.As much as I wanted a life away from Daring with Alec, I would have missed this if we’d gone to college in a normal town.I have missed putting myself in constant danger just to release all my deep, dark, built-up emotions.That’s why Gage, Hazen, and Lucas pulled me in.Danger surrounds them.They weaved their spiderweb, and I was a fly, trapped to them.With them, every day I’ll be fighting off some kind of threat, and that’s exactly what I crave.

A soft whistle cuts through the otherwise still night, and I move, turning off the light and shoving Amirah’s phone into my hoodie pocket.I hoist my leg over the railing, and my feet catch on the little edge on the other side.I cling to the metal of the drainpipe and maneuver myself over, scaling down like Catwoman.

My feet hit the soft ground, and Amirah reaches out to me.I take her hand and pass her phone back.

“Now I get why you do all that weird shit, like jumping off the cliff and putting yourself in danger.This is exciting,” Amirah whispers, and I grin, even though she can’t see me in the dark.

“Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

“There’s so much you don’t know about me ...yet,” she replies, throwing me off guard.But before I can ask her what she means, she pulls my hand, yanking me around the side of her house, staying close to the shadows.

We reach the end of the house, and Amirah peers around the corner, letting go of my hand.I brush my palm over my leggings, attempting to dry off the sweat.

“When I say go, we run, and we don’t stop until we are through the gates to the estate.Got it?”she asks.

“Yep,” I reply, and she peers around the wall again.

“Now,” she whispers, taking off across the well-manicured grass, and I follow.

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