I never spared my little brother a thought after that.

Not until Dylan mentioned she wanted to hang out at my house that night.

Tommy continues talking when I’m silent. “She told me she’d give me a chance if I could help her come up with an even better plan to get back at you.” He looks sheepish. “So I did.”

It feels like a rock is wedged in my throat. “What was the plan?”

I need to hear all the details. Every link in the messed-up chain they constructed that ended with my baby brother dying.

“Since she was already going with Liam, I told her I’d come through with a way to distract him halfway through the dance. This way we could sneak away. As luck would have it, Cole ditching his date provided a perfect one.”

The rock in my throat becomes a boulder, siphoning off my air supply with every word he says.

“My plan was for you to catch us making out in the hallway after you noticed she wasn’t with Liam, but she said that wasn’t good enough. She wanted me to provoke you and start a fight with you.”

I gesture for him to keep going because I can’t formulate words.

“Liam was supposed to catch us out in the hallway fighting over her. The goal was to cause a rift between you and your brother because she knew it would hurt you.”

“Liam said he saw us in the closet, not the hallway.”

I’m grasping at straws here, but it’s all I’ve got.

I don’t want to believe Dylan would be capable of doing something so spiteful and vindictive.

Tommy nods. “Dylan deviated from the plan when she told me to go back inside. I was so angry with her, I decided to spill the beans to Liam myself…”

His voice trails off, but I need to hear the rest.

I push down on the bat. “Keep talking.”

He sputters a curse. “Liam didn’t believe me, so I told him I could prove it.” His face twists in pain. “I took him to the hallway, but you guys weren’t there. I quickly figured out where you might have gone because it was where we used to hang out. However, what I didn’t expect to see was…it didn’t look fake.”

It didn’t feel fake, either.

White-hot pain races through my chest. I hate that Tommy’s version of events line up perfectly with what actually went down that night.

He scowls. “I was pissed. I thought Dylan was my girl. Liam became upset too…even more than me.” He holds up his hands. “I fucked up, Jace. I was wrong for bullying him. But, man. I was so angry with her.” His nostrils flare. “Like a fool, part of me kept holding on to hope, but when I found out she moved away, everything made sense. The bitch was playing me too.”

What the actual fuck?

“She didn’t move away.”

“Yes, she did. A teacher at school confirmed it today. She’s gone, dude.” His eyes connect with mine. “Evidently, her father found out he landed a new job a couple of weeks ago.” His jaw tics. “Guess she wanted to burn a few bridges before she left Royal Manor for good.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

My lungs compress and my vision turns red.

It’s like seeing Liam hanging in the closet all over again…only somehow worse.

Because the person I trusted most in this world betrayed me.

Dylan’s intent might not have been for Liam to kill himself, but she still used him.

No, worse. The bitch intentionally hurt him, even though he was completely innocent.

Tension locks my jaw and rides down my neck. Liam never did a damn thing wrong to warrant being caught up in any of this.

Hell, he’d never even think about hurting Dylan. He’d rather die.

Liam never deserved any of this.

The roar that slashes through me as I place a foot on Tommy’s stomach and pick up the bat has a wet spot forming on the front of his pants.

I’m gonna kill him. I feel it in my bones.

It hurts too much, and Liam isn’t here to be my conscience and tell me all the good shit Mom used to spout off.

“Holy shit. Put the bat down, Jace.”

My lungs freeze when I see Liam making his way through the woods. “Liam?”

He’s okay. Everything is fine. I can fix my mistake. I can…

My heart drops when Liam walks over to me and I realize it isn’t Liam after all…it’s Cole.

Everything is not fine. It won’t ever be again.

“He hurt Liam.” Wet shit is dripping down my face, blurring my sight as I raise the bat. “Dylan hurt Liam.”

I hurt Liam.

Everyone at school hurt Liam.

Why’d they all have to laugh and pick on him?

Why couldn’t they just see him for the awesome, genuine person he was?

Why couldn’t I fall for someone like Britney instead of her?

I’m spinning in circles, but I can’t make it stop. I can’t make any of it stop.

All I know is I want my little brother back so bad I’d gladly trade my own life for his without hesitation.

And Tommy has to die, because it’s not fair that he’s allowed to go on breathing when Liam isn’t.

Cole squeezes my shoulder. “I know it hurts.” He pries the bat out of my hands. “But killing Tommy won’t make it better.”

Like hell it won’t.

Tommy begins slinking away, but Cole snatches his t-shirt.

“Just so we’re clear. Me stopping him from killing your sorry ass has nothing to do with you.” He crashes his forehead against Tommy’s. “If I still believed in God or any of that bullshit, I’d personally beg him to send you straight to hell where you belong.” He tightens his grip. “Swear on your family, if you ever say a word about what happened in these woods, I’ll—”

“I won’t.” His frantic eyes dart between us. “If my mom notices anything, I’ll blame it on someone else.”

I get close to his face. “Don’t think for one second this means we’re cool. You see me walking down the street, you better turn the other way and pray to whatever higher power you believe in that I don’t spot you first, motherfucker.”

“Got it.” He sits up and looks around, as though he’s waiting for us to stop him.

“Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind,” I shout so loud I’m positive my vocal cords have snapped.

Peeling himself off the ground, he hobbles out of the woods as fast as his punk-ass legs can carry him.

“What the fuck was that?” Cole grits out after he’s gone. “You were really going to kill him.”

“It hurts.” I sink to my haunches. “It hurts too much.”

He joins me on the ground. “You can’t do that to us, Jace. You still have me and Bianca. We need you.”

He’s right. It would be hard to take care of them from a jail cell.

“I miss him.”

I miss his smiles and his jokes. I miss his compassion for people and his understanding for those who didn’t deserve it.

I don’t know how I’m supposed to just accept that I’m never going to experience any of that again.

He made the world a better place.

Cole nods. “I do too. I…” He squeezes his eyes shut. “I feel different.” He pounds on his chest. “Something in here…it doesn’t feel right anymore.” His voice cracks. “I feel empty and hollow. Like I’m missing a big piece of something.”