Cal chuckles softly, as if anything about this situation could be construed as funny. That’s just one of the things I like about him though, how he can find humor in the macabre.

“Let me take a shower, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

He waits for me to come up the stairs, accepting the joint and the lighter I pass over to him and lighting up with a raised brow in Aaron’s general direction.

“Don’t be a smartass. The girls are at Oak River, and school shootings most definitely break my no-smoking inside rule.”

Callum pulls away and turns toward the door to the bathroom as I follow after him. He strips his hoodie off and then lets it fall to the floor with a wet slap. That’s how soaked in blood it is. Red spatters the walls in tiny droplets.

My skin prickles with recognition as the other boys come up the stairs behind me. A lesser woman would run. Me, I accept the joint when Cal hands it back to me, ashing it in the sink, and then taking a long drag.

“Give us the abbreviated version for now,” Vic says, leaning against the doorjamb as I move into the bathroom behind Cal. He sits on the toilet, hands shaking as he goes to remove his shoes. When I step forward and offer to help, he doesn’t refuse. Instead, his blue eyes lift to mine in quiet strength.

I feel him so fucking hard in that moment; it’s inexplicable. This kind of connection, it only comes along a few times in infinity.

“Thank you,” Cal whispers, reaching his hand up to rub at the gash in the front of his throat. “I have to say, that man was worth his weight in gold.” Cal pauses, his lips twitching as the other boys crowd close to the door to listen in. “The enforcer, I mean. Just … not quite as much gold as me.” He chuckles again and then stands up after I’ve removed both boots, letting his pants fall to the floor. He doesn’t seem to give a fuck that we’re all standing right there. I mean, they all fucked me in front of one another, so maybe it doesn’t bother them at all? Bet they’ve had dick measuring contests, too, like with literal rulers and shit. If I were a dude, I’d probably do, that. While I was at it, I’d grab the circumference, too—just for fun.

“He’s dead?” Vic asks again and Cal casts a glance over his shoulder as he gets the water started. I’d thought before, when Callum started stripping in his room at his grandma’s house, that when he took off his hoodie, he seemed more … vulnerable. Now that I see him here, naked and bathed in the yellow of the bathroom light, I can fully admit that I’ve never been more wrong about anything. There is nothing vulnerable left in Callum Park, and that’s what makes him so damn lovely. He has a single-minded focus that just so happens to be me.

“Oh, he’s dead,” Cal confirms with a slight nod, turning back to the water and letting it stream over his hands, taking swirls of pink down the drain with it. “But it was close.”

Oscar waves his hand impatiently, gray eyes narrowed and focused on Callum like he, too, can see right through people.

“Keep going,” he prompts, removing his iPad from beneath his arm to take notes. Aaron and Hael hang back, sharing a joint of their own, the smoke mingling with the one clutched between my own fingers.

“When he took off, I chased after,” Callum explains, wetting his lower lip and closing his eyes as the water sluices between them. “Maybe not the best idea I’ve ever had.” Cal splashes water over his face and sighs. Personally, I’m too busy taking note of his myriad cuts and bruises. He looks like he got his ass kicked worse than me. “You should’ve seen the other guy,” Cal whispers huskily, and I flick my attention up to his face to find him grinning at me. I don’t know how he can smile like that, injured the way he is. “Anyway, I managed to stumble on Mason Miller.”

A chill creeps over me at the sound of that name, even though I’m fairly certain I’ve never heard it before.

“Mason motherfucking Miller,” Victor says carefully, glancing over at Oscar. “Maxwell’s second-in-command. So, you found him, but did you kill him?”

“Nope.” Cal turns back around and starts to scrub himself down with my French soap. Heh. My boys, covered in my scent. I could get used to that. “He’s going to be a challenge; he anticipated every move I made before I even knew I was making it.” He doesn’t even open his eyes as he says this, like it’s not that big of a deal.

But it is.

Because anyone that Cal considers an equal or, hell, a better is terrifying to me.

“How do you stop a garrote?” I whisper, even though it’s slightly off-topic. I can’t even imagine.

Callum glances back at me, a grim smile on his beautiful mouth.

“This guy was a professional. He used a thin wire, twisted it, and then turned. In that case, you have to hit for the groin, palm strike to the ear, then kick him directly in the dick.” Cal smiles again, but his eyes darken with remembered violence. “Piece of shit. The only reason that I kicked his ass is because I’m in love.”

I flush all over and give him a look, one that he returns with a steady, even stare.

“It’s true. I have a reason to win.” Cal turns back to the spray as Victor snorts and I glance back to find Oscar frowning slightly.

“There’s no way James Barrasso managed to get his father’s second to take part in some half-assed plan. Ophelia and Trinity are bullshitting us for sure. They knew this was coming.” Oscar tucks his iPad back under his arm. “Maxwell knew about this.”

“They were after Stacey’s crew,” I say, because I haven’t even had a chance to tell Vic how the whole thing started. I bite my thumbnail and look up at Oscar. “She had a slip for Principal Vaughn’s office; I saw her in the hall just before she got shot.”

“And you were in the hall why?” Oscar purrs at me, and though I try my best to smirk, the expression just won’t form the way it’s supposed to. I’m too nervous, I think.

“I told Mr. Darkwood I was going to write a paper about the patriarchal influence on women’s opinions of pubic hair.” I shrug my shoulders as Oscar cocks a sharp brow at me and Hael howls with laughter from behind him. “Anyway, Vaughn must’ve called Stacey to his office. Either Mr. Darkwood was in on it, and sending me to Vaughn’s office was part of the master plan, or else I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.”

Jesus. How many fucking times can a girl get ganked during her senior year?

“If it weren’t for your text, Blackbird,” Hael begins, stepping up between Oscar and Vic. “I’d probably be dead. First shooter appeared about twenty seconds later; I barely made it out of the classroom.”

“Well then, you should thank Stacey; she saved all our lives.” I pause as I think about Mr. Darkwood. Him, too. I have no idea if he’s dead or not, but I hope not. I’ll let the guy dock a few points off my next assignment for the word ebon. I don’t mind. “Actually, never mind. You can thank me, too. In dick.” I gesture at him with the joint, and he snorts. But then I catch sight of Aaron’s face behind him and I just know that I can’t keep my new secret for long.

No lies, no secrets, right? That’s Havoc policy.

My stomach churns with nerves. Two guys down, three to go … Only, I’m pretty sure these three are going to make a way bigger deal out of it than necessary. Vic with his possessive desire to impregnant me (fucking gross), Oscar with his emotional intimacy issues, and Hael with all his previous baby mama drama.