Page 38 of The Executioners Three
“Well, get back up on stage, Traveler Number One!” Mom poked Freddie’s shoulder. “You’re up first, remember? And”—she lifted her voice, waving a script high—“we need a Traveler Number Two to join her—”
“I’ll do it.” Without breaking eye contact, Theo grabbed the script. “Lead the way, Gellar.”
Freddie spun on her heel and stalked back onstage. There was nothing she could do. Absolutely nothing. Since the Fortin Prep students were volunteers, she couldn’t tell them to just bugger off.
God, where was a fire alarm to pull when she needed one? Because obviously all these people weren’t here to simplyhelp. Theo Porter had something else up his nefarious sleeve, and no doubt it would be very bad for Mom’s pageant.
It was, Freddie had to admit,inspired,and if she weren’t so angry with Theo, she might have been a little impressed.
She skipped up two steps at a time, then strode for the center of the stage beside the not-yet-sawed fake tree. Theo joined her a heartbeat later. He was really smiling now, as were all the other Fortin Prep students, lounging on the benches and looking like they owned the Village.
“Quiet, everyone!” Mr. Binder bellowed. He, at least, looked as discombobulated as Freddie felt.He,at least, seemed to understand these out-of-towners were likely up to no good. But he didn’t send them away. Instead, he moved onto the stage and proceeded to introduce the pageant, laying out how parts would be assigned (to whomever raised their hand first) and what the goal of the project was (to raise money for City-on-the-Berme upkeep).
Freddie took the opportunity to step in close to Theo.
“Why are you here?” she whispered. Frosty wind pushed against them. It ruffled his hair and made his cheeks and nose pink. Which looked… good. Unfortunately.
“I told you.” He batted those long, pale lashes of his. “We’re just here to volunteer. You see, Gellar, I don’t know if you heard”—he bent down conspiratorially—“but we all got arrested last week, so now we have to do community service to atone for our collective sins.”
As he was saying this, a thought occurred to Freddie. One that only added to the murder on her mind. “Did you take down all of my mom’s flyers?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He uttered this in a way that suggested he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Listen to me, Mr. Porter.” She closed the space between them. His blue eyes glittered in the afternoon light. This was not the Theo Porter from her weird dreams, offering her a heart of iron. This was a creature of darkness and evil and rich-boy terror.
“If you inanyway mess with this pageant,” Freddie whisper-hissed, “I will destroy you. Do you understand? This event is the most important fundraiser of the year for my mom.”
“Understood.” He flashed another innocent smile. “But you don’t need to worry, Gellar. I told you: we’re only here to volunteer.”
“And I’m Miss America.”
“You could be, with cheekbones like those.”
Freddie made a guttural scoff. Theo had stolen that line from her, and now she really,reallydidn’t understand how she’d ever smiled at him yesterday.
“Alrighty,” Mr. Binder said with a flourish of his script. He turned to Freddie and Theo. “Let’s get started, shall we? Today, we will read our lines while I take you through the basic stage directions. Does that sound good?”
“Absolutely,” Theo declared while Freddie simply mumbled, “Yep.”
“Great. So Travelers Number One and Number Two are a young couple—”
“What?” Freddie recoiled.
“—who have just found City-on-the-Berme after months of hard travel. I want to see relief and adoration on your faces. Can you do that?”
“Absolutely,” Theo declared again while Freddie simply chomped down on her tongue. She was doing this for Mom.For Mom, for Mom.
Okay, and a little bit for Sabrina too.
“Fantastic.” Mr. Binder strode to the edge of the stage. “Begin.”
Freddie sucked in a long breath and lifted her script. She could do this. “Thank goodness we have finally arrived—”
“Louder!”
“—FOR ’TIS COLD HERE IN AUTUMN.” She was practically yelling now. She lifted her gaze to Theo.
“It’s alright,” he read. Then he splayed a hand to his chest. “Iam here to keep you warm, my love.”
