A large painting took up most of the wall. The word Compulsion draped the clouds drawn onto the brick. It was a rather mundane drawing of a field of flowers and a tree, the address clearly written on the bark.

It wasn’t the prettiest drawing I had ever seen, but its significance made me want to throw up.

“Isn’t this what Maxx used to do for the club?” Renee asked from behind me.

I nodded, my mouth dry and my throat tightening dangerously. I pushed back through the crowd and leaned against the far end of the wall, trying to breathe through the nausea.

This couldn’t be right. Could it?

Maxx would have told me if had he started working for Compulsion again. Right?

I didn’t want to believe what my eyes so clearly saw.

Proof of his deceit and betrayal.

I slammed my hand into the wall in frustration, barely registering the pain that shot up my arm.

“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Renee asked, frowning.

I pointed at the artwork that everyone was talking about. “That’s the fucking problem!” I seethed, tears stinging my eyes.

“I don’t get it . . .” Renee began.

I pushed myself off the wall and pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Because if this is X, then that means he’s working for the club again. And if he’s working for the club again, then he lied to me. He told me he was never going back there.”

“Oh,” Renee said softly. I dropped my hands to my sides, feeling completely despondent.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed his number.

It went straight to voice mail.

“I can’t do this again!” I agonized.

Doubt shredded my heart.

“You don’t know that’s him. I mean, look at that drawing. It doesn’t even look like his other stuff,” Renee said thoughtfully. But who else would have done it? That was Maxx’s job.

It would explain his strange mood.

And his cryptic “job” that would earn him so much money.

I tried dialing Maxx’s number again and growled in frustration when it went to voice mail again. I tapped out a quick text.

Where are you?

And then I waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

How could he do this?

I covered my mouth with my hand to stop the wail that threatened to claw its way out of my throat. I turned around blindly and started walking away, bumping into someone in my desperate efforts to flee.

“Sorry,” I muttered, tearing my eyes away from the painting.

“Aubrey!” I found myself face-to-face with April.

I hadn’t seen her since my run-in with Evan. She had dropped out of the Boundaries and Ethics class, and honestly, I had been too wrapped up in my own life to think about where she had disappeared to.

“April, hi,” I said, casting a look around for her psycho boyfriend.

I turned back to April and was met with a shock. She smiled at me. A full-out grin. Because she looked . . . different.

Gone was the pink hair and facial piercings. Her hair was a nice, normal shade of brown, and her face was scrubbed clean of her usual heavy makeup. She had a nice face when it wasn’t obstructed by all of the metal.

“I’ve wanted to talk to you,” she said, casting a nervous glance in Renee’s direction. My roommate got the hint and moved a few feet away.

“You haven’t come back to class,” I stated.

“No, I took some time to get things sorted out.” She dropped her voice. “I left Evan.”

I blinked in shock. “What? I mean . . . that’s great. I’m really glad, April.” And I meant it. I wanted to give her my attention, but involuntarily, my eyes were pulled back to the painting behind April. I stared at it for a moment. It was a crude drawing, not very detailed in any way. There weren’t any symbolic figures or deeper meaning. It was only poorly drawn block letters with flames shooting out the side. It looked like juvenile tagging rather than legitimate art. April was still talking, and I had to force myself to concentrate on what she was saying. But my mind was in total turmoil.

Was this X?

Had Maxx really gone back to the club? Was that why he had been so distant and evasive?

I’ve been given a chance to make some great money.

And he hadn’t told me exactly how he planned to do that. I stared at the painting a little longer, still hardly able to believe it.

He wouldn’t do this to me. Not after everything we’ve done to get to this place together.

But my head argued against my romanticism.

The proof is right in front of you! He lied! He told you he had an opportunity to make money. What did you think he’d do?

I blinked and tried to clear my head, purposefully looking at April again.

“Yeah, after what he did to you I knew I couldn’t sit by and take his shit anymore. I pressed charges against him for . . . well, some stuff that happened . . . he took off. I don’t really know where he is. But I moved back in with my parents.”

I stood there lost for a moment, trying to pull myself back into the conversation. Then I realized what she had said.

“I’m really happy to hear that. I felt horrible for leaving that day without knowing if you were okay—”

“Don’t feel bad. I’m just sorry I couldn’t stop him,” April murmured, hanging her head.

I tentatively put my hand on her arm. “Don’t blame yourself for his issues. It’s easy to be fooled by pretty words and false promises disguised as love,” I said, looking at the horrible graffiti again.

What will I do if he’s at the club? What will I do if I find out he’s lied?

Then an even more horrific thought smashed into my consciousness, threatening to send me to my knees.

If he can lie about this, what else is he lying about?

He was supposed to be with Landon tonight. My gut told me that wasn’t true. I thought about the past week and how strangely Maxx had been behaving. I had been so quick to dismiss it. I had been falling back into the old pattern of denial and excuses without realizing it.

I felt a flash of white-hot rage. I clenched my hands into fists and tried to control the urge to scream.

“Are you heading to the club?” April asked suddenly.

“What?” I asked, barely listening.

“Compulsion. Are you going? Some friends and I were thinking of heading over. You and your friend could come with us if you want.” She gave me a smile.

“I’m not sure,” I said, my mind going a thousand miles a minute.

“I bet Maxx will be there, too,” she said, snapping me back to the here and now.

“What?” I demanded.

April looked startled by my outburst. Renee put her hand on my arm to try and calm me down, but I was feeling decidedly not calm.

“Uh, I know he used to go all the time, and I saw him there a week or so ago,” April said haltingly.

The world fell out from underneath my feet.

“I’ve got to go,” I said, stumbling backward.

“Did you get the address first?” April asked, pointing to the horrible painting.

She pulled out a pen and wrote it on a piece of paper, handing the scrap to Renee, since I wouldn’t take it. April stared at the picture on the wall for a moment. “Doesn’t really look like X’s stuff, does it?” she mused, but I didn’t really hear her.

“Whoa, Aubrey, slow down!” Renee called out.

“I’ve got to get my car. Are you cool heading back to the apartment by yourself?” I asked, not slowing down.

“Wait a second, where are you going?” Renee wheezed, trying to keep up with me.

“Maxx lied to me. I have to know what’s going on,” I said through gritted teeth. I wasn’t going to fall into a heap the way I would have done before. This time, I’d find him and I’d demand my answers.

“You can’t go alone,” Renee argued.

“You’re not coming with me. What I need to say to Maxx is between the two of us,” I bit out.

Then I stopped myself. I turned to my best friend. “I won’t be long. And I won’t be going down this road again. I’ll be fine.”