“Maddy?” Lily’s voice drifts through my sleepiness.
River told me before he left that he was having her come over to keep an eye on me, but this is the first time I’ve heard from her. I have been in the shower, though, for a while.
“Yeah?” I mumble as I curl into a ball and reach for the blanket.
“Do you need anything?” Worry is lacing her tone.
I want to reassure her that I’m okay, but all I can manage is a “No thanks” before I get the blankets over my head and plummet into dreamland…
“Maddy!” my aunt’s panicked voice cuts through the air like a razor. “Get out of the road! Run!”
Tires screech. Glass shatters. I’m standing in the road one minute, but the next, I’m lying in gravel, my flesh cut open.
“Maddy, are you okay?” A man says from beside me.
He’s lying in the gravel, too, because he saved me. His voice sounds familiar, but I can’t figure out why.
“Daddy,” I whisper as I reach out blindly against the pool of warm liquid dripping into my eyes.
“Yeah, sweetie, I’m here,” he replies, except that can’t be my father.
He sounds too nice to be him.
“Who are you?” I whisper. “And where’s my aunt Ellie?”
“Maddison! I told you to run!” she shouts with so much fear in her voice.
“I’m sorry, Ellie,” the man replies. “I’m sorry for what I had to do. I’m so sorry, Maddy.” He’s crying.
I want to hug him, but I can’t see through the liquid trickling from my head.
What is it?
I run my fingers across my face.
Blood—
My eyes snap, and I suck in a huge breath as I touch my head. I’m not bleeding, but I can feel a few raised bumps of patchy flesh if I run my fingers along the spot just behind my hairline. I’ve known I had scars there but never knew why. I honestly assumed that I hit my head while riding my bike—I had a habit of crashing. But from what I just remembered, I hit my head on the gravel when a man helped me get out of the way of a car. My aunt was there. So was this strange man that I called my father, but he most definitely wasn’t.
I shake my head in confusion. What the hell is going on?
I need to talk to my aunt, but how the hell am I supposed to find someone who doesn’t want to be found?
CHAPTER 22
RIVER
I’m restlessly tappingmy finger against the steering wheel as I drive down a road that weaves away from the castle-like academy and dips into the shadows of northside. Finn and I have been quiet during the drive; Finn is staring at the window while I’ve been fixated on how to deal with this Drew situation. I plan on paying off Maddy’s debt, but I’m worried how the deal will go down. More than likely, Drew will know I come from money, and he may demand more if I’m not careful.
“You’re restless,” Finn notes the obvious. “Which means you’re freaking out but trying not to show it.”
“I’m fine.” It’s a lie, and he knows it.
“Bro,” he says with a shake of his head. “You can’t bullshit me. I’m your other half.”
“I’m not trying to bullshit you.” Listening to the GPS, I slow down to turn onto a dark road lined with boarded-up buildings. “I’m trying to figure out the best way to approach the deal I have to make with Drew.”
Finn knows enough about the situation that I don’t have to explain more details.
