Sweet Deadly Lies (A Dark Academia Mystery) Watty Winner ✔️

Thirty-Six

I brace myself for the explosion. For the blast of the bullet as it fires through the barrel and collides with its target.

But all I hear is a click.

My heart sinks. I start over, try again, only to meet the same anti-climactic conclusion.

I know I did it right! Pivot the safety, cock the hammer, and shoot. The same way Daddy taught me.

"Surprise." Mr. McKenzie's pompous voice pulls me out of my head. When I focus beyond the gun, he's smiling. "It's not loaded."

Not loaded. Not loaded. Jessa and I spent the entire night playing victims and the gun isn't even loaded!

Rage spins my head, making me dizzy. For the last several hours, we've been terrified for our lives, and that man thought so little of us he didn't even bother to load his gun. We were easy targets to him. Just two more meaningless girls who'd gotten in his way. Walking jokes he would perhaps laugh about after the situation had passed.

But the joke's on him. Because I have nothing left to lose.

With a gut-wrenching wail, I toss the gun to the side and launch at him, taking him by surprise. His eyes spring open wide as I slam into his chest, the impact throwing him back. For a moment we're airborne, our feet leaving the safety of the deck, our bodies sailing through the air as if we have wings. It's not until we smack into the rail that I realize we've gone overboard.

But I'm not in the water. My fingers grip the edge, my feet thrashing aimlessly as waves lick the soles of my boots. Drew appears above me like a shadow against the storm. His mouth is moving, but all I hear is the ocean raging in my ears. He extends his hand, but I'm afraid to take it. Afraid he might let go so that I fall—but trusting him is the only chance I have at making it back on the boat.

Don't think, just do.

So, I reach for him. As he pulls me up, I try to climb, my boots slipping against the side of my boat, higher and higher, until I hurtle over the rail. I collapse against the deck, weak and out of breath, my lungs burning like they're on fire. When I look up, Drew is unhooking an orange life ring from the outside wall of the cockpit.

I push myself to my feet and clutch his arm, my hair plastered to my cheeks and across my forehead. "What are you doing?"

Rain streams down his face. "I'm saving him!"

"But why?" I scream, still trying to stop him. "He killed Ava. He killed your baby! He doesn't deserve to live."

"He's still my father." Drew yanks out of my grip and leans over the rail, searching the waves. "It's too dark!"

"Good!"

"I need to find him!" Drew squints into the water, his hand shielding his eyes from the rain.

"He's not getting back on this boat—I won't let him!"

"It's not up to you, Mia," Drew says. He faces me, rain dripping from the ends of his golden hair, making it look almost black in the dappled light from the helm. "I hate what he did, and I hate what he was about to do. But no matter what he's guilty of, he's still my family."

"You don't need him. You have your mother."

"I barely know my mother! She abandoned me."

The boat tips to the side, and I hold onto him for support. "She didn't! That's your father's fault, too. He told me he refused to give her custody. He said only he could raise you the right way. He's the one who's kept you apart!"

Shock jolts across his face, but then it dissolves. He's shakes his head. "I still need to protect him."

"Well, I don't!" I scream at him. "I'm leaving. You can either stay behind or come back with us and make this right."