Four Walls (Book One) ✔️

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Oh, my god! Shut up!" Taisley whisper-shouts as she covers my mouth with her manicured hand.

I push her away, my heart racing. "Tais, what the hell are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," she says matter-of-factly. She takes a seat on my bed, grimacing when her skirt-clad bottom touches my lumpy mattress. "God, your house is deplorable."

"We don't all have a rich daddy to take care of us," I toss back. "What do we need to talk about that can't wait until school on Monday?"

"Your friend, Damian, is an... interesting guy," she murmurs, pursing her crimson lips.

"Yes, I know you want to have sex with Damian. This is not news to me." I'm losing my patience. I'm tired, and all I want to do is sleep, not decipher Taisley's cryptic riddles.

"I mean, yeah, I totally do." She nods her head in agreement. "However, that's not what I'm getting at."

"Then what are you getting at?" I demand.

Her sapphire eyes twinkle with mischief. "How about the fact that he can transport himself anywhere in the world faster than the speed of light?"

Play dumb, Layla.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I reply, folding my arms over my chest.

"Go ahead and lie. I have it all on camera," she says with a shrug. "I have a very rich daddy, remember? He has cameras all over Castelul, even by the dumpster where Damian drops you off for work."

My heart drops. That's where Damian teleports every single time. We checked for cameras, though. We scoured the entire alleyway.

Apparently, we missed one.

"Look, I'm not going to tell anyone," Taisley goes on. "I just want you to know that I know."

I shake my head. "No one ever just wants to 'let you know that they know.' You're expecting something in return for your silence."

Her lips curl into a sinister smile. "You really are a genius, aren't you?"

Anger rises in my chest. I clench my fists so tightly that my fingernails cut into my palms. "What do you want, Tais? Free transportation to and from school for the rest of the year? A plane-free trip to Europe? If it's the moon you want to see, I don't think he can take you that far."

"Oh, please. I don't want to exploit his abilities," she scoffs. "I just need an itty bitty vial of his blood."

My rage is replaced with sheer bewilderment. "His blood?"

"I'm trying out a new spell," she says nonchalantly. "Can you help me or not?"

"Yeah, I'll get you the blood," I whisper, wrapping my arms around my torso, feeling more defeated than I ever have.

"Perfect. See you soon, girl." Taisley opens my cracked window and begins to climb out. It takes all of my self-control not to push her.

"Wait!" I exclaim, causing her to rotate her head in my direction.

"Yes?" the redhead asks.

"When the four of us were at Castelul the other night, did you... did you try to drug Damian?" I inquire, afraid of her answer.

"You know, for a smart girl, it took you a really long time to figure that out." She winks before squeezing her small body out of the even smaller window and then vanishing into the night.

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I feel Bradley's eyes on me as I stand by the podium. It's the day after Thanksgiving, and most of his clientele are either away for the holiday weekend or still wrapped up in family festivities, so the club is a ghost town. Considering what happened just twenty-four hours ago with the younger Bishop, I have never felt more uncomfortable at my job.