My eyes widen with every sentence that leaves her mouth. She kicks Bedlam in the ribs so hard, it forces coughs out of him. An ugly smile stretches her lips when she turns toward Zamara.
“Don’t!” I warn through my teeth. Abuse Bedlam can take. But Zamara? Just no.
“Oh!” She bats her eyelashes at me. “You get touchy when it comes to this virgin, huh? Figures you’d be into the pure ones. She was never part of my kill list, her father being the boss and all. But then I catch you kissing her outside your tent.” She straightens and widens her stance. “What? Since I’ve slept around, I’m not good enough for you? Want them tight and untouched? Is that it? There are surgeries for that kind of thing nowadays. It’ll be like I’m brand-new.”
The situation has gotten so absurd, I actually blurt out, “Even if you were a virgin, I wouldn’t have given you a second glance.”
“But you slept with me anyway!” She stomps her foot like an angry child denied cake before dinner.
“Just to shut you up.”
Star actually has the gall to gasp, as if I’m the one standing between two people dripping with a highly flammable substance. “How dare you….”
I barely suppress the shrug. Pissing her off even more isn’t the smartest decision. I start figuring out a way to get her away from Bedlam and Zamara. I should have taken my chance when I still had the upper hand. Dammit! I force myself to calm down by steadying my breathing as much as I can. No point in letting panic take over completely.
“You’re right,” I say in an attempt to buy time. In the distance light is taking over the darkness in the sky. Surely someone will spot us and call for help. “I shouldn’t have said it that way.”
Almost immediately she regains her composure. “Of course I’m right.” An air of confidence that I recognize surrounds her. “Which is why I thought if I killed the top ten you’d be forced to finally take me seriously. Take my feelings for you seriously. Did you like my messages?” She runs a fingertip down the side of her face.
None of this makes sense. “I never understood them.”
“They represent all the emotions I felt for you.” She begins ticking off all the words like items on a list using the fingers of one hand. “Hubris because I couldn’t believe I’m actually killing people for you. Vanity because I have to make all the kills look extra pretty. Lust because every time I carved a new word into someone’s body I thought about how close I’m getting to touching you again. Coward because I can’t come out and confess my feelings for you. And Hunger because I want you every waking moment.”
She sighs in contentment, as if she’s priding herself for what she’s done. I’m sick. If my stomach had anything in it, nothing would stay down for long. Seeing all those bodies in my mind’s eye crumples my insides. They all died because of me. Because of Star’s obsession with me.
“At first I got really creative with the killings. I honestly thought the IC would be canceled so I could take my time, but you insisted.” She rolls her eyes as if I’m the petulant one between us. “Under close quarters, I really had to be extra careful. Then that stupid Viper gets himself hospitalized. Of course it couldn’t be helped after I stabbed him and all. Anyway, he was being a major pain in my ass. Can you imagine he actually suggested I kill you and get it over with?”
“He was helping you?”
“Who do you think lugged the bodies around?” Star studies her nails and frowns. “I may do the killing, but someone has to do the rest of the dirty work. Plus, I want you to suffer, not kill you.”
The more she speaks the more I’m certain there isn’t a shred of sanity left in her. “That night. In the GT-R, was that you?”
She laughs. Just a quick ha, ha, ha. “That was Viper on his way to meet me. Must be nice to be loved.” She changes topics swiftly. “If you stayed in Bedlam’s mini–holding cell, things might have gotten a little more complicated for me. Thank the racing gods you’re so typical. I knew you’d find your way out.” I open my mouth to respond, but she cuts me off with a dangerous stare—a mix of desire and insanity. “My favorite kill would have to be Slipstream. That’s after I fucked him first, of course. Ah, the sounds he made. I slit his throat just as he was coming. Glorious.”
Images of Slipstream’s naked body slumped against a chair with his throat slit sends an eerie calm washing over me. All the fear. All the uncertainty. Gone. Just gone. Like dew under a noonday sun. Replaced by the kind of clarity more frightening than Star’s request. My head bows as my shoulders fall. There’s no other way out of this. No other way. I unzip my jacket.
Star doesn’t notice the change in me because she keeps talking. “So now we’re all caught up. Time for you to choose.” I lift my head at her pause. She points at each of them. “Zamara or Bedlam?”
“No,” I say. Rage grips my heart and squeezes until I no longer feel it beating.
“Choose!” she commands.
I reach for my back pocket and pull out my phone. After unlocking it, I speed-dial the one person I know who will handle everything for me when this
