Page 23 (1/2)

“Thank you, Mother”

With that, we got off the phone I stood staring down at the floor processing for a while, trying to read between the lines of what she’d said Kaspar was dangerous, that was obvious, but there wasn’t h

Which suggested Maeve didn’t know much else about him

That was surprising Maeve knew everything about everyone She s that shouldn’t be known and went out of her way to collect ruet her hands on

Inforth of arst each other, but Maeve practiced so ht, the dagger in the back beneath a full ns, and never went to war

War was a boy’s game, she always said War was for children, and eren’t children

I left the library stairwell and headed out into the night, walking slow Kaspar was a proble of one Penny see else, but it was the way he looked at

Like he knew so that he shouldn’t

Kaspar was dangerous and smart If Maeve said so, then it was true

Only I had to decide how serous

And if he needed to be eliminated

Or if I needed to move up my timetable

I should’ve stabbed Penny in the throat in thefelt thinner and thinner the longer I went Maeve wanted e, but that could be accoht amount of blood

No, I was dragging my feet for another reason

That botheredas I’ve known Maeve, I’ve only ever wanted toelse mattered—not boys, not school, not any of the ht about

For me, it was Maeve and Maeve alone I wanted her approval I craved her attention

Killing Penny would givePenny would make Maeve happy

So why didn’t I just strangle the girl and be done with it?

I wandered into our dor around that problem and I didn’t notice that the door to our room was open until I pushed it open and felt no resistance

I stared in at Kaspar as he stooped over Penny’s dresser, his hand shoved in her drawer

His eyes slid over to me

He should’ve looked es—her underwear, by the look of it, which was creepy as all fucking hell—not to er started upto keep myself calm

Maeve always taught me that a calht now

Kaspar straightened slowly He tilted his head, frowning like I was the one interrupting him