“It’s okay.” For the first time, he looks concerned. “We use these tunnels all the time. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Yeah, but—” I break off as the door at the other end of the room opens. And in walks Lia.
“Hey, hold the door!” I call to her, slipping out of Flint’s loose hold and making a mad dash back toward the only obvious exit point in this hellhole of a room.
But she obviously doesn’t hear me. The door slams shut behind her. Damn it.
“Grace!” She looks surprised to see me as she fishes a pair of earbuds out of her ears. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m taking her to the tunnels.” Flint shoots me an exasperated look as he catches up to me. “She’s got art.”
“Oh yeah? With Kaufman?” Lia looks interested.
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Me too.” She gives Flint a cool glance. “I’ll take it from here.”
“No need for that,” he answers. “I’m going that way, too.”
“You don’t have to bother.”
“No bother. Right, Grace?” He grins at me, but this time he sure seems to be showing a lot of teeth.
Then again, who can blame him? He was trying to help me, and I freaked out on him for no reason. “If you’re sure.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” He loops an arm through mine. “I would love to escort you ladies to class.”
“Lucky us.” Lia’s own smile is saccharin sweet as she takes hold of my other arm and starts to walk us back toward the end of the room. As we move—both of them holding on to me—I can’t help but feel a little like a ping-pong ball caught between them.
Lia doesn’t let go until we reach the final cell. She marches inside and grabs hold of one of the arm shackles—exactly as Flint was aiming to do when I freaked out—and then pulls, hard.
The portion of the stone wall the shackles are attached to opens wide. She glances back at us, eyebrows raised. “Ready?”
Flint looks at me, tilts his head questioningly.
I feel myself blushing yet again, this time out of shame. “Sorry. I freaked out when I shouldn’t have.”
He shrugs. “No worries. I guess I come down here so often, I forget how creepy it looks.”
“So creepy,” I tell him as we move into the cell. “And when you reached for that shackle—”
He laughs. “You didn’t really think I was going to chain you up down here, did you?”
“Of course she did,” Lia tells him as we walk through the trick door and she pulls it closed behind us. “I wouldn’t trust you, either. You look like exactly the kind of pervert she should never be alone with.”
“And what kind of pervert is that exactly?” he demands, glancing between the two of us.
Suddenly, I remember what Macy said about Jaxon when she was trying to warn me off him, and I can’t resist. “You know, the kind who starves a girl so he can make a dress out of her skin.”
They both stare at me like I’ve lost my mind completely. Lia looks taken aback but amused, and Flint…Flint looks more offended than anyone ever. It’s totally inappropriate, but I can’t help laughing. Because, come on. Who hasn’t seen that movie—or at least heard of it?
“Excuse me?” he says after a second, more ice in those words than in the entire school grounds outside.
“From Silence of the Lambs? That’s what the serial killer Jodie Foster is trying to catch does to his victims. It’s why she needs Hannibal Lecter.”
“Never saw the movie.”
“Oh, well, he would kidnap girls and—”
“Yeah, I got it.” He lets go of my arm for the first time since Lia showed up. “For the record, clothes made of skin, not so much my style.”
“Obviously. That’s why I made the joke.” When he doesn’t respond, I bump my shoulder against his. “Come on, Flint. Don’t be mad. I was just playing.”
“Don’t waste your breath,” Lia tells me as we make our way farther into the tunnels. “He’s a total drag—”
“Bite me,” Flint growls.
She eyes him scornfully. “You wish.”
“I wish you’d try.” He returns her look with interest.
Wow, this devolved quickly.
“Don’t we need to get to class?” I ask, determined to interrupt whatever this is before it gets even worse. “The bell’s going to ring in a minute.”