I watch her for some time—much longer than I should—unable to bring myself to interrupt her. I’d stand here forever if I could, listening to her magic and watching her move. But I’ve never gotten what I want before, and it’s not what happens.
Eloise’s fingers freeze on the last chord, her back snapping straight as she senses another presence in her bedroom. Slowly, she turns her head, and I watch her cycle through several different emotions in the span of a few seconds. There’s relief, shock, desire, and the last and more terrible—fear.
“Riot,” she says, my name a breathless whisper on her tongue. “What—what are you doing here?”
I step toward her, pulled to her like a moth to a raging wildfire. “You didn’t show up for your lesson. I was worried. I had to make sure you were okay.”
She shakes her head, turning on the bench to face me fully. “How did you get in here?”
I huff. “Your boyfriend let me in.”
“My what?”
“The dude who has to turn sideways to pass through a doorway? He’s kind of hard to miss.”
“Are you talking about Forest?” Her mouth turns down in disgust. “He isnotmy boyfriend. He’s my guard.”
Guard?Before I have time to ask why she needs someone guarding theinsideof her house, Eloise lets out a loud gasp. She jumps to her feet, pressing her palms to my chest and attempting to push me toward her door. “Riot, you can’t be here. You have to leave—now!”
“Why?” I shake my head, stepping closer. “What’s going on, Eloise? Why didn’t you show up? Why haven’t you responded to my texts?”
She just shakes her head, dropping her gaze and stepping back, taking her hands with her. Before she can get far, I reach up, grabbing both her wrists in one calloused palm while the other snakes around her waist, pulling her in tight. “Don’t run from me, Eloise. Don’t shut me out.” I lean down, pressing my forehead to hers, pleading with her to look at me. She doesn’t.
“Is this about what happened last week?” I ask. I thought we smoothed things over, that things were going well.She said she wanted me, too…“Did you change your mind? Do you regret it? Regret me?”
Finally, she raises her gaze to mine, and there’s so much hurt there, it takes my breath away. “I couldneverregret you, Riot. But youcannotbe here. Not now, not ever.” She tries to pull out of my grip, letting out a deep sigh when it’s wholly unsuccessful. “Riot, I’m serious. You need to go.Please.”
“No, Eloise. Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
Eloise looks at the clock, her expression twisting in terror. “I can’t right now. Dave is going to be home soon, and youcan’tbe here when he is.”
“Your manager?” I ask, utterly perplexed. “Why would he care?”Why does she look so scared? What the hell is going on here?
Instead of answering, Eloise wiggles from my grip and scurries toward her piano. She rips a corner from her sheet music, grabs a pen, and scribbles something on the paper. When she presses it into my palm, I’m surprised to find she’s written down a pair of location coordinates.
“Meet me here at midnight tomorrow,” she says, folding my fingers around the paper. “I don’t have my phone, so I can’t contact you until then, but I promise I’ll be there.”
I don’t get the chance to ask any of my burning questions before she’s pushing me out the door and toward the stairs. “You have to go,Riot.We’ll talk later, and I’ll explain.”
“You pinky promise?”
She lets out an exasperated sigh but still wraps her pinky in mine. “Ipromise.Now please,pleasego.”
I do as she says, listening to the slam of her bedroom door and the swell of classical music as I hasten down the steps. Forest gives me a nod as I pass through the foyer, but otherwise, he says nothing as I hurry outside toward my bike. As I speed off, leaving the strange dwelling in the distance, I can’t shake the feeling that everything has changed.
Time will tell whether it’s for better or worse.
20
Riot
Next day…
I look down at the coordinates on my GPS, sure that it’s taken me to the wrong place.
The location Eloise gave me took me to the very tip of Saltbloom, down a sandy access trail in the middle of nowhere. The nearest residence is about a half mile back, and with no streetlamps to light the way, I’m well and truly in the dark.
The path ends in a small, circular clearing, surrounded by dense clusters of foliage. The branches are so tangled that they create a wall of sorts, and there’s no way to move forward.But that’s exactly what my GPS wants me to do.
