Somehow, and I couldn’t follow how, Roth decided that Layla should remain outside as well, which caused Zayne to announce he didn’t need a babysitter. Then Layla and Roth started arguing, but in the end, she agreed to wait with Zayne until the three of us—Roth, Cayman and I—knew what we were dealing with.

Finally, we headed to the school, and as we got close, I could see a few windows were lit from within. As we rounded one side, making our way to where the trucks had been parked last time, my gaze flicked to the second level. The vibe was still there, as if hundreds of unseen eyes were tracking our moves.

Skirting the temporary fencing, we neared the door, and I turned toward Zayne, admitting to myself that it did feel wrong to leave him out here.

Sometimes what feels wrong is right. That’s what I told myself as I suddenly wanted to take back what I’d said. He was safer out here. This was smart and logical.

Zayne caught my hand as Cayman fiddled with the padlock, breaking it. “Be careful.”

“I will.” I squeezed his hand in return, those three words I hadn’t said yet dancing to the tip of my tongue, but feeling too dangerous to speak. Which was dumb, since the damage was already done. Speaking them aloud didn’t give them any more power than the emotion attached to them already had.

“You be careful, too,” I said instead.

“Always,” he replied.

39

The wide first-floor hallway was suprisingly lit with obnoxiously bright track lighting, something that we hadn’t been able to see from outside since most of the classroom doors were closed. The light did very little to cast back the shadows clinging to the lockers and closed doors. I let Cayman and Roth lead the way, since this was the first time I’d been in a public school.

It smelled weird, like must and leftover cologne and perfume, along with the faint smell of sawdust and construction.

A flicker of movement caught my attention. A gray form darted into one of the closed classrooms.

“You think what’s going on with Zayne is permanent?” Roth asked, voice low.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. A shadow appeared at the end of the row of lockers and quickly seeped back into its surroundings. “I hope it’s temporary, but...”

“But you’d have to stop loving him,” he finished. “Or he’d have to stopping loving you.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, looking around. Every couple of feet, there was a glimpse of something that didn’t seem right, but it was gone before I could focus and decipher what I was seeing. However, I could feel them. There were so many ghosts in this building, it was almost suffocating.

“Do you think that’s possible?”