Epilogue
Sky
T he airport is crowded. The line through boarding too long. It’s only been two hours since graduation, but every second that passes causes my heart to seize. I feel like I’m back under the chairs, the grass damp on my knees, as I frighteningly clipped the wires.
I had watched Cade from the rooftop, my phone clutched in my hands as I searched how to disarm a bomb. I waited until he left, watched him pause by the sycamore, and then snuck down. But what I actually found strapped beneath the chairs looked nothing like the images online. The wires were all black, no colors to differentiate, and there was tape in the way. I had to carefully peel it back, one after the other, afraid that at any second I would accidentally trigger them.
The first one was the worst. I had to pick a wire, not knowing which might cause it to detonate or which might render it useless. I chose the far right out of ten. I held my breath and then snipped, no other options. When nothing happened, I repeated it on all of them, only hoping that the one I chose would actually save us.
“If we don’t make it,” Cade leans down to whisper in my ear. “Remember, I love you.”
“We’re going to make it,” I tell him and check over my shoulder, expecting to find a flood of police storming our way.
It could take days for Bobby to be found, though I don’t think Cade knows I know about Bobby, but those chairs will be packed up soon—if they haven’t already—and what’s under them is covered in prints.
“Just remember.” He places a finger under my chin and turns me back to him.
Despite that we could be gunned down at any moment, he looks happy, the most at peace I’ve ever seen him.
“I’ll remember,” I assure him, and he leans down to kiss me.
He tastes like guilty sins and prosecution. But he’s mine. And we’re getting out of here before anyone can take him from me.
The line inches forward, and I check our tickets again, just in case they’ve evaporated. Two boarding passes stamped with Tokyo stare back at me—paid for with cash. It turns out making bombs isn’t that expensive, and Cade has quite the nest egg saved up. We only stayed on campus long enough for him to collect it, along with his passport. Mine was already tucked in a bag, ready to go, and I spent the thirty minutes it took him to make the trek to the shack with my mother.
I told her Cade and I would meet her for dinner.
I frown as we inch forward again, the reality that I’m actually leaving her with my father making my heart ache.
“Don’t worry,” Cade says, squeezing my hand. “If we do get caught, I’ll tell them I forced you.”
“That’s not…” I shake my head. “I feel bad leaving my mom with my father.”
I never really told Cade about my father, and I expect him to ask what I mean, but instead, a slow, devastating smile curves his lips.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
I furrow my brows.
“Let’s just say you might have missed one or two,” he shrugs proudly.
“Two of—” I almost say the bombs when the attendant cuts me off.
“Passes?” She smiles.
I startle, surprised we’ve actually made it, and I absently hand over the tickets, trying to keep the sudden tremble out of my hands. He can’t mean the bombs. I got all of them. There was no explosion.
“Have a good flight.” She motions us forward.
We cross into the jetway as something scratches at the edge of my mind. Something fuzzy and cute, with its stuffing ripped out.
“Two…?” I turn to Cade, keeping my voice low.
He smirks and grabs my hand, pulling it up to his lips before kissing it.
“I may not have gotten my revenge, but I sure as fuck got yours.”