"That's a cool tattoo," Devon said, glancing at Sky's forearm as they stepped out of the warehouse.

Sky had to admit that was a Hell of a lot better conversation opening than the last one they'd had, when Devon had blamed her for Cody's death, but still, Sky wasn't holding her breath. Devon had said she wanted to talk about Kyler, and any talk that concerned Kyler was by default a shitty one.

"Thanks," she replied silently, her fingertips brushing the now-healed skin, the black smooth lines drawn on it. Corsican stars. The hurt flashed through her heart, just like every time she laid her eyes on the tattoo, exactly as she had thought it would. Now his death and her guilt were inked on her skin, and she would never forget.

"It's— it's for Cody," she added an explanation.

"What does it mean?"

Sky shrugged, not wanting to go into details. The memories of the days she'd spent in Cody's room, reading Cloud Atlas to him, were private. The heavy scent of his blood, the soft strands of his hair as she brushed her fingers through it, the way his face softened as he drifted to sleep, his head in her lap. Those days belonged to the two of them only, and now that Cody was gone, they were hers alone.

"It's a book quote," she sighed. "Something he quoted to me."

In a dream. Told by Kat. But Sky had no doubt it was real, that Kat had told it just as it had happened. She could almost see it - Cody smiling to Kat, his hair ruffled with the wind, stars in his eyes, saying those two words because he had known Sky would understand—

Corsican Stars.

Sky's throat went tight, and she drew in a fast, almost angry breath. She was not going to cry, not here, not in front of Devon who had been Cody's friend, but who knew nothing, nothing about Sky's shattered heart. She leaned her back on the wall of the warehouse, and inhaled the air that smelled like gasoline and iron, counting to four and holding her breath before releasing it. The sunshine fell on her face, hot and unapologetic, drying the sweat on her forehead, the tears in the corners of her eyes before they had a chance to fall.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said the other day, okay?" Devon said, and surprised by her words Sky opened her eyes, turned to look at the girl who was leaning on the wall next to her. Devon, who was usually well put together, looked a bit disheveled. Some strands had escaped from her high ponytail and were glued to her neck and her cheeks were flushed, but Sky had no idea if it was because of the training or because of this conversation.

"It's just—" Devon continued, her words dropping fast from her lips. "When I joined the debate team, Cody was like the star of it. He was the best. And still, he was so nice to all of us new kids, even when he didn't have to be. I looked up to him, so much. Like— he wasn't just my friend. He was my mentor. Did you ever see him debate?"

Sky shook her head, a sudden weight squeezing her chest. They had only dated for a couple of months, and during that time, she'd been too wrapped up in her stupid issues to really take an interest in Cody's hobbies. Regret had a sharp taste on her lips. What wouldn't she give now, for a chance to see Cody on stage acting a play, on a podium throwing clever arguments in a debate, reading Shakespeare with his friends, laughing, writing articles for the school paper—

"Well, he was incredible," Devon stated, kicking the ground with the tip of her black sneaker. She had wrapped her arms around her body. "And when he died—"

"I know," Sky interrupted, the hollow ache spreading from her belly to her chest. "You should blame me for it. Everyone does. And God knows I do."

"That's not what I was gonna say," Devon's voice was sharp and strong, and it forced Sky to look up and meet her dark chocolate eyes. "I mean, I did blame you, but— It's not really fair, is it? It's not like he did it just because you broke up. I blame Blatt a lot more than I blame you. But mostly, I blame Kyler."

"Kyler?" Sky breathed, her voice suddenly weak.

She didn't know if it was widely known that Kyler had taken the video to Blatt. To her, it had been obvious, but to anyone else— It might have not been that clear. Not many people knew that Cody had beaten Kyler up and had threatened to shoot him, they didn't know Kyler had hated him for that.

Kyler certainly hadn't admitted it.

"Well yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure out he filmed that video and took it to Blatt. I watched the clip. You can hear him on it."

"And? What of it?" Sky gripped the strap of her gym bag tighter, her fingernails digging into her palm. She wasn't sure where Devon was going with this, but this whole conversation was making her feel like she could throw up any minute.

"So it was him? Kyler filmed it on purpose and took the clip to Blatt, meaning to get Cody in trouble?"

"Kyler didn't just mean to get him in trouble. He wanted to fucking kill Cody, because—" Sky stopped talking before she could finish what she'd been about to say. Angry, frustrated tears were burning at the back of her throat and she swallowed them hard, together with the end of that sentence. She wasn't going to tell Devon about what Kyler had done to her at the Christmas fight, about Cody taking revenge on him, about how things had spiraled from there and ended up with Cody's brain and his blood painting his room red.

That pain was hers, and hers only. Nothing she could say would make Devon understand how much it hurt, how much she hated herself for it, how much she wanted to make Kyler burn.

"It doesn't really matter," Sky forced the words out, trying to hide the pathetic tremble of her voice. "Kyler's getting away with it. Just like— like he's getting away with everything he's done."

"Well maybe not," Devon said, jutting out her chin in a defiant gesture. "Maybe there's something we can do about it."

Sky turned to look at her, at her small, heart-shaped face, her dark, almond-shaped eyes that were suddenly full of the same fire she'd seen in them when Devon had been kicking the living shit out of the guys in training today.

She had known Devon was fierce, but this—

Could she really trust Devon? Could she really be her ally in this, in bringing down Kyler?

"Why?" she asked, keeping Devon's stare. "Why us? What's in it for you?"

"Except for getting revenge for Cody?" Devon's dark eyes flashed, her jaw went tight.

"Well, yeah."

A short moment of tense silence followed her question. Devon wrapped her arms tighter around her slim body, her fingers digging into her arms. She shifted on her feet, hesitating, but Sky didn't look away. Suddenly she was certain that Devon knew something about Kyler, something important, she could almost taste it— and she wasn't leaving before she found out what it was.

"I heard what you talked about with Miguel," Devon finally said, letting out a long, tense breath. "That you broke Kyler's nose. And I have a feeling that he did something to deserve it. Kyler is an asshole. If he tried to touch you, or stuff, I believe you. I one hundred percent believe you."

Sky felt like someone had punched her in the gut, making all the air leave her lungs.

"What—?"

"Kyler is my cousin," Devon continued. Her nervous hands were now at the hem of her red Eagle Fang T-shirt, playing with a loose thread, wrapping it around a finger. "I mean, more like a second or a third cousin, but anyway— He's been around my whole life. And he's tried to grope me every chance he gets since I was like twelve years old. So yeah, if you say he did something awful to you, I believe you."

Sky's grip on the strap of her gym bag loosened, she drew in a deep breath of air, then another. The gasoline-smelling air made her light-headed, or maybe it was the harsh sunlight, the heat, or maybe it was none of that. Maybe it was the sudden, unexpected relief of hearing Devon's words. I believe you, I one hundred percent believe you.

There were tears in her eyes, and she had to blink hard to stop them from falling. She hadn't realized how much she needed to hear those words. To be believed. Yes, Dad had said that he believed her, and Miggy— but it was different, it would never be the same, because they were guys, and a guy would never know how it truly felt to be told by a detective that her story was just that, a story, even if the truth lived on her dirty, disgusting skin every second of every moment of every fucking day. But Devon—

The look in her big, espresso eyes told Sky that she believed because she had been through the same. And suddenly, Sky wanted to rip Kyler apart, not just for Cody, not just for herself, but for Devon too, who had done nothing to deserve such a creep as a cousin.

"Thank you," she breathed, her voice a bit broken with the unshed tears. "And— I'm so sorry you're related to that asshole."

"Well, so am," Devon replied, keeping her jaw up. "I'm glad you broke his nose. I'm sure he deserved it."

"What he deserves is to be in jail. But apparently, no one can beat him in court. Is that true? That his dad owns a law firm?"

"Yeah, it sucks," Devon sighed, and leaned back against the wall, her red T-shirt forming a sharp contrast against the grey concrete wall. "It would be super hard, but who knows— maybe it's not impossible. Or maybe there's something else we can do?"

"What?" Sky snorted. "You suggest we team up and beat him senseless? Not a good idea. I'm lucky he didn't sue me for kicking his nose in."

"I know, that's not what I had in mind."

The look in Devon's eyes was defiant, powerful, fierce. She looked like a girl Sky wanted to be, like the girl she had once been, before Kat had died and everything had gone to Hell, like a girl who knew how to fight back, how to kick ass, who believed she was worthy. Something twisted and turned in Sky's gut, something raw and primal, a mix of anger and hope. She was so tired of being helpless, of being this stupid, fucking mess everyone kept taking advantage of, everyone kept walking over.

Suddenly everything was painfully clear, like the sky in the eye of a hurricane. The wind stilled, the sunlight was burning away all the doubt. Sky realized like a slap on the face, that no guy was going to help her, to save her. Cody was gone. Eli wouldn't even look at her. The police didn't believe in her. Dad was powerless, too kind, too soft. This was a man's world, and when a girl was in trouble, they just didn't care, they always let you down.

But Devon was a girl. And Sky was more than ready to take this leap of faith, to save herself, to save them both, and make Kyler pay for everything he had done.

"Then what do you have in mind?" She asked, meeting Devon's stare. "How do we do this?"

"There's so much dirt on Kyler, you wouldn't believe. And I don't mean just harassing girls, there's a lot more," Devon said, leaning closer to Sky and lowering her voice. "I'm sure that with a bit of digging, we can find out enough to bring him down."

"Dirt isn't enough," Sky said with a tremor in her voice. "A word against a word is not enough. We need proof."

"I know," Devon replied, "I'm a lot sneakier than you'd think. We'll get the proof."

And maybe it was the way her eyes shone with promise, that made Sky believe every word that came out of Devon's mouth.

This was it. For the first time since the awful day at the tattoo parlor, Sky felt hope, and that small sliver of hope was enough to make her head light, it squeezed her chest so that she could barely breathe.

They were bringing Kyler down, or she would die trying.