“You won’t get away with this.” Leonidas declares war in his voice.
“Oh, but I already have. Next time, hire your own lawyer.”
Oh my God.
This cannot be happening right now.
From day one, we’re being blackmailed …
The three of us are stone-cold as we climb into the car waiting for us. Sitting in dead silence, we mourn the life we woke up to tonight.
But what nearly makes me jump out of the car, not caring if I break every bone in my body, is when she comes to mind—Lily.
THIRTY-FOUR
LILY
PAST
“You’ve reached Elijah Drakos. I’m not able to take your call right now. If it’s important, please leave a message after the really loud beep, and I’ll try to remember to get back to you!”
The beeping sound I’ve grown to hate sounds in my ear.
“Hey, Elijah. It’s me. You have been gone for a week now, and still, no word. I’m not sure where you are, but if you could please get back to me, I would appreciate that. But if you can … please come back. Please, please, please come back.”
“You’ve reached Elijah Drakos. I’m not able to take your call right now. If it’s important, please leave a message after the really loud beep, and I’ll try to remember to get back to you!”
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of my bed, I sigh. “Hey, it’s Lily. It’s been a month since you’ve been gone. Luna dumped an entire trash can on me today, and the whole school laughed. I didn’t know what to do, so I stood there until they left me alone. I really miss having a friend at school. Come back soon, okay?”
“You’ve reached Elijah Drakos. I’m not able to take your call right now. If it’s important, please leave a message after the really loud beep, and I’ll try to remember to get back to you!”
“Where are you?” I cry into the phone, my tears dripping down my cheeks as the world around me goes unclear. “I would have never done this to you. After all our plans and promises, you had the courage to just leave me without a word? Was any of it real? I’m starting to think not. I’m furious with you, but please come back. Please.”
“You’ve reached Elijah Drakos. I’m not able to take your call right now. If it’s important, please leave a message after the really loud beep, and I’ll try to remember to get back to you!”
I slam my laptop shut. Feeling anger so intensely in my chest that I feel like screaming into the phone. “After months of calling and not receiving anything back, I gave up on hope of ever seeing your face again. But it’s as if your presence is haunting me because your picture came up on my feed. You’re famous now? Is it part of the job, forgetting where you came from? After months of my calling, you haven’t answered because you’re living a new life like your old one didn’t exist? Fuck you, Elijah.”
“You’ve reached Elijah Drakos. I’m not able to take your call right now. If it’s important, please leave a message after the really loud beep, and I’ll try to remember to get back to you!”
“I’m not sure if you’re listening to my messages, but I promised myself this is the last one I’m ever going to leave you. For a while—before I saw you online, heard your songs, and watched your interviews—I thought you might have died. Yet you might as well have because I have no idea who you are anymore. But I made a promise, so I’m keeping it. This is my goodbye.”
“Sorry, the mailbox you are trying to reach is full. Please hang up and try again another time.”
I lied.
I tried calling again.
THIRTY-FIVE
LILY
“I …” I’m speechless, rooted to my seat in horror.
I spent years thinking Elijah hadn’t valued our relationship like I did and turned into someone I never wanted to become—angry and reserved—and the whole time, he was being blackmailed not to talk to me?
“You have to understand, they were monitoring my every move. If they saw that I’d contacted you, they would have done everything in their power to make me homeless. I could never do that to my family.” He grabs my hands in his, pleading, “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t kill me not to hear your voice every day.”
I’m gutted like a fish. Nausea swirls in my stomach, and I swallow the thick saliva in my mouth. I attempt to ground myself. “I would have done the same thing for my family, Elijah.”
