A tall guy steps out of the shadows and Rebel runs into his arms. They kiss for long, drawn-out seconds, and I can’t do much more than stand there in openmouthed shock. Rebel has a boyfriend! Rebel has a boyfriend that she hasn’t told me anything about. It doesn’t make any sense.
We tell each other everything. We always have. Every crush, every first date, every kiss. Rebel can list every guy I’ve ever liked, all the way back to kindergarten. And I can do the same for her. She knows about my immunity shots. We trust each other with our deepest secrets. Or at least I thought we did.
But now as I stand here watching her kiss this guy like they’re the only two people on the planet, I can’t help wondering why I don’t know about him. It’s not like Rebel to keep secrets, so if she’s been hiding this guy, there must be a reason.
Unease crawls through my belly as they finally split apart. The guy wraps his arm around her shoulders and starts walking her back toward the house. My apprehension grows. There’s something about the way he moves that is familiar. Something about the way he holds himself and his rolling, long-legged stride.
Is he someone from school? But that doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t Rebel tell me about him if that’s the case?
Maybe he’s an older guy and her parents wouldn’t approve. But still, she could have told me. I’d never judge. Or if I did, I’d support her anyway. That’s how our friendship works.
As they get closer, I crouch behind the purple love seat near the doors and peer over the back of it. It takes a couple minutes for them to reach the pool of light from the veranda, but when they do, shock ricochets through me. Because this isn’t some boy from school. This isn’t some guy she met at a concert or a club.
No, the guy Rebel is currently leaning in to for one last kiss, the guy whose arms are wrapped around her waist, whose body is pressed flush against her own, is a villain.
And not just any villain. Dante, the guy with the fauxhawk who broke into my mother’s lab and who wanted to kidnap me. Me. His girlfriend’s best friend.
As I stare at them, I’m overwhelmed by a deafening noise—the sound of my mind exploding.
Chapter 5
As Rebel waves and watches Dante head back across the yard, I have about fifteen seconds to decide if I’m going to sneak back to bed to pretend to be asleep or if I’m going to confront her about the fact that she’s dating a villain—one who, now that I think about it, knew an awful lot about me.
As did Draven.
You’re Kenna Swift? I thought Draven had been shocked because he’d heard of my mother. But maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe Rebel had mentioned me to Dante. Maybe that’s why they knew my name—
Rebel turns back toward her room. I have to make a decision. I glance at my side of the bed. It’s so inviting. So easy.
After the night I’ve had, it’s the clear win. I need time to process all that’s happened before confronting Rebel. I mean, what would I even say at this point?
I slip back into my side of the bed. I’m just easing the comforter over my head when the door whooshes open and the chilly night air forces me deeper under the covers. A moment later, Rebel slides back into the bed.
My heart pounds like a jackhammer. My mind races back through everything that happened tonight. The break-in. The explosion. The interrogation by Mr. Malone. The guys in gray suits.
It all plays out in rapid-fire succession.
In a flash, it hits me.
I bolt upright.
“It was you!”
Rebel stretches and does a really spot-on impression of someone waking up from a deep sleep. Her voice even has that groggy, haven’t-used-it-in-a-while tone. “What was me?”
“Oh. My. God.” I throw off the blankets and jump out of bed. My mind reels as I pace around the room, half talking to myself. “I should have known. I should have seen it! When the gray suits said the villains had a security pass, it meant they were working with someone on the inside, someone who had access. Then you brought up Nitro when I hadn’t mentioned his name. But I trusted you. I. Trusted. You. Because no way would my best friend send villains into the lab I work in when she knew I would be there. No way would my best friend put me in that kind of danger, right? Except you did. It was you. It was you.”
My head really does feel like it’s exploding.
Rebel is at my side in an instant. She grabs my shoulders to stop my pacing. “What on earth are you talking about?”
She’s a good liar, better even than I’ve given her credit for. But I’m not falling for it. I level an unamused glare at her. “Don’t pretend it’s not true. Don’t lie to me any more than you already have.” I point at the door she used just minutes ago to go meet her secret boyfriend. “You’re dating a villain.”
“What? No, I’m—”
“Don’t. Lie. You’re dating the crazy villain with a fauxhawk who wanted to kidnap me. Torture me! And you were going to let him! What’s wrong with you?”