“That’s all you have to say about that?” I ask incredulously, looking over at the empty table where the Charter Crew used to sit. There’s nobody there now, just a fucking ghost town. If I squint, I swear I can see Kali and Mitch, Ivy and Danny, Logan and Kyler and Timmy.

Billie sits by herself in the far corner of the room, her eyes red-rimmed and constantly straying over to where we sit. She meets my gaze and then turns away sharply, put in her fucking place the way Kali wouldn’t allow me to do.

Instead, she took her obstinance and her bullshit to the grave.

“This is bad, Victor,” Aaron says softly, but our fearless leader just shakes his head.

“I know it’s bad,” he replies, exhaling. “But we’re already at war with the GMP anyway. We’ll take extra precautions, hide some weapons around the perimeter of the school. Whatever Ophelia is up to, the GMP is part of it. I’m hoping they won’t move on us if we go forward with the annulment.” The look he gives me is one of a thousand apologies, a million pleas. I turn away and Callum rests a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“I’m going to have to tell Sara something,” I say, feeling my chest get tight. Everyone in this room is watching us. Maybe not directly, but they’re waiting, wondering what we’re going to do next. If I snitch to that cop, everyone here will know. But I have to steer her ship or she’s going to end up in murky waters.

“Don’t worry about Sara Young,” Vic says, gesturing at me with his finger, and then smiling in that way of his, the one that makes me so furious I could spit. “Just focus on getting through these next few weeks, okay?”

“Go fuck yourself,” I tell my husband as he smiles, steps forward, and then kisses me on the cheek. Just like I did to him that day at the garage. And just like that day, I feel dumbstruck the way he did. “Have fun on your date with Trinity.”

“Oh, I’m sure I will,” Vic says, still smiling. On top of everything else, he’s going to dinner at some fancy restaurant in Oak Park tonight with Trinity to discuss the details of our arrangement.

I ignore him as he leaves the room just before the bell rings.

“Stop punishing yourself and say something to him,” Aaron tells me as he stands up, looking down at me with an expression crafted of equal parts tenderness and violence. Only half of that look is intended for me. “Before I fucking kill him.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I quip, feeling my skin get tight and hot. A girl walks by, looking me up and down as she passes. She’s picked a terrible day to try her hand at climbing the Prescott High social ladder.

“Whore,” she whispers, and a few of her friends snicker. I let her go as I stand up and storm into the hall. But I’m in a terrible fucking mood.

And I need somebody to take it out on.

After school, I wait down the street and around the corner with Cal. When the mouthy bitch passes by, I step out from behind the hedge and hit her in the back of her knee with the patent leather heels on my feet. She crumples forward and crashes into the cement, skinning her hands and knees.

“What the fuck?” one of her friends chokes out before she sees me and Cal. That’s when the blood drains from her face and our eyes meet.

“That fucking hurt!” the girl on the ground wails, just before I nail her in the spine with my heel and push her into the sidewalk as she grunts and chokes in pain.

“I hope it hurt,” I tell her, grinding my heel into her back as she screams. When she stops to take a breath, drool leaks over her lower lip and ruins her lipstick. She doesn’t steal the right kind then because it isn’t waterproof; it’s cheap. I step back and crouch down beside her as Kali Rose whispers in my ear.

“You’re not good enough, Bernie. Even after everything, you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t hurt me the way I deserved.” Kali laughs as I grab the girl by her hair and lift her head up so she can look at me with mascara running down her face. Callum just stands there and lights a cigarette while he watches me.

“The Charter Crew is gone,” I tell her as she sniffles. I recognize her as one of their nameless lackeys. “They are all dead. Do you want to die as well? Because if you’re that faithful, that loyal to your crew, then we can make that happen.”

“Please, please,” she whispers, sputtering and sniveling. “I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear to god. I swear, I swear, I swear on his name.” I shove her away from me and rise to my feet, accepting the cigarette that Cal hands me.

“She isn’t Kali,” he reminds me as I lift my eyes to his. I think mine are watering, but my makeup is legit as fuck. I only steal the best, sometimes only after checking reviews online.

“I know,” I whisper back as the girls help their friend to her feet and the trio takes off. “And I know what you said, that killing isn’t exactly a virtue, but I can’t shake her. Cal, she follows me everywhere.” I look past him to where Kali’s standing, but she’s only there in my mind. When I blink, she’s gone.

“You let her get inside your head,” he tells me, pouring the rest of his Pepsi over the small bloodstains on the pavement. The sugary syrup washes them away like they were never there. Doesn’t hurt that the sidewalk was already wet, that the sky looks like it might crack in half and drown the city. “You’re doubting yourself because of her. Because of people like Coraleigh. Or Trinity Jade.” He looks up at me and tries for a smile. It lands just right, turning his face into something very pretty for a moment there. “Us taking care of your list doesn’t change that. You have to exorcise your own demons.”

He takes out another cigarette, his hood pulled up as usual, blond hair covering his forehead.

“What about your demons?” I ask him, knowing that he’s still got them and that maybe he wants them there.

“I just feed mine to keep them quiet,” he tells me, lifting his head up as Sara Young’s Subaru drives past and she slows down when she sees me. I salute her with my cigarette, frowning as she continues on and leaves us in peace.

I’m dragging my feet here because I don’t want to go home and think about Victor going on a date with a rich girl.

“I still don’t trust Victor, I guess,” I say to Cal, standing there as the first bit of drizzle starts to fall from the sky. Doesn’t seem to bother him, so I pull my own hood up to protect my hair. I’m wearing my pink leather Havoc jacket over a hoodie, so no problems staying warm out here. “If I did, I might not be so …” I gesture loosely with my hand, making a fist and then opening it up again. “Cagey.”

“You should,” Cal assures me. “Because we all know just how to take care of you.” He moves up to stand beside me, cupping the side of my face with cool fingers. I lean into the touch and Callum smiles. “We’ve been doing it for years. Let us keep on doing it.”

“What’s going on with my mother?” I ask as Cal drops his hand to his side and then flicks his cigarette into a puddle. He chuckles at me and then turns away. I figure we came this way just to beat the crap out of that girl, but then Callum starts to back up into one of the yards, gesturing for me to follow after.