“How are you?” Freeloader asked, tucking a lock of mousy brown hair behind her ear. Her features were all small apart from her large eyes, giving her the look of a rabbit in the headlights.
“I’m fine,” I said though it wasn’t entirely true, but I didn’t want to expand.
I wanted to get close to the Unspeakables, but it was tricky to trust them with my specific plans against the Night Keepers when I knew they’d spill the truth in a heartbeat if any of the guys caught wind of it. For all I knew they could be reporting back to the Night Keepers every time I met with them. But I liked to hope not. Especially considering I was trying to reinstate their backbones every time I came here and make them rise up. But that was a risk I had to take, because if I could get the Unspeakables to go against them, the power balance would shift in this school and together we could dethrone them for good.
“So, we’ve been thinking about what you said the other day about us reclaiming our real names,” Deepthroat said, exchanging a nervous glance with the others who nodded in encouragement. She’d worn her auburn hair loose for once, the beautiful waves falling around her shoulders in a waterfall. “And well…basically we thought…we’d like you to know ours.”
My lips parted in surprise and I nodded in encouragement. “So what are they?”
Deepthroat cleared her throat. “I’m Ashlynn,” she whispered, her eyes sparkling as she said the word and I grinned, looking to Freeloader.
She cleared her throat a couple of times, glancing over at the quiet aisles that led away from our table, but there was no one around. “Kristen,” she breathed, then smothered a laugh of relief as the world didn’t come to an end.
“Pigs?” I asked and he wet his pale lips.
“My name is Bergen,” he said then smiled broadly, the sight making my heart lift.
“And Squits?” I asked, the boy starting to shake from head to toe. He was so small, he looked like a child sitting in an adult sized chair.
“I-I’m R-R-R-” He shook his head, throwing terrified looks at the others.
“You can do it,” I said firmly and he nodded, his shaking starting to ease as he looked to me.
“R-Roger,” he forced out, his whole face screwing up as he said it.
“Nice to meet you Roger.” I beamed and he stopped shaking entirely, his eyes practically shining with hope.
I reached into my bag, taking out a few rolls of toilet paper I’d stashed there earlier while the boys had been busy. I got a surge of adrenaline every time I stole them and brought them here. God only knew what they’d do to me if they found out I’d been supplying the Unspeakables with TP. But it was worth the risk. I wanted them as allies and there was nothing more valuable than toilet paper on campus right now.
We set to work on our assignments and the two hours I was given each evening slipped away too fast. I was soon saying my goodbyes and telling them to encourage the rest of the Unspeakables to say their names out loud before I waved and headed off through the stacks.
I walked towards the librarian as she spoke with a student in front of her desk, handing over a school tie. “I found this down by the lake,” she said and the librarian grabbed a box from under the desk with Lost & Found printed on the side. A glint within it caught my eye as the girl placed the tie into it and I recognised Blake’s watch. The one Saint had smashed in class because he was a megadouche sandwich with a side of fuckhead fries.
“Hey, can I see that?” I asked as I jogged closer and the librarian shrugged, pushing the box towards me. The girl who’d dropped off the tie threw me a look of awe before darting out of the door and into the night.
I took the watch from the box and as I turned it over, I found an engraving on the back that said time waits for no man, my love.
I looked up at the librarian. “Can I take this? It belongs to my-” Captor? Monster? Mortal enemy? “Friend,” I finished with an innocent smile.
“Sure,” she said. “Looks like your friend might need a new one though.”
“This one’s special.” My heart clenched as I put it in my pocket, thinking of Blake’s mom. Of all the pain he must have been through. And as I waved goodbye to the librarian and headed out the door, I had the sudden urge to go and be with him.
The air was freezing outside and I hugged my coat tighter around me as I hurried down the path, half jogging back in the direction of The Temple. I wasn’t sure why I’d taken the watch exactly. It was broken, but from what Mila had told me about Saint destroying it, it had been a gift from Blake’s mother. Which made it incredibly precious.
The trees stirred around me in the wind, the sound of their rustling leaves sending a tingle up my spine.
A cracking twig to my right made me fall still and I gazed into the shadows between the trees which lined the hill beside the path. My breath was fogging before me in the cool air and every part of my honed instincts told me I was in danger.
Another twig cracked and a flash of white caught my attention up in the dark woodland. A face? I
