That night, Luce gets ready for a date with Cam.  There is much dithering that I will spare you from so that we can get straight to the main event: he leaves a note for her at the front gate saying that a car will show up and take her to him.

NO.  

NO.

NO.

NO.

WARNING.  DANGER.  DANGER WILL ROBINSON.  

WHO THE FUCK THINKS IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO GET IN A CAR WITH A COMPLETE FUCKING STRANGER.  It would be bad enough that it’s Cam, but she’s being directed into a car by a note and will end up in some strange car with some strange driver off to some strange destination with no one even knowing that she left, much less where she went.

There is not enough NO in the world for this.

Book, you clearly don’t want to be set in reform school, why did you do this?

Even though she thinks to herself that she won’t go, that she only showed up at the gate at all to tell Cam off, once the car arrives…she gets in.  Why?  Because she doesn’t want to call her friend Callie and answer embarrassing questions.

No, I don’t know why the book expects that to make sense.  You’re right, it is rat-fucking stupid.  No, I have no idea what’s going on.  She thinks she’s not going to go, she thinks how awkward it would be to call Callie, she gets in the car.  Just like that.

I’m to the point of hoping Luce dies.  I know you’re not supposed to, but on the other hand, she’s fictional, so that eases my conscience.

The mysterious car mysteriously takes her to a bar, where Luce promptly launches into a derisive description of how absolutely ugly and pathetic everything is.  Because that’s what kind of book this is.  The kind that never misses an opportunity to say “you look bad and I’m sneering.”  Take out all the judgement, and it sounds like just your average dive bar.  Those can be fun.

Well, for adults.

I have no idea what this book thinks its doing taking two highschoolers there, in a book marketed at highschoolers.

Hush, Hush did this, too.  Books, why do you not understand that bars are not where highschoolers hang out?  If you want to hang out in bars, write adult fiction.  Or at least NA.

They spend an inordinate amount of time dithering about her necklace without actually saying anything worth hearing.

Also, Cam has been there (and drinking) all day.  Charming.

I like to let loose as much as the next gal, and I am not ashamed to admit that I like the sugary, fruity drinks like woah, so I get it.  But you have to careful with that shit in a teenager’s book!  They’re probably are going to read about drinking before they try it (or at least, the readers will) which means that if they get it into their heads that it’s possible to sit around and drink moonshine all day and still be able to make coherent sentences, that’s not going to end well.

They spend even more time dithering about nothing and Luce gets some alcohol to drink because fuck this book.  I am so fucking bored.  Please, book, do something that matters.  This is just Luce liking-but-not-like-liking Cam while thinking about Daniel, but now in a bar instead of at school.  Same shit, different set dressing.  We are not actually making progress just because you described a new location.

There’s a bar brawl.   Same shit as last chapter, different location.  *yawn*

Daniel shows up.  Same shit as ever, different location.  Damnit book, move on already.

Oh yeah and there’s shadows around that aren’t doing shit.  You know the drill.

Daniel glares at the shows and they back up, which sends Luce into a tizzy, even though he’s already done that once before.  She didn’t follow up on it then, and I don’t have high hopes for now.

Daniel gets her into a car he stole from Miss Sophia and drives her away from the bar brawl.

“Luce,” Cam said, walking toward the car. “Don’t do this. Don’t leave with him. It will end badly.”

On the one hand, she’s sure as fuck not safe with your creepy drunk ass that took her to a seedy bar and then engaged in a bar brawl.  (I don’t care if the other guy started it; you could have left and you weren’t supposed to be there anyway.)  On the other hand, Daniel is creepy as fuck, too, so…

“I didn’t mean to come here,” she said, which felt true. It was almost like Cam had tricked her.

…no, you’re just an idiot with no angency who can’t do basic things like NOT GET IN A STRANGE CAR WITH A STRANGER.

Fuck, somehow when the right thing involves not doing something, Luce still fails.

How did Cam even “trick” you, anyway?  He said “get in a car.”  You said “that’s fishy and I don’t wanna but I will anyway because reasons.” There was no trick.

Daniel drives her out to the beach because when has anyone ever cared about Luce’s feelings or safety and also fuck you.

“I don’t get it? Let me tell you something about what I get. You think you’re so smart? I spent three years on a full academic scholarship at the best college-prep school in the country. And when they kicked me out, I had to petition—petition!—to keep them from wiping out my four-point-oh transcript.”

And yet you can’t figure out how to google “grigori, watchers.”

Daniel gets all sad and then compliments her with all her informed attributes, including “kindest,” which just makes me lol forever.  

“I’m just … so tired of this,” he said. He did sound exhausted.

“Of what?”

He looked over at her, with the saddest expression on his face, as if he had lost something precious. […]

“You can show me,” she whispered.

And apparently that’s all it takes to get them to make out.

He knows that kissing will kill her, and he utterly fails at avoiding it.

I don’t think he really cares about this chick at all, because frankly, IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO JUST DROP HER OFF AT THE SCHOOL AND DRIVE AWAY.

The make out and it’s lovingly described in exacting detail and I’ll spare you.

Afterwards, Daniel is surprised that she’s still alive and un-shadow-munched.  

I want to repeat that: the guy fully expected her to die from kisses, did it anyway, and is surprised that she’s alive.

This COMPLETE FUCKING ASSHOLE FULLY EXPECTED TO KILL HER WITH HIS ACTIONS AND DID IT ANYWAY.

NO, I WILL NOT LET THIS GO, HE WAS FULLY PREPARED TO MURDER THE FUCK OUT OF LUCE FOR THE SAKE OF KISSY.

Why the fuck is this murdering asshole the romantic lead?