Dead of Summer

No, we definitely won’t. There are no elk around Camp Crestview, and he sure as shit knows it, too. Melody agrees, carrying on a conversation with him that lasts a couple of minutes while we crunch through the leaves on the trail. It’s marked plainly with blue ribbon tied to trees about every thirty feet, and the path is clear enough that I could follow it with my eyes closed. It should be impossible to get lost, but in reality, that’s my greatest fear.

“So what would we do if someone got lost?” It’s as if Kayde reads my mind after Melody drifts back to her spot in the swarm of campers. “Would we send everyone else back and have counselors out looking for the kid?”

“Don’t worry,” I say, before I can stop myself. “I’d make sure you got left at camp on babysitting duty.”

That startles a laugh out of him, and I glance sidelong at Kayde as he grins, his mask falling and leaving him looking like the feral thing I have to deal with at night. Only now he’s as amused as he is unhinged.

“Well, that’s pretty smart of you,” Kayde concedes, moving toward the middle of the group of kids without another word. It hadn’t sounded like the end of a conversation, but I’m happy as hell to see him go. Hikes should be savored and enjoyed in as much solitude as I can pretend that I have with twenty-four children just looking for their chance at disorder.

But at least the birds sound nice today, and with Kayde halfway up the child-swarm, I can pretend that he isn’t here and enjoy my morning.

Ican’t help the smile on my face as I watch the kids stream to their cabins, completely worn out. This might be my favorite thing about hiking day, other than the hike itself. The kids are always exhausted after the hikes we do, and the water balloon fight combined with a few games of flag football we let them play after. It really is probably the most physical day of the session, and to make up for it, tomorrow is an easy crafts and chill day. The kids can swim, or relax, or hang out on either of the big fields that serve as sports areas. Most of them will most likely nap and chill, which is perfect.

“Another successful hiking day,” Kinsley tells me, slinging an arm over my shoulders. I can feel the tiredness in her, and I turn to smile at my best friend. For once, I don’t feel so exhausted. Thanks to last night’s rest and my lack of involvement in flag football, I feel like I could go hiking again, if the situation called for it.

Though in reality, I’m definitely going to end up chilling in my cabin for as long as Kayde will let me. Naturally, my brain can’t stop replaying last night’s mistakes over and over in my head, and I try not to grimace at Kinsley as I hear him whisper I’ll make you regret not slitting my throat so clearly that he could be standing right behind me, one hand going for my neck.

Thankfully, he isn’t. But I still give a small shudder that seems to go unnoticed by my exhausted friend. “You should get some sleep,” I tell her, trying not to sound like I’m in a hurry. Whatever downtime I can get will be welcome, and it’s still early enough that I figure I have an hour or so before Kayde comes knocking. Plus, I intend to be snug in my cabin by the time he wants something; so he can be the one that comes to me tonight, instead of me marching my ass anywhere for him.

After all, he hadn’t given me any instructions on where to meet him, or when.

“I know.” Kinsley yawns, covering her mouth belatedly with one hand. “God, I know. But Liza wants to hang out, so…” She gazes forlornly at Liza’s cabin on the edge of camp, causing me to snort.

“Then go sleep with your girlfriend.” Gently I walk her in that direction, unsurprised when she doesn’t exactly protest or try to go anywhere else.

Finally she’s walking on her own, and Kinsley turns to reward me with a smile and a soft wave, before falling back into her normal, rushed pace as she walks toward where her girlfriend is probably waiting for her.

I’m totally not jealous, is what I tell myself forcibly.

You really, definitely are, is how my brain chooses to respond.

But that part of me is not wrong. I am jealous of her. At least a little. I want what she has; the sweetness and the obvious, genuine affection. Still, I try to shake those thoughts free from my head as I pivot toward my cabin, happy that in the darkness, I can pretend as long as I want that I’m not looking as miserable as I suddenly feel knowing Kinsley really has achieved her current relationship goals and I haven’t had a boyfriend in three years.

And even that was…disappointing at best.

Before I’ve managed five steps toward my cabin, something grabs my wrist, jerking me to a stop. A yelp bubbles up my throat, slowly evolving to what promises to be a very impressive, horror-movie worthy scream.

At least, until Kayde’s palm seals itself over my mouth, and his low, warning growl meets my ears. “Don’t you dare,” he warns, his face mostly obscured by shadow. “You’re coming with me, sweetheart. And you will not make a scene about it. Understand?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Idon’t scream. My throat seems to close in on itself, so I doubt I could—even if I wanted to—as Kayde drags me through the darkness of Camp Crestview.

Belatedly, it occurs to me we aren’t heading for his cabin, and I immediately throw on the brakes, dragging my feet as well as I can. When Kayde turns, his hand pulling away just enough, I jerk free of his palm and whisper, “Where are we going?”

“Doesn’t matter unless you’re telling me you’re not going,” Kayde reminds me, his voice free of any amusement or patience. “I gave you a lot of leeway last night with the knife, sweetheart. You’ve used it all up.”

“I’m just asking—” He lunges at me and I gasp, reaching up to cover my face, terror coursing through me.

In the dark, when I can’t see his face, Kayde reminds me of my dad. Of the way he’d come at me, copperhead fast, to strike before I could save myself.

I’ve stained my mom’s living room floor with my blood enough times to know how much it hurts, and this time I tense, waiting for the pain.

Only, it never comes. Kayde pauses, and I can’t tell if that was his intention all along, or if my reaction—the way I hid my face from his blow—surprises him.

“Oh,” he murmurs finally, and when he reaches out, it’s more deliberate this time. “We’re going to have to talk about this.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I hiss into the dark space between us, made darker by the way my eyes are crammed shut. “I’m not—” But he doesn’t give me a chance to finish. Kayde grabs my hips, yanking me up and off of my feet quickly enough that it pulls a small yelp from my throat.