Page 154 of Boys Who Hunt

“You’re surrounded by killers.” I make eye contact with her through the mirror. “Killers who just swore to protect you and Cora.”

Cora’s hand entwines through Ivy’s, her little body trembling. “Killers?”

“He’s joking,” Ivy says, throwing me darts with her eyes. “Right?”

“Yeah. Totally.” I add a smile for good measure.

I’m not used to hanging around kids, and I have no fucking clue how to behave around them. But we’ll make it work.

I’m not going to let anyone harm the one girl who’s been out here wrapping us all around her finger.

When we’re at the house again, I happily shut off the engine, but my eyes still find the little bottle of pills lying on the passenger’s seat. Sighing, I grab it and take a pill, swallowing it down without any water.

“What’s that?” Cora asks, and I nearly choke.

“Nothing,” I reply.

“Pills,” Ivy replies.

“For what?” the little girl asks.

“People take pills if they’re sick,” Ivy says.

Sick.

Maybe I am.

“But if he doesn’t wanna tell, he doesn’t have to,” she adds, glaring at me through the mirror.

I nod, glad she’s not prying. “Thanks.”

I step out, close the door, and open hers instead.

“I can manage.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean I shouldn’t,” I reply, smirking.

She rolls her eyes, but a tiny smile still quirks up her top lip, if only briefly.

“Cora, let’s go,” Ivy says, and she grabs her hand and helps her out.

I close the door behind them and follow them toward the door. Silas and Max have already pulled up to the house, and Silas is still wearing his broken helmet when he walks up to us.

“Why not throw that thing away?” I ask.

“And get shot in the head while driving?” Silas replies. “No, thanks.”

“Wait, someone followed us?” Max asks, the panic clearly visible in his eyes.

“No, I checked,” I reply, but he still won’t look at me, and it fucking hurts.

My fist balls, and I move on ahead. “Whatever.”

“Wha—” Max mutters, but I ignore him.

Ivy and Cora are already up ahead, and I’m more concerned with them right now. Ivy is being targeted by someone or something big, and I want to know why. Is it because she stole money from them too? Or is there something else at play?

Cora’s eyes nearly start to dazzle. “We get to live here?”