I wanted to follow, but I was too busy staring at this house. My breath was taken away by the sheer elegance of the space. This wasn’t just some lake house they kept around. Marble floorsgleamed under the soft glow of crystal chandeliers, and the walls were adorned with intricate moldings and artworks that I didn’t recognize. More and more I’d acknowledged that my own education about art was very limited. The view from the huge windows at the back of the house must be spectacular when it was light out.
The whole moment felt surreal. I just stood there staring. I’d just been in the fifth level of hell and now I was here? No, I had to be still on the floor in solitary. I was dreaming this. I caught my breath. Wow. Life was really cruel. Unless I was dead. Oates had told me I would see people who cared about me again when I was dead.
Was I dead?
A hand touched my shoulder. “I know.” It was Rosalind. “Everything is too much. But you’re okay. You are.”
I swallowed. “I was just wondering if I was dead. But I thought I would see my mother again when I was dead, and she isn’t here, so maybe I’m just hallucinating?”
“It’s normal what you’re feeling. Lots of change. And now this is another one. I would give you your mother in a heartbeat if I could.” She hugged me. Her accent thickened as she spoke. “But you’re here with us and we’re very glad that you are. Come on. Food will help. By now the steak is probably dry and that will certainly tell you that you are in reality because who would imagine that?”
Eric was pouring wine into glasses, but when he would have put one where Jer stood and was probably going to sit, Jer shook his head. “I’m done with that. For now. Maybe forever.”
Phoenix plopped down and then patted next to him. “Sit here. Alcohol was never my poison. It doesn’t bother me.”
“I don’t want to be out of it.” Jeremy sat, too, and I took the spot that Phoenix indicated. “I don’t want to be off buying beer when someone drugs my girl.”
Barrett and Julian seemed to be sticking to water as well. Wow.
Eric sat down next to Rosalind while Stephen placed food on everyone’s plate. “Alatheia, Kit came and got you so we never got to talk. Tomorrow they’d like you back in the clinic at nine. They’re going to go over some things with you about your treatment plan. I’ll drive you over since I’m taking a shift.”
“No, thank you, Eric.” Barrett shook his head. “I’m going to drive her back and forth anywhere she needs to go while she’s here.”
With a shrug, Eric smiled. “Great. Then you can take me tomorrow morning, too.”
Since I was absolutely certain that Barrett had meant to get alone time with me, that sort of defeated his point. “Sure.”
“Don’t do that to him.” Rosalind laughed. “Barrett, Eric will take his own car and you’ll take Alatheia. That’s fine.”
Everyone dug in, and I tried to ignore how strange it was to be sitting here like this. Somehow this was less tense than the Hamptons. My first night there with them all at the table had been awful. But then again, the Chinese food for the twins’ birthday had been great. So, maybe the Hamptons was the exception and this was more the rule.
“Listen,” Kit interrupted. “I want to get this over with.”
He did like to make a speech. I’d noticed that about him.
“You said something I overheard about turning eighteen and leaving that place.”
That’s right, he had interrupted us. I cleared my throat. “They had to let us leave at eighteen.”
“They do. But I can’t find record of anyone leaving that place, of anyone who actually got out and went anywhere else. That’s why I couldn’t find it to begin with. I’ve been going over this with one of my partners and with Stephen all day.” He must have just gotten back. Stephen had stayed to see the place closed down onthe island. He stared down at the table, not making eye contact with anyone. Kit continued. “And I think people don’t leave. I think those girls who aged out, died.”
There was silence and then an eruption as everyone started talking at once. My heart rate kicked up so high I could feel it in my ears. What? I had known some of those girls. The room tilted left and then right, but I wasn’t going to faint. I didn’t do that. It was ridiculous, I was sitting on a chair, but I pulled my knees to lean my head on them.
“Okay. I think that could have been handled better.” Was Eric yelling at Kit? “She’s fragile right now.”
“She needs to hear this. What her family is doing. And why.”
“Yes, she does. But if she isn’t in imminent danger, maybe it could have waited for dessert.”
Yes, Eric, the quiet one, was yelling at Kit. I lifted my head. For his part, Kit looked chastened, his brow downsloped. Eric might not yell very much, but when he did, perhaps it made an impact.
Phoenix had his cheek on my back. I hadn’t noticed how he had risen and grabbed me. “No one is going to kill you. We told you that you’re safe, and we didn’t lie.”
“Thank you.” I managed to get my knees back down under the table. This was going to be embarrassing later. “But why wasn’t I?”
He’d opened this door. I wasn’t going to wait to know.
5
