These Deadly Games(84)

And last night, he could’ve left Caelyn on her own as we all slept. He could have scheduled that message to come from An0nym0us1 right after he slipped through my window. He could’ve been the one who set my phone on its charger. Not me. And when my phone buzzed this morning, awakening me, Dylan’s phone had been next to his face. I’d assumed he’d fallen asleep reading it, but maybe he’d sent Akira a text through some app that let him spoof me, sent me a message as An0nym0us1, then pretended to be asleep. Then, after he left, he could’ve left Akira a voicemail, spoken to her, pretending to be me. The more I thought it through, the more it made sense. Yet it made absolutely no sense at all—

An IP address appeared under An0nym0us1’s picture.

They matched. The numbers matched.

An0nym0us1 was Dylan.

Not paranoia. Confirmation. Fact.

My heart shattered into a million pieces, and I leaped from my chair, howling as a raging fury thawed the ice in my chest. The sound startled Whiskers, who darted from the room. We’d let this boy into our lives. We’d welcomed him onto our team, befriended him, trusted him. I’d started to fall for him. And then he took my sister. He tortured me. He killed two of my friends—

Someone pounded on the front door. I gasped. Was that the police? Had someone found Zoey tied up? Whoever it was barely waited a moment before knocking again. Persistent. Loud. Angry.

I instinctively grabbed the knife and slinked across the hall to Caelyn’s room to peer out the window. I couldn’t see the front stoop from this angle.

But Dylan’s Jeep was in the driveway, parked behind Matty’s car.

My stomach twisted. How had he gotten here so fast? Had he already been sitting in the driveway? When I sent him the screenshot, he must’ve realized I was home, using my laptop. He must’ve realized I’d figured it out. He was there when we busted Lucia. He must’ve clicked the link on Reddit as An0nym0us1 and realized what he’d done.

Yeah, that’s right, bitch. I figured it out.

Hatred, hot and thick, permeated my veins as he shouted, “Crystal!” He bashed on the door again, each pound reverberating in my ears. A minute later, the shrubberies under Caelyn’s window rustled. He must’ve been edging behind them to peer through the living room window. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I hoped all the windows and doors were locked—I always forgot to lock things. I tightened my grip on the knife as Dylan backed away from the window, lifting his eyes to the second floor.

I ducked, my pulse racing. Did he see me?

“Crystal!”

I held my breath as the sound of rustling foliage moved around the corner of the house. He was checking every window. I crawled into the corner next to Caelyn’s bed and hugged my knees to my chest, gripping the knife hilt so hard my fingernails cut half-moons into my palm.

I’d let him kiss me.

He called my name on the other side of my house. My blinds were drawn now, so he wouldn’t be able to see into my bedroom. Several minutes of silence passed that felt like a lifetime—more minutes that Caelyn was hurt and bleeding. Had Dylan stanched her wounds before leaving her alone to come after me?

My breath caught in my throat. He’d eventually give up here. Then I could follow him back to Caelyn. Yes. He’d lead me right to her. I scrambled to my feet and peered out the window. His Jeep was still in the driveway. I could do this.

I slinked back to my room to grab my car keys, then inched down the hall, heart galloping like a wild stallion as I peeked down the stairs to the front door. There was a shadow behind the opaque stained glass, and I could see Dylan’s blue-and-white-plaid jacket through the narrow translucent swirls in the design. I yanked myself back. If he spotted me, he’d never leave. I knelt and peeked around the banister. He was pacing, waffling, unsure. My car was in the driveway, but since I kept my bike in the garage, he wouldn’t be able to tell if I’d ridden it somewhere. Without my phone, he couldn’t track me.

Good.

Let him be confused. I’d spent the last day out of my mind.

Finally, he stilled, then disappeared, perhaps convinced I wasn’t home after all.

I crept downstairs and leaned against the door to peer out one of the tiny swirls of translucent glass. Oh God, he was still there. Sitting on the front stoop. Hunched over like he was scrolling through his phone. I stooped, covering my mouth, praying he hadn’t heard me.

The wooden steps creaked. If I could hear that, surely he could hear my heart thrumming against my rib cage.

“Crystal?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, like that would somehow make me invisible, and held my breath, cowering against the door. If he looked straight down, would he see me at this angle?

Whiskers meowed, and my eyes snapped to her, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking right at me. I shook my head, hoping she’d somehow understand the frantic look in my eyes and know to go away, to pretend I wasn’t here. Instead she trotted right over, thinking I’d gotten down to her level to play. She rubbed her fuzzy body against mine, giving me a cat-hug as I remained frozen, terrified, my ankles cramping up from kneeling like this, holding my breath.

Something squeaked overhead. I held in a gasp and looked up, and watched helplessly as the doorknob turned.





CHAPTER 36


I’d forgotten to lock the door, hadn’t I? I always forgot. Dammit.