“Prop knife,” Gem said, holding up a deceptively sharp switchblade. “Even has room for a squib at the end of the hilt. I’ll keep her distracted for a minute so you have a chance to clear out anything else. I grabbed all the pens, pencils, and scissors. The tools are locked up, thankfully.”

Lia swallowed, shuddering at the image of Devon beneath the blades of a circular saw.

Lia went over every inch of the room she could see and moved heavy, slammable objects to the far side of the room behind the teacher’s desk. By the time Devon arrived, her hands were shaking. He dropped his bag in a desk chair and shut the door. She jumped.

“Sorry,” he said. “Lia?”

“The papier-mâché masks aren’t much of a threat, but you can throw them if need be.” She moved to the side of the room where old books and props lined the wall. Lia tested their weight and opened an empty drawer. “She was strong enough to overpower Cassidy, so we—”

“Lia.” He curled his hand around hers and closed the drawer. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” Lia spun, her nose bumping his chest. “It’s really not.”

“I trust you,” he said.

Lia shuddered. “Why?”

“Because I’ve never known you to fail at something you put your mind to?” he said. “Because I know you’ll be in here with me, and that makes me nervous, but everyone else was alone. Because I do. If you’re asking me to analyze emotions, I need like five more hours and a nap.”

Lia wrapped her arms around his waist and tucked her face into his shoulder. Devon’s fingers tightened around hers. He kissed her cheek.

“We just have to make sure she’s caught,” he whispered. “We’re at school. It’s the middle of the day. If she really goes for this, she’ll be desperate, but we know that. It’ll be okay.”

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.”

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.”