Damon's POV
I'm alive.
That's the first thought I have when I open my eyes. The second thought is: why?
I'm lying on cold concrete. My head throbs like someone hit me with a hammer. When I try to sit up, the world spins sideways.
"Easy." A hand on my shoulder pushes me back down. "You took a pretty hard hit."
I blink until my vision clears. Marcus is kneeling beside me, looking concerned. We're in some kind of storage room with concrete walls and one small window near the ceiling.
"What happened?" My voice comes out rough. "Where are we?"
"Science building basement. You got attacked on the roof." Marcus helps me sit up against the wall. "I saw someone hit you from behind and dragged you down here to safety. Whoever it was is still looking for us."
Something feels wrong. Marcus's story doesn't make sense, but my head hurts too much to figure out why.
"Skylar and Riley," I manage to say. "Are they okay?"
"They're fine. I texted them to stay away." Marcus pulls out his phone. "Here, see?"
He shows me a text conversation, but the words blur together. I can't focus on anything.
"You might have a concussion," Marcus says. "Just rest for a minute."
I close my eyes. Try to think. The last thing I remember is climbing the stairs to Whitmore Hall's roof. Reading that warning text about how it wasn't Celeste waiting for me.
It's someone worse.
My eyes snap open. "The text said you were—"
"A liar?" A woman's voice cuts through the room like a knife. "He is. But not the way you think."
I struggle to my feet, using the wall for support. A woman steps out of the shadows near the door. She's maybe forty years old, dressed in a suit, with short dark hair and cold eyes.
I've never seen her before in my life.
"Who are you?" I demand.
"Someone who's been cleaning up your girlfriend's messes for months." The woman crosses her arms. "My name is Victoria Morgan. Celeste's mother."
My blood turns to ice.
"That's right." Victoria's smile is cruel. "Surprised? You should be. My daughter is obsessed with you, Damon. Has been for two years. She's told me everything. How perfect you are. How you're the only one who understands her. How you're meant to be together."
"I don't love her," I say through gritted teeth. "I never did."
"I know. That's the problem." Victoria starts pacing. "Celeste has borderline personality disorder. When she fixates on someone and they reject her, she becomes dangerous. This isn't the first time."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean James isn't her first victim." Victoria says it so casually, like she's discussing the weather. "There was a boy at her high school. Another at her previous college. Both ruled suicides. Both boys who rejected her affections."
The room tilts again, but this time it's not from the head injury. "You knew. You knew she was killing people, and you covered it up?"
"What would you have me do? Turn my own daughter in to the police?" Victoria's voice turns sharp. "I'm her mother. I protect her. That's what family does."
"That's insane!"
"That's love." Victoria stops pacing and looks at me. "But you're going to ruin everything. You and those two girls digging into James's death. The recording, the evidence, James's hidden files—you're forcing my hand."
My heart pounds. "Where are Skylar and Riley?"
"Safe. For now." Victoria nods at Marcus. "Show him."
Marcus pulls up something on his phone and hands it to me. It's a live video feed.
Skylar and Riley are tied to chairs in what looks like an empty classroom. Tape over their mouths. Their eyes are wide with terror.
"No." The phone almost slips from my shaking hands. "No, please—"
"They're alive," Victoria says calmly. "As long as you cooperate, they stay that way."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to disappear." Victoria pulls out a syringe from her jacket pocket. "This is a sedative. Enough to put you to sleep for several hours. When you wake up, you'll be on a plane to Europe with a new identity and a substantial bank account. You'll start a new life far away from here."
I stare at her like she's lost her mind. "You think I'm just going to leave? Abandon Skylar and Riley and let Celeste get away with murder?"
"You'll do it to save their lives." Victoria's voice turns hard. "Because if you don't get on that plane, my people will kill both girls. Slowly. And I'll make sure you watch every second before we kill you too."
"Your people?" I look at Marcus. "You're working for her?"
Marcus won't meet my eyes. "I'm sorry, Damon. She's paying for my PhD. My entire future depends on keeping her happy."
"James was your friend!"
"And I didn't know she was going to kill him!" Marcus finally looks up, his face tortured. "I thought I was just helping with a stalking situation. Delete some security footage, give Celeste access to the building. I didn't know it was murder until it was too late."
"So you covered it up anyway." My voice is full of disgust. "You helped a murderer walk free."
"I helped a friend survive," Marcus shoots back. "Victoria would have destroyed my life if I talked. My family's life. Everyone I care about."
"Everyone except James."
Marcus flinches like I slapped him.
Victoria steps between us. "Enough. We're wasting time." She holds up the syringe. "You have ten seconds to decide, Damon. Take the sedative voluntarily, get on the plane, and the girls live. Or refuse, and I make one phone call and they die right now."
I look at the video feed again. Skylar is struggling against her restraints, trying desperately to break free. Even tied up and terrified, she's still fighting.
She wouldn't give up. She'd never give up.
But if I don't give up, she dies.
"Five seconds," Victoria says.
My mind races. There has to be another way. Some way to save them without running away like a coward.
"Three seconds."
I look at Marcus. "You said James was your friend. Did you mean it?"
Marcus's jaw tightens. "Yes."
"Then help me stop this. Help me save Skylar and Riley. Help me get justice for James." I meet his eyes. "It's not too late to do the right thing."
"One second."
Marcus looks between me and Victoria, his face agonized.
"I'm sorry," he whispers.
He grabs my arms and holds me still.
Victoria lunges forward with the syringe.
I twist hard, trying to break free, but Marcus is stronger than he looks. The needle pierces my arm. Liquid fire floods my veins.
"No!" I struggle harder, but my muscles are already going weak. "You can't—"
"Shh." Victoria caps the empty syringe. "It's better this way. Trust me."
My legs give out. Marcus lowers me to the floor.
"The girls," I slur. Everything is getting fuzzy. "You promised—"
"I lied." Victoria's smile is the last thing I see before darkness swallows me. "They know too much. They have to die. But don't worry—you won't be awake to see it."
No. No, no, no.
I try to fight the drug, but it's too strong. My consciousness is slipping away.
The last thing I hear is Victoria on her phone: "It's done. Damon's neutralized. Move forward with the plan. Kill the girls and make it look like a murder-suicide. Yes, both of them. No witnesses."
Then nothing.
When I wake up, I'm in a moving vehicle. My head pounds worse than before. My arm throbs where Victoria injected me.
How long was I out? Minutes? Hours?
I force my eyes open. I'm in the back of a van with no windows. My hands are zip-tied in front of me.
The van door is slightly open, like whoever tied me up was in a hurry.
Through the gap, I see we're driving through campus. Toward the airport, probably.
But we're also driving past the science building.
Where Skylar and Riley are being held.
Where they're about to be murdered.
I look at my tied hands. At the van door. At the science building getting closer.
This might be my only chance.
I take a deep breath, say a prayer, and throw myself out of the moving van.
The pavement rushes up to meet me. Pain explodes through my body as I hit the ground and roll. Something in my shoulder cracks. I taste blood.
But I'm alive. And I'm free.
The van screeches to a stop. Doors slam open. Footsteps running toward me.
I force myself up and run toward the science building. Every step is agony, but I push through it.
Behind me, someone shouts. "Stop him!"
A gunshot cracks through the air.
I don't stop. Can't stop.
I crash through the science building doors and race down the hallway, following signs to the classrooms.
I have to find them. Have to save them.
More footsteps behind me. More shouting.
I burst into an empty classroom. Wrong one.
Next classroom. Also empty.
Third classroom—
I freeze in the doorway.
The room is empty. The chairs where Skylar and Riley were tied up are there, ropes still attached.
But the girls are gone.
And there's blood on the floor.
A lot of blood.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Somehow, I still have it.
A text from an unknown number with a photo attached.
My hands shake as I open it.
The photo shows Skylar and Riley. They're unconscious, lying in what looks like the trunk of a car.
Below the photo, a message:
Too slow, Damon. They're already dead. Or they will be in about five minutes when we dump them in the river. Should have taken the deal. xoxo - Victoria
The phone slips from my numb fingers.
I'm too late.
I failed them.
I failed everyone.
Behind me, Victoria's men pour into the classroom, guns drawn.
I don't run. Don't fight.
What's the point?
Then my phone buzzes again on the floor.
A different text. From a number I recognize.
Riley's number.
Not dead yet. Escaped. Heading to police station. Hurry.
Hope explodes in my chest like fireworks.
They're alive. They're ALIVE.
I spin toward Victoria's men with new determination burning through me.
"Get out of my way," I growl. "Or I swear I'll go through you."
The closest man raises his gun.
Behind him, through the classroom window, police lights flash in the distance.
Someone called the cops.
The man sees the lights too. His eyes go wide.
"Retreat!" he shouts. "Cops are coming! Retreat!"
They run, leaving me alone in the classroom.
I grab my phone and call Riley's number with shaking hands.
She answers on the first ring.
"Damon? Oh thank God, you're okay!"
"Where are you?"
"In a cab heading to the police station with Skylar. We got your message about Marcus being dirty and—wait, you did send that message, right?"
"What message?"
Silence on the other end.
"Riley? What message?"
"The one telling us not to trust Marcus. To meet you at the old library instead of the roof. We went there and..." She pauses. "If you didn't send that message, then who did?"
My blood runs cold.
"Riley, get out of that cab right now."
"What? Why?"
"BECAUSE IT'S NOT A CAB!" I'm screaming now. "It's a trap! They're not taking you to the police station!"
I hear Riley gasp. Then Skylar shouting in the background. Scuffling sounds.
The line goes dead.
No. NO.
I run out of the classroom, down the hallway, out of the building.
But I have no idea where they are. No idea which direction to go.
They're gone.
And this time, it might be for real.