The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder Read Free Book Online Page B

even try to fake me out. I’m really smart, and as a former addict, I have mad lying skills the likes of which you can’t even begin to appreciate. No one lies better than me. So don’t embarrass us both. I need to know what’s wrong with my sister.”
    “She’s a bitch,” I blurted without thinking.
    “I know that.” He took off his other glove and flapped them back and forth, studying them. He traced the stitching with his fingertips. He had very long eyelashes, and he looked vulnerable. Younger. Not for the first time, I wondered if money delayed the growing-up portion of getting older.
    “But . . . okay.” He dropped the gloves on the floor and sank his face into his hands. The overhead fluorescent light cast a halo in his hair, which I would have found laughable if I hadn’t been about to implode. Miles knew. How much, I didn’t know.
    But he knew something.
    I waited for Celia’s reaction. There was none. Had Dr. Morehouse fixed me? Was I done with her too? Could I just walk away? Maybe I didn’t need an ally. Maybe I just needed to pack. “Look, I know Mandy is your frenemy,” he said to the floor.
    “Not even.”
    “Okay, then I’m your frenemy.” He paused, still cradling his head. I said nothing. “You really aren’t going to make this easy on me, are you?”
    “Why should I? You got off on scaring me. You threatened me.”
    “Not in so many words.” He lowered his hands and sat up straight. The cigarette still dangled from his mouth. “Okay, I did. I’m a creepy, stalkery jerk and I did get off on scaring you. But something is really wrong with Mandy. Really wrong.”
    “I’m not sure you can be a former addict,” I said.
    “If you can recover from a nervous breakdown, I can stop being an addict,” he insisted.
    We looked at each other, and I felt a weird electricity zap between us. Miles was the epitome of those “layers of individuality” that Dr. Morehouse had talked about. My committee wasn’t fond of him. But as before, there was something about Miles that extended past pure loathing. I hadn’t screamed for my life when he had cornered me in the shadows on the night of the Valentine’s Day dance. Instead, we’d danced the tango. And I wasn’t screaming now, even though I was alone with the guy who could be the Marlwood Stalker.
    Unless I was.
    “Here’s a thought, Lindsay Lou,” he said. “If you help me declaw my sister, she won’t be able to scratch you.”
    “She’s a hundred percent claws,” I retorted.
    “She didn’t used to be,” he said. He scratched his cheek. “I’ve kept an eye on you, L. You’re scared, and you need help. From the way you tried to pound in Troy’s head with that hammer, I’m guessing he’s too dumb. I’m the smartest guy you know. And I . . . happen to believe that what is going on is more bizarre than anyone realizes.”
    That caught me off guard. Way off guard. He must have sensed it.
    “If you won’t tell me what’s wrong with Mandy, maybe you’ll tell me what’s wrong with Marlwood. Because there’s something really, really wrong here. Am I right?”
    Still I remained silent. But I could feel myself daring to hope that he did know that something was wrong with Marlwood. That I wasn’t alone in this. But joining forces with Miles Winters? Was that just too whacked?
    “How about a twofer?” he pressed. “You help me with Mandy and I help you with Marlwood.”
    “What’s in it for me?” I asked. “I’m on scholarship.”
    “Something’s keeping you here,” he said. “You’re no dummy. Having Marlwood on your college app’s will keep you from night classes at the community college while you work retail by day.”
    “What a jerky thing to say.” I was stung.
    He gave his head a little shake, extracted the cigarette, and tapped the filter on the arm of the chair. “We don’t have time for this. You need my help. And I need yours. Let’s table everything else. Now.”
    My lips parted. I was about to tell