Mason shifted behind me. Adam’s gaze transferred to his as he said, “You think the Kades are the only ones who can lie and manipulate? That’s what you did, isn’t it?” He wasn’t talking to me anymore. “You go a step further. You sicced your brother on a friend of mine. You made us all hate her, humiliate her.”

Mason’s hand came to my elbow. He pulled me behind him. I closed my eyes. This was it now. Then I heard his voice, it was soft at first, “You think that’s what I did?”

“Yes.” Adam’s voice was rough. He was on edge. “Logan seduced her. He preyed on her, and then he dumped her. You knew what that would do. You did that to a girl who’s done nothing to you.” He paused. I felt his attention on me. “I can’t imagine what you would do to Samantha.”

“You think I’ll hurt her.”

“Yes.” Adam growled. “You already have.”

Mason started to laugh. “You’re the one hurting her. You just threatened her that you would take her friends away.” He gestured to Becky, who jumped like he had slapped her, across the room. “No doubt she’s waiting for the signal if she should cut Sam off or not. That’s from you.”

“You did worse to Miranda.”

“No. I didn’t lie to her. Logan gave her a drink. That’s all he did. He gave her one f**king drink. Your leader had her hand wrapped around his dick within ten minutes.” Mason gave him a feral grin. “I bet she’s never told anyone that part. There was no seduction. There were no pretty words shared. She screwed him and sucked him before she decided to dump this guy.” He gestured to Peter, who was pale in the face. Mason continued, his voice low and controlled, “Your friends threw her out. Your friends laughed at her when Logan dumped her. I didn’t do anything, other than tell my brother to protect Sam.”

He was lying. Adam knew it. I knew it, but he was convincing. Emily, Mark, and Peter were enraptured by him. I knew the real reason he wanted Miranda taken down, but he was right about one thing. Miranda’s friends jumped on her. That was their choice. They could’ve stuck with her, but they didn’t. That was done because of Miranda herself. She passed judgment on them so they judged her back. Mason didn’t control that. He knew it was there so he used it, but that was all. The rest, about Logan, about his feelings for me, no one else seemed to know about that part of the situation. They didn’t need to either. That was between us to deal with.

Miranda and Amelia came back at that moment. Miranda’s hair was back in place. She wore a cardigan over her dress. It was buttoned so no one could tell she’d been in a fight. As she approached the group, a forced smile was on her face. When she saw that Mason had been talking, her smile grew more forced. She flicked her hair back and asked, “What’s going on here?”

Peter started for her at the same time Adam opened his mouth, ready to say something.

“I was telling them about when you sucked my brother.” Mason beat both of them to it and they froze.

Miranda did too. Her chest moved as she took a silent breath and fear entered her eyes. It was there for one second, but as she blinked, it was gone.

She was scared of Mason. I frowned. What did that mean? Had she not said anything to Logan?

“You were what?” A mask plastered over her, making her look calm and collected. Her hand twitched at her side, though.

Mason was watching her too. Something wasn’t right. Then understanding dawned. Logan did this. My mouth fell open, and I uttered, “Oh my god,” before I realized I had spoken out loud. Miranda swung her gaze to me.

He had. I saw it there. He covered for us.

“We have to go.” I grabbed Mason’s hand and started to pull him out the door.

“Wait. What?” I could hear Adam behind us. “Sam!”

“Gotta go. Thanks for making me choose,” I threw back over my shoulder. “I hope to never talk to you again.”

I heard Emily laughing again.

As we brushed past Becky, she said, “Sam?” She reached out, but I hit it down. I hissed at her, “You can believe Adam, with whatever he said to you, but that’s your decision.”

Blood drained from her face. “What are you talking about?”

“You know.”

She jerked a step. I saw the guilt on her face.

“No matter what he says, it’s your decision if we’re friends. Don’t let him get in your head. I’m a good friend. Be one back.”

“Sam.” Mason touched the back of my arm. “Let’s go.”

She swallowed, moving back another step as Mason spoke. Then she said, “I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but I sighed. Whatever happened in the future, I was sorry too. I nodded. “See you, Becky.”

She nodded. “Okay. Bye.”

As we left, I glanced over my shoulder. She was still watching us. She hadn’t moved from her spot and then Adam was next to her. He touched her arm and she turned towards him. I had no idea what was going on, what he had said to her, but it was her decision. I made mine. I was officially out. Becky had stood with me before. I’d have to wait and see if she would do it again.

When we got into the car, Mason started it up but he didn’t reverse. He let it sit there, and he looked at me. We were thinking the same thing.

Logan knew.

Mason said, “He did something to her.”

I nodded. It was the only thing that made sense. “But what?”

“She told him what we did, and he still covered for us.”

“That means something, doesn’t it?”

Mason sighed, putting the car in reverse now. “I have no idea what it means.”

He took us home and when we got there, there was still no sign of Logan. A girl was next to Nate on the couch with a blanket over both of them. A movie was on the television screen. Both looked up when we went down the stairs. “Any word?”

Nate shook his head. “Nothing.” There wasn’t any more traces of the easygoing attitude he had before. He had the same concern in his eyes now. It was bad. It was really bad.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

I canceled my birthday dinner. There was still no word from Logan, and I couldn’t handle our parents without him. Mason was quiet. He’d been quiet since Peter’s party. Things at school were calm. I had been nervous about what I was walking into, but there had been no isolation or humiliation. Whatever Logan had done, it kept Miranda off my back. The entire Elite stayed away. When they passed me in the hallway, Emily nodded at me. The next day was a wave, and then she began smiling at me. By the end of the next week, she started spending time at my locker. Once people saw that she was still friends with me and there was no backlash from the Elite, other people began warming up to me again. Well, others except for Becky. Adam followed through with his threat. Whatever he said to Becky worked. She was a permanent fixture to his hip. Mason told me that she broke up with Rex. He heard the rumor from his school. When I asked about Logan, Mason grew quiet. He stopped talking after that.