TWO KILLERS. That thought had crossed my mind before, but Jookie made it seem like it was only one killer. What if they were just lying to throw us off?

"That would explain a few things," I said, thinking.

"So wouldn't that narrow down everyone into groups like Gmie and Demo or Chi and Aries."

"Not really." I bit my inner cheek. "People could've formed secret alliances."

"Which basically gives us more options instead of narrowing it down." She sighed. "It was just a thought. It's probably just one person."

"No, it's totally possible." I planned to explore the two killer scenario more later. "Where's everyone now?"

"Khan's been obsessed with that secret passageway since you told us about it. He's always there if he's not here taking care of you," she said. "Rucker's outside, and Sebastian been here constantly watching over you, but he went to take a shower." Yaz sighed. "That's another reason why Rucker hasn't been in here. Him and Sebastian just keep fighting. He blames Rucker for everything that happened to you."

"It's not his fault."

"Well Seb doesn't see it that way," she said, getting up. "Our group is a hot ass mess right, and I think you're the only one who can fix it."

Before I could speak, a light tap hit the door. "It's Khan," a voice said from the hall.

Yaz opened the door, and Duke rushed in first. His body dived across the room and onto my bed in one long swoop and gave me tons of kisses.

I laughed, hurting my throat, but I didn't care. I missed him. He was literally like my Duke, which gave me bittersweet emotions, but I didn't want to think of the bad right now.

Khan waltzed in next with a warm smile on his face. Rucker followed in behind him, eyes averted to the floor. He wouldn't look at me.

"Thank you for healing me," I said when he came over. "I feel like I say that a lot now." I wanted to thank him for the other thing, but I didn't want Jookie to get in trouble. Even though I would've love to see that.

Khan chuckled. "Hopefully this is the last time," he said while checking my bandages. "Everything seems to be good. How are you feeling?'

"Sore mostly." And pissed. And a little annoyed.

"Your wounds are healing nicely," he said, standing back. "You had numerous cuts and burns all over your body." He tapped his chin. "Some of them were a bit weird."

"Weird?" I asked, petting Duke who was cuddled into my side, snoring.

"You had some type of pink candy in some of your cuts. It was also melted onto your skin. That's where the burns came from," he said. "I thought it was glass at first, but it smelled sweet. Like strawberry."

My brain tingled from that information. I was missing something, and I knew whatever it was would lead me to Layla's killer, but I couldn't connect the dots.

"I think whatever they cut you with was made out of candy," Khan said, looking more intrigued than confused or disgusted.

"You can make a weapon out of candy?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Yaz said, nodding. "Have you seen the things they make shanks out of in prison? Toothbrushes, plastic coffee lids..."

So the weapon the killer was cutting me with was candy? Sure didn't feel like it. That shit hurt. But I want one.

"Still doesn't lead us to who did it," Khan said, looking at me. "Unless you saw them?"

"Nope. It was too dark, and they used a voice changer," I said, struggling through the pain to sit up better. "All I got was their body size. Lean and thin."

"Already told her we can cross off everyone who was in the common room," Yaz said. "I think it was Gmie. When we saw her, she ran like a little bitch. Probably cause she did it."

Rucker clenched his fist and growled, still not looking at me or saying anything.

"We can't worry about it now," Khan said. "We just need to keep alert and stick together." He turned to me. "Most of your cuts weren't too severe or deep. There was just a lot of them. The couple that were deep I stitched up. And the burns are healing good as well. You need to rest up and sleep and you should be okay in like another week."

"Another week?" I wanted to kill bitches now.

Khan shrugged. "Maybe less. That's just an estimate. Depends on your body. It could take longer."

"You probably want some real food now," Yaz said, grabbing Khan and pulling him out the door. "We'll go get some while Rucker keeps an eye on you."

Rucker's head snapped up. "What?'

Yaz ignored him and ran out the door with Khan. And then it got quiet. Real quiet.

Talk to him. Why? You've been begging this man to talk to you, and he dissed your ass every time. I don't beg anyone to like me. And that's probably why we've never had any real friends. Because we don't want them. Because we never let anyone in, Tini. That's why. We need to give people second chances. Besides Tim and Angie, we had no one. And now we have people. You experienced everything I did. Some of it. Okay? They're all clearly worried about us. They fucking ran when they heard us screaming. They heard Layla's killer screaming. Not me. Uh really? That doesn't matter. It does! I take pride in making people scream thank you very much. Whatever. They thought you were in trouble and came running without thinking. We would literally be dead without them. True. Trust them. I know we can.

If not, trust Rucker at least. You saw how we hurt him. That's why he reacted the way he did. That was real genuine hurt. That wasn't an act. Okay? He did us dirty. Forgive, Tini.
Think of Asher. Don't bring him up. You didn't know him. No, I didn't, but I saw the memories. You two were close. Yeah.... He was the best brother ever. He was such a little fucker, but he was my little fucker. And I miss him. You lost a brother. But I gained one. And you can too.

I closed my eyes, processing everything she said before I opened them.

Rucker scratched his head and lowered his eyes. "I'll go um sit outside."

Please don't let me regret this. "You don't have too. You can stay in here with me." 

"Why would you want that?" He hung his head. "I let you down. Again."

His words reminded me of my own words. I let people down too. Maybe we weren't so different.

"The whole situation was weird." I let out a breath.  "But yeah, you shouldn't have ignored me the way you did. And you should've let me fucking apologize."

He took my words to the chest, neck pulsing, but I could see the remorse in his eyes.

"But." I paused, thinking it over. "I should've been more upfront. I shouldn't have took that oath until I truly knew what it meant to you. I did mean it though, but I'm just so used to keeping things to myself that I didn't think."

"But I still shouldn't have snapped and ignored you like that," he said, looking down at the ground. "It was a bitch move."

"Yeah."

"I let my pride get in the way," he continued. "And I ended up failing you again. I keep fucking up. I'm a fuck up."

I stared down at my bandages. "I don't blame you. Really."

"But if I wasn't acting like a little cunt this wouldn't have happened."

"True."

He popped his head up, surprised.

"What? I'm not gonna lie to you. You fucked up." I sighed. "But I fucked up too. So, we're even."

"Yeah, but I keep fucking up." He rubbed his head.

"Join the party." I laughed. "My whole life is one big screw up."

He let out a bitter laugh. "How? You didn't grow up in some perfect white fenced home with a loving mommy and daddy." 

"No. I grew up in therapy sessions where I had to fucking lie or I'd be sent back to a mental hospital where men groped me and I ate shit for three meals a day," I said. "Lest not forget, my dead parents." I cut myself off before I said more. I didn't want any one knowing about my past. I hated pity.

He jerked back. "Damn." 

"Yeah, that's life. We all go through shit." I shook my head. "But we're not here to exchange fucked up childhood stories, because I'm guessing we both could fill a fucking book."

He wrinkled his forehead and eyed me. "You're different."

"Am I?"

"You're more..."

"Bitchy?"

"Aggressive."

I shrugged. "Let's say my near-death experience opened my eyes a little bit." I smiled. "Let's just put this experience behind us and move on?"

I wasn't into that emotional crap. That was Betinia's gig. I just wanted to end this, start over and go kill some shit. I've ignored those feelings for years, but in the past weeks, I've been teased with the taste of blood and death, and I wanted to conquer those dark sons of bitches and ride them into ecstasy and oblivion.

"Move on?" He looked at me. "Just like that? I don't have to promise or do shit?"

"I'm guessing you're not used to that?"

"Yeah, most of the women I've dealt with don't just move on. I gotta buy them shit or fucking beg."

"Nah." I paused. "I would like something."

"What?"

I decided to just be honest with him. "I'm having really bad bloodlust right now, and I want to kill some people. Wanna help?" I needed someone to watch my back, and Rucker was just the crazy fucker to do it.

"Are you serious?"

"Don't tell me little ol' gang leader is all talk?"

"What?"

"Are you a little bitch or not?" I titled my head. "Are you gonna help me gut a few people or are you just gonna hang around crying with your fingers on your dick?"

Several different emotions played out on his face until a sadistic grin spread across his lips. "I don't know whether to hug you or punch you in the face."

"Hopefully neither." I shrugged. "Or at least wait a few days so I can give you a real challenge."

His grin widened. "Don't know what the fuck came over you, but I like it. I've been itching to do some fucking damage."

I met his grin with my own twisted one. "Me too." I then held out my hand. "How about we make a new oath."

"Nah, the old one's still in place. Blood oaths last until one of us is dead." He gripped my hand. "I'm still very sorry—"

"None of that emotional shit. We're good now." I glanced up at him. "We'll protect each other until the end. Right?"

"Right."

♟♙♟