Lia sniffed and nodded. She pulled back. “Let’s do this.”

Lia picked up the knife. The knife was metal and rigid, and the give of the blade was barely noticeable when Lia poked it against her hand.

“Ouch.” Devon took her hand and pulled the knife away before she could press it all the way down. “Not even pretend.”

He set the fake knife on the shelf at the front of the room with other harmless props Lia had left there and took her hands. Lia kissed him quickly.

“One last thing,” she said. “Can I borrow your phone?”

“Yeah.”

Lia scrolled through his apps, settled on one, and tucked it against a shelf at the back of the room.

“All right,” Devon said. “Let’s get me murdered.”

Chapter 31

Lia crouched under the teacher’s desk in the back and watched the front of the room in the reflection of a display case. Devon laid his head on a desk as if he were napping. The door opened, Faith’s reflection distorted. Devon startled.

“Hey!” Faith waved from the front of the room and grinned. “Do you have a minute? I have some notes for Lia and I know she’s coming here later.”

“Yeah, of course.” Devon gestured to the empty seats. “What is it?”

She studied the shelf of old props. “Just some notes. You know her—a journal on Assassins but nothing for class.”

Lia couldn’t tell if she had picked up the knife.

“To be fair, it has been a rough month.” His hand was a white-knuckled fist against his leg. “Have you heard back yet?”

“No, you know how it goes,” Faith said, sighing and shrugging. One hand dropped into her pocket. “It must be nice to have everything taken care of already.”

Devon laughed, and the sound rattled awkwardly out of his tense mouth. “I suppose. It’s a bit daunting. There are very strict guidelines for keeping the scholarship.”

“I know.” Faith walked to the back of the room, dragging her hand across each desk. She stopped across from Devon. “I thought you wanted to go out of state? Can you still? You should. I would.”

If she took another step, Faith would see Lia in the reflection. Lia crept to her left, eyes on Faith’s reflection in the glass. The other girl did nothing but stare at Devon.

“I already signed the paperwork,” Devon said with ease, as if the words weren’t the nails Faith needed to hammer his coffin shut. “I worked quite hard for it. It seems rude to pass it up.”

“So rude,” said Faith. “It’s always best when we get what we deserve.”

“Do you deserve the scholarship?” Devon asked.

Lia flinched. He couldn’t be baiting her. Lia pulled a metal mechanical pencil from her pocket. She couldn’t see them anymore.

Faith sniffed. “Of course I do. Just like you said. I worked quite hard for it.”