"Dude, where's that rope we stashed in here last summer?" Nico's tall form appeared at the barn door with a flashlight in hand. He was acting as if Eli hadn't just freaked out.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Eli's tone was venomous as his nostrils flared.

Nico's eyebrows shot up as he walked over to us. He was finally listening. Nico glanced between us. "What's up?"

Two guys and a girl followed Nico out. The girl was tense as she leaned against the barn wall. She was afraid of Eli's fierce temper. Rightfully so. If I didn't know any better, I would fear him too.

Ignoring Nico, Eli's arm slipped from my shoulder and down to my hand. He intertwined our fingers before urging me behind him. Eli pulled a flashlight from his pocket and held it high, shining it into everyone's faces.

The small group gasped, throwing their hands up to protect their eyes from the invading flashlight.

"Let me see your eyes." Eli demanded.

"What's going on?" Nico grabbed my shoulder.

"Hype," I whispered as I bit my lip.

"Cassie. Get over here. I want to see yours too." Eli instructed as everyone lowered their hands, squinting.

Cassie stumbled toward the barn. Luckily, the girl helped Cassie find her footing and helped her to lean against the wall. Damn. How drunk was she?

"Dude, what's the problem?" Nico frowned. "They haven't even heard of Hype."

Eli ignored Nico as he carefully inspected everyone's pupils. They were all normal.

Cassie placed a hand on her hip. "I've heard of it. Jeremy got some from a guy up in Kansas."

"Adam!" Nico's body went rigid as he left my side and shoved a guy that looked like a Ken doll.

Adam threw a glare at Cassie. "Jeremy said they all took X. I don't know anything about Hype. How do you know, Cassie?"

"Jenny specifically called it Hype. They've all been bouncing off the walls since New Year's Eve. Come on, Adam, you know X never lasts that long, and their eyes are creepy as shit." Cassie slurred. "You're the one that said Jeremy was good to drive. Even after the whole doughnut and cookie fiasco in Georgia."

Doughnut and cookie fiasco? I could only imagine what that meant, but I knew sugary foods were an obvious sign of the hunger.

"How many more people are coming?" Nico's fists were pulsing and eager. He looked like he might beat Adam's ass at any moment.

"Four in Jeremy's car and Ben will be here with three more in about a half hour." Adam's face went pale under Nico's blazing glare.

"Nico." Eli spun around, yanking me toward the cabin.

Nico was on my heels.

"I don't get what the big deal is," Adam said from behind us.

Eli stopped, causing Nico to nearly mow me down. Nico's hand found my waist as he stopped.

Eli glanced at Nico with a scowl and whispered. "I can't believe you let this happen. You know what we have to do now, right?"

Shock covered Nico's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Adam cleared his throat. "Jeremy's just fine. He's just a little messed up. I know how you guys have your rules and shit, but come on, give us a break. He likes to have a good time. The girls have been funny as shit. You should have seen them—"

"Shut up!" Nico's hand squeezed my waist as he yelled at the top of his lungs.

A shiver ran through me as I whispered. "They don't know?"

"We helped cause this mess, Lil," Eli whispered. "We're not trying to get killed. Adam's dad is a cop."

Releasing a hard breath, I closed my eyes. Why they weren't telling their friends was understandable, but it didn't change the fact we were about to be under attack.

"Can't they all just leave?" I whispered.

Nico and Eli exchanged a look. I hoped they would decide to kick them all out.

Nico smiled and turned around. "Ladies, didn't you say you had some liquor? I could really use some of that right about now. How about you go back to your car and pour me a shot while the guys and I find that rope?"

The girls laughed in relief as they headed back to their vehicle. Nico and the guys returned to the barn.

I glanced at Eli for an explanation.

Eli tugged me toward the cabin. "They're leaving. We need to be prepared for the others. They may be hungry enough to attack when we get out there to help."

Rushing to the cabin, we were relieved to find Miss Gina asleep in her room. Eli locked her door before shutting it.

Eli led me to our room and shut the door. Opening the closet, he moved his clothes aside, revealing a large safe installed inside the wall.

The contents of the safe blew my mind. They were set up for a fricking battle from hell. "Why exactly do you have all these guns?"

"A few are mine, but most of them belong to Nico's dad. He's not around anymore, but Nico doesn't trust his family, so he keeps a lot of his stuff here." Eli pulled out a small handgun, made sure it was loaded and held it out for me to take.

"I don't do guns." I backed up, shaking my head.

"It's only if we get separated. These things are fast and vicious, Lil. You need protection." Eli's gaze was serious as he grabbed my hand and placed the grip of the handgun against my palm. "Hold it firm. Don't point it at anything until you want to shoot and do not pull that trigger until you are ready to kill. You need to be sure before you pull the trigger, got it?"

I nodded, holding my breath. The gun was cold and heavy in my hand, urging an awful memory to rise to the surface.

Eli grabbed a large hunting knife and some ammunition before facing me. "You need to be strong like you were when your mom died."

At his words, my eyes met his. What the fuck? How did Eli know about my mother? I must've told him.

Instead of screaming at him, tears filled my eyes as my head fell.

"Hey, no time for that now," Eli grabbed my face in his hands. His silky brown eyes gazed into me. "We need to stay alive. I need you to be strong like you were that night, Lil. I can't lose you. Just remember the rage you felt. Use it."

I swallowed back the remaining tears as I pushed down the memory of the most horrible night of my life. The night my mother died.

Eli pulled my face closer to his. "Stay with me, Lil. Just remember you're strong enough. You've done this before."

Nodding, I backed away, glancing down at the gun in my hand. I could do this. Eli was right. I'd done it once before, and I could do it again.

"There's my girl." A grin teased at the corner of Eli's lips. "Let's go."

Taking Eli's hand, we left the cabin, locking the door.

Every engine was running and ready to go.

Nico leaned on the Charger. "I found the rope and I told them the party is off. They're pissed, but I don't give a shit."

"Good. Let's go." Eli opened the passenger door and sat down, pulling me into his lap.

It caught me off guard, but honestly, it was comforting having him so close.

Nico backed out and took off. "Make sure they're following."

I glanced back to see both cars on our tail. "Yep."

"We do this fast, Bro." Eli's thumb caressed my stomach, encouraging me to relax against him.

"So are you guys?" Nico pointed a finger between us.

"We always have been," Eli said as he hugged me closer.

"Fuck. Finally." Nico laughed. "I've been waiting for you to make a move, Dude. I had to threaten to take her to get you off your ass. You've been moody as hell for months."

"I don't know what the hell took us so long." Eli pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

A silly grin crossed my face as hot shivers rushed through me. I knew it was my stupid assumptions that had kept us apart. Well, that, and I was scared to give my heart to someone like I had with my ex, but Eli was different from every other guy I'd known. Eli genuinely cared about me, and I knew it.

When we finally made it to the third car, we all got out.

Nico ran to check out the other car, but it looked empty and abandoned.

"Don't forget what we talked about," Eli whispered in my ear.

"I won't." I gave his hand a squeeze and held my gun out of sight.

Adam stalked passed us, holding the rope.

"Where is everyone?" Nico slammed the door and looked around.

"They're not far. They probably just got bored." Adam started tying the rope to the undercarriage.

A gut-wrenching screech caught our attention from the overgrown field. Eli and I searched the dark area for movement.

"Nico." Eli gestured for Nico to come over to us.

I tried to let go of Eli's hand to get my flashlight out, but he squeezed harder. "Eli, I need light."

Eli pulled up his flashlight and shined it into the field, searching for shadows.

"Can we tell Adam now?" My eyes widened.

"Adam, Hype ain't no joke when they crash, Dude. They get violent." Nico scoured the area for any movement.

"Dude, calm down, they've been screaming and yelling for the last few hours. No worries. They're just coming down." Adam said nonchalantly as he readjusted the rope.

A dark shadow with long hair darted through the flashlight's beam. She ran out of the field toward us.

"Adam, time to go." Nico pressed his back into Eli's side as the headlights revealed a curvy latino girl. She would've been gorgeous if it wasn't for her jet black eyeballs and the evil look on her face.

"Adam!" Eli hollered, but it was too late.

The girl pounced on Adam's back, crushing him to the ground. She grabbed his arm and bit down.

Adam screamed in agony.

Nico was at the girl's side in seconds, aiming the gun at her head. "Angie, stop!"

Angie didn't respond as she ripped and tore into Adam's arm just like Mohawk had done at the gas station. It was disgusting.

When she pulled a chunk of flesh from Adam's arm, Nico pulled the trigger. Angie hit the bumper face first on her way down to the dirt.

Adam jumped up, squeezing his arm. "You killed her."

"Yeah, Dumbass. Did you want her to kill you?" Nico snapped before moving back toward us. "Because when I said violent, I meant it."

"No, but you didn't have to kill her!" Adam yelled as he clenched his arm.

Cassie and her friends jogged up as more screeches came from the field.

"Angie?" Cassie ran to Angie's side and shook her violently. "Angie? Come on, wake up."

I tensed as more screams and screeching came from the field.

"You fucking killed her, you piece of shit!" Cassie yelled just as a screeching guy with dark hair tackled her.

"Shaun, get off her!" The silent guy from the barn yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"

Shaun didn't respond to his name before sinking his teeth into Cassie's throat.

Eli pulled me forward as he raised his gun, shooting Shaun in the head.

I fell to Cassie's side to try to save her, but I didn't know what to do. She stared up at me trying to speak, but blood gurgled out of her mouth instead of words. Then her eyes found the sky and stayed there, glazing over.

Eli picked me up as tears poured down my face.

"Nico. Car. Now!" Eli's words barely made it through my inner turmoil.

I didn't know Cassie, but she didn't deserve to die. None of us did.

💙💙💙💙💙💙