“I had no idea it was Skye,” he eventually admitted, his voice soft.
I believed him. If he’d known Skye was at that coffee shop, he would’ve warned me.
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered.
August gave me a look. The kind that said,bullshit.
I pulled my hands back the moment he secured the last piece of tape. “How long is she supposed to be here?”
August shrugged. “I’m not sure. She’s working on the documentary solo, it seems. That’s why she was trying to collaborate with Emersyn.”
The documentary. I’d almost forgotten that’s why she was here in the first place.
Fresh anger lit inside me. That’s what got her to come back? After everything, after the death of my sister and years apart, she was coming back to exploit the serial killer responsible for so much hurt and grief?
“And is Emersyn going to work with her?” My voice was low, on the verge of a growl.
He stood and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “We both are.”
That landed like a punch to the gut. My jaw clenched.
“Well, I want nothing to do with it.”
August silently put the first-aid kit back into the cabinet. He didn’t come back. Instead, he leaned against the wall, staring at me from across the room.
“She’s still under your skin, huh? After all this time?”
I looked away.
“I’m sorry if it’s hard for you, but I think it’s the best option to stay more involved in this documentary thing than not.”
“What are you trying to say?” I snapped, running out of patience.
His brows rose. “I just think…if someone is going to be putting together a story that has ties so close to us, and the people we love, that it’s a good idea to stay close to it. To know what’s all going into it. Don’t you?”
I shook my head. I was too tired, too strung out to think it through.
“I don’t want anything to do with her.”
My brother held my gaze. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He pushed off the wall, nodding toward my hands. “Ice those.” He paused as he headed to the exit. “If I hear you hitting that bag, I will go get our mother and she will be the one to bandage you up next time.”
He left me there in the gym. The door snapped closed behind him.
Silence settled around me.
My rage had burned out, leaving behind nothing but the steady throb of everything I couldn’t say out loud.
She wasn’t here forever. She would be here for a little while and then she’d leave.
I reminded myself that I had survived Skye Adler once already.
I could do it again.
5
