He let her go as quickly as he had grabbed her, and Lia could only pat his shoulder. “We did it.”

“You did it,” he said, following her out of the creek. “I just watched.”

“Still, I like having you around.” She laughed and shook her head. “It’s just a game, but it makes me happy.”

Tires squealed in the distance. Lia jerked, twisting toward where the sound had come from. Branches bobbed in the forest, each rustle and creak another shock to her heart, and a shadow that might have been a car driving past slipped through the trees. Devon’s fingers tightened around hers, and he tugged her toward the gym parking lot.

“You’re not alone,” he said. “If you see your assassin, they can’t kill you now.”

“I don’t see anyone. I keep thinking I do. I thought—” She glanced down. Her hands were shaking. She couldn’t feel them at all. She pressed her scabbed palms together and hissed. “I thought I saw someone that morning with Abby. I didn’t.”

“The game and Abby, even though it was an accident, are making you paranoid.” His fingers brushed her back and fell away. “That’s why I’m worried.”

She waved to Gem across the street. “Maybe it is just that. Have you noticed anyone following you?”

He shook his head. “Like I told you before, I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.”

She was pretty sure he hadn’t told her before, but she had forgotten nearly a whole day and her journal.

“Maybe your assassin hasn’t gotten serious yet,” Lia said, “or they got taken out already.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Still a pity I don’t get to take you out.”

“If we’re the last team standing, then you can take me out.”

She froze.

“Is that a promise?” he asked, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

“Threat.” Lia smiled, full of their success against Leo and her need for something better than what her life was right then, and said, “If we’re the last team standing, you can try to take me out.”

Their new target was a kid Lia knew only by voice. Peter Baird had been reading the announcements since they were freshmen, his ever-happy voice a staticky constant, and Lia had only ever seen him from across hallways. She had been sure he wouldn’t play since he never seemed to do anything except read the announcements and go to class, but to be fair, all she ever did was go to class. It would be hard to get him.

Devon had returned to his usual seat in biology, though he had dropped a note on Lia’s desk before class started. He was being followed; his assassin was shorter than him, which didn’t narrow the options down; and orchestra rehearsals for the spring concert were starting Wednesday. Lia drew an X over her quick scribble of Peter’s class schedule. She couldn’t find any times during the week when Peter would be alone.