Bonus Content #2
Movement catches my attention and I see Jasper stepping up beside us with worry on his face. “Is she okay… shit!” he exclaims as Mina crumples. We both lunge forward to catch her.
Jasper
As I’m about to head into math class, I see Gideon a few feet away, bending down with his hand on a girl’s shoulder. He looks worried, and I notice she’s pale and breathing funny.
“Mina, look at me. Come on, honey…” Gideon says as I come up beside him.
“Is she okay—shit!” I say as she suddenly loses consciousness.
Gideon catches her before she hits the ground, then looks at me with concern.
“Help me out here. It’s not exactly appropriate for a staff member to be carrying a female student,” he pleads.
“Yeah, of course.” I take her from his arms and stand up, following him to an empty classroom.
I can’t help but notice how small she feels in my arms. I take the chance to finally get a good look at her, shocked by how breathtaking she is.
My eyes roam over all her features—beautiful brown hair braided into pigtails, beautiful cheekbones, a delicate nose.
“Sit down here.” Gideon motions to the teacher’s chair.
I sit with her in my lap since there isn’t anywhere to set her down without her toppling over. With one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, I sit back and finally glance up at Gideon.
“What’s going on? What happened? Who is she?” Can I keep her?
Gideon lets out a puff of air and straightens, running a hand through his hair.
“This,” he says, motioning to her, “is Mina Davies.”
I reel my head back in shock before looking down at her again. “This is Helen’s daughter?”
“Yes. This is the troublesome teen turned mute that Helen warned me about yesterday.”
“This is…” I trail off, not sure how to finish my thought as my eyes trace Mina’s face.
“Not what you expected? Yeah, me neither. I thought it was an act at first, but I think she genuinely fainted from a panic attack,” he explains.
“Do you know what caused it?” I ask, unable to take my eyes off her face. We’d expected Helen’s daughter to start today, but if I’m being honest, I figured she’d either be a girl with a lot of attitude or a guy disguising himself as a girl. I didn’t expect… this. Whatever this was.
“She seemed okay until we got to the classroom. When she saw the room, she… I think she had a panic attack.” He leans on the desk, staring at her.
“A bad one too, if she passed out from it.” He nods in contemplation.
“Her mom said to just let her color all day, like she’s incapable of anything more. But I don’t think that’s true.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure, Jasper. I’m just not sure. When she wakes up, I’ll take her to the library. Maybe she’d prefer a private study room where she can be alone while she acclimates to being in a school setting.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I reply with a nod, still staring at her.
I watch as her eyelids flutter open, and a pulse of something shoots through me as the most beautiful pair of sad green eyes stare up at me. I smile at her, trying to put her at ease, not wanting to make her panic. I need to keep her close—for many reasons.
“Hi there, Angel.”
I can’t get that brown-haired beauty out of my mind. I don’t see how such a tiny girl can be so gorgeous and stunning. Those green eyes and her plump lips. She has the look of a woman our age, not a high schooler.
It’s hard being in high school again and pretending to be eighteen.
We’re in the middle of our hardest case yet.
We’re pretty sure this town has a serial killer.
All signs point to McAdams High. With Max and me being the only ones who can still—barely—pass for high school students, we enrolled three months ago.
Gideon and Tucker, managed to get jobs as staff and the rest of our team, Atlas, Ben, and Dom, are investigating through other means.
I’ve been envying them for the past three months while they get to dig into the case, and I’m stuck trying to pick up gossip in the locker room. That was until today. Now I can’t wait to get back there tomorrow. I want to know more about this girl. No, I want to know everything about my Angel.
When Gideon came home yesterday and told us about meeting Helen Davies and the warnings she gave about her daughter, who was starting the next day, we all thought it could be a lead—especially since there’s no record of a Helen Davies before last year.
What’s more, there’s no record of a daughter either.
We figured if she’s somehow connected to the murders, maybe she has a son, since it’s always high school girls being targeted.
They’d be a much more likely target for a male, not to mention all the schools with murder victims had reports of the missing girls meeting some new boy in the days leading up to their deaths.
That’s why Mina is such a surprise. She might have no connection to the murders at all, but there’s definitely something strange going on. And either way, I needed to get closer to her.
Max
Fuck, I hate high school.
I stand by the side of the building, where I’m trying to pick up on any conversations or suspicious activity that could help with our investigation. Everyone is hanging around in their usual friend groups, laughing and chatting like they don’t have a care in the world.
Then I see her. A small girl who’s walking on her own towards the school with her head down and her shoulders hunched. I stand up straighter as I watch her. I’ve never seen her before. Even from back here, I can see there is something different about her.
The way she doesn’t look at anyone around her and moves quickly towards the building, like she doesn’t want to be noticed. But I notice.
A quick movement near her draws my attention and I watch with shock and anger as one of the biggest guys at this school, Brad Walker, purposely runs right into the girl, sending her flying onto her back as he lands on top of her.
I don’t hesitate, running towards them as fast as I can. By the time I get there, he’s marching her towards the entrance, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she cowers beneath him, staring at the ground.
“Get your fucking hands off of her right now,” I snap, my voice low and full of anger.
“Back off, shithead. I saw her first,” Brad growls, tightening his grip on the girl. She winces in what looks like pain. I’ve never wanted to punch someone as much as I do right now, but I can’t afford to get expelled.
“What the fuck?” I grind out, my voice colder now. “She isn’t a lost item you can claim. And you’re hurting her, so I’ll ask you one last time to get your filthy mitts off of her before I make you.”
I clench my fists at my side, trying to refrain from beating the living shit out of this guy. But Dom will kill me if I fuck up my position at this school.
“I’m not hurting her. She likes it. She’s my girl, right, babe?” Brad squeezes her tighter, and I can see her shudder at the words. I’m done trying to reason with him.
I take a step forward, not giving a damn that he’s bigger than me. But when I glance at the girl, I notice her eye’s still glued to the ground. She’s not looking at me, not acknowledging anything, and it makes something in me tighten.
Deciding to take a different approach, I squat down in front of her, bringing my face level with hers, as I try to gentle my expression and voice.
“Sweetheart?” My tone is soft and gentle as I try to coax her into looking at me.
I know she’s terrified, and I’ll be damned if she’s going to feel that fear around me.
“Just look at me for a second. I won’t hurt you, I promise,” I add gently. My heart pounds as I wait for any sign that she trusts me.
At first, she doesn’t move. Her eyes squeeze shut, her body tense, like she’s bracing for something worse. But then, just as I start to lose hope, she opens her eyes and looks at me.
For a split second, I freeze. Holy hell, she’s beautiful. There’s a look of recognition in her eyes, making me wonder if she’s seen Jasper before. I know I’ve certainly never seen her.
Her eyes widen as she takes me in, and I can see the confusion in her expression. I give her a small smile, trying to reassure her. “Thank you,” I say softly. “Now, just tell me, do you want to go with Brad?”
I watch as she thinks for a moment, she doesn’t know me, but I hope she knows I’m here to help her.
Her head shakes slowly, and my chest tightens with relief. I’m not sure if it’s trust, or just a sign that she’s done with this asshole, but I don’t care. All I care about is getting her the hell out of here.
I see Brad’s hand tighten on her shoulder, his fingers digging into her, and my blood boils. Without hesitation, I stand tall and step forward, fixing Brad with a glare. “Drop the arm. NOW.”
Brad huffs, annoyed, and slides his arm off her. “Whatever. I’ll be seeing you again soon, babe,” he says, his voice full of entitlement.
My stomach churns as he trails his thumb over her tear-streaked face. I’m too late to stop him, but I can’t stop myself from watching as he sucks his thumb into his mouth, a twisted grin spreading across his face. “Mmm... delicious,” he says with a sickening wink that makes my skin crawl.
My fists clench at my sides, and I move before I can think, I shove Brad’s shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. “Don’t fucking touch her!”
Brad just chuckles, stepping back as if my anger doesn’t even faze him. He leans in one last time, his eyes locked on hers. “I’ll be seeing you around, babe,” he says, that grin still plastered on his face before he walks off, his footsteps fading into the distance.
I turn to her, the sight of her trembling body making my chest tighten. She’s shaking violently, and I can see the panic in her eyes. Her fingers move to her face, wiping at the spot where he touched her. I hate seeing her this upset.