Page 190 of Tag

“Mom is on the graveyard shift,” Rook replied. “The sister is at a birthday sleepover.”

Xander stepped forward, posture straight. “I’ll put the dad to sleep.”

Cade gave him a slight nod. The silent green light.

The guy was leaning back in his recliner, feet propped up, watching a movie with subtitles.

Xander moved like vapor.

In one fluid motion, he was positioned exactly as he needed to be to put the guy to sleep. The man’s eyes went wide, and he struggled, but he wasn’t getting anywhere.

“Shh,” Xander whispered. “Go to sleep.”

The man thrashed, legs kicking against the recliner’s footrest. It was pathetic. After a few more seconds passed, his limbs went lax, and his head lolled to the side. Xander reached down, grabbed the remote, and bumped the volume on the TV a few notches higher.

With that taken care of, we climbed the stairs in silence. A single nightlight glowed from an outlet. The smell hit halfway up. The only way I could describe it was fish tank water and mint. Wet, murky, and sharp in a way that turned my stomach. Cade glanced at me, nose twitching, but neither of us said a word.

We kept moving until we reached the landing.

There were four doors in total. Two to the left. The first was cracked and clearly a bathroom. The second door was shut, but a bright pinkprincesssign hung from its center. Of the doors on the right, it was clear which one we needed to go through. I had never seen someone actually decorate their door like that. Crowsfell banners were plastered all over it. Football, fucking lacrosse, wrestling.Deniswas spelled out, a letter missing.

I looked at Cade, and he nodded once.

I moved ahead of them and eased the door open, inch by inch. No squeak. No sound. The room unfolded like a shrine to teenage filth. There was a full-sized bed jammed into the far corner. Sheets kicked halfway off. Posters of bikini models covered the walls. Beer cans were stacked in a pyramid on the nightstand like some frat-boy altar.

The centerpiece of the room was the gaming setup.

I had to admit it was impressive.

Dennis sat in a leather gaming chair facing three curved monitors, a headset on, completely absorbed in what he was playing. He didn’t hear the door or feel the air shift when we entered and closed it behind us.

“I’m serious,” he was saying into the mic, voice nasal, too confident. “They act all high and mighty, but you know Sanj and Roxxi are getting passed around like party favors. Probably fucking the whole group. Ashton’s a cuck and doesn’t even know it.”

Cade went rigid beside me.

I didn’t breathe.

This little bitch dared to say her name.Mygirl’s name, and then shorten it, like he even had the right to form the first syllable.

“Arianna acts sweet, but she’s a tease. Don’t get me started on Cloe. She gets away with shit cause she’s got a pretty face and a fat ass.”

I could feel Cade vibrating beside me, fists clenched, every breath a fight not to explode. Rook simply watched and listened. I stepped closer, slowly and soundlessly.

“I’m not worried about their guard dogs. It’s all about image. Elite stuff, ya know? They don’t have a choice but to be friends.”

Guard dogs.

He had no fucking idea.

Dennis laughed, that dry, grating laugh that made my skin crawl.

“Just wait. The Hunt is going to air out all their dirty business. When people see who they really are? Bet I could bend any of those girls over and—.”

Cade lunged.

His hand locked onto the back of Dennis’s neck, yanking him back hard. The other hand ripped off his headset, tossing it to the floor. Dennis’s eyes went wide. His mouth opened as if to scream, but Xander was already there. The gleam of his switch blade caught the monitor lights as it pressed against Dennis’s throat. His face was still a mottled blue and black from when we’d caught up to him in the tunnel.

His eyes darted between us.

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