Prologue
Maeve 16 Years Old
God, this music is so loud,I thought as Miguel's "Sky Walker" played at a ghastly volume in the large living room of some underclassman trying to make themselves known. Like many other people we went to school with, this guy had a superiority complex, and his house proved it. It was showy and pretentious, a huge soulless space packed with gaudy decor and too many people. Sometimes I wondered why we even came to parties like these. I’d much rather be somewhere quiet than around the high school “in-crowd” who didn’t understand what was going on in the real world.My world. I doubted any of these partygoers would last five minutes in it.
It was nearly midnight, which meant we had to start saying our goodbyes and begin the process of dragging Nessa out of there to make it home by one, before the next guard rotation. We needed to avoid the one tattle tale, Joe. After roughly five minutes of searching, I gave up. I yelled, asking anyone who could hear me, “Has anyone seen Callum or Nessa!?”
Jade, Nessa’s friend, yelled back, “I saw them go upstairs not too long ago!”
I shot her a smile and nodded in thanks as I headed toward the stairs. After weaving in and out of the intoxicated teenagers who hadcongregated on the staircase, I began down the long hall and glanced into each room as I passed by. I reached the last door, the only closed door. I grabbed the handle and opened it without a second thought. If only I had given it a second thought. If only I hadn’t walked straight into… that.
The only light in the room came from a lone lamp on a stand beside the bed. Sitting on a chaise lounge at the foot of the bed was Callum. His hands were all over Nessa, his mouth on her neck as she straddled him, grinding her hips against him with her head thrown back. The sight of it was too much for me. I felt an electric jolt of adrenaline shoot through my veins. I had to get out of there.
“Wow, looks like last night was complete bullshit, Cal,” I said coldly, willing my voice to sound confident and steady when I feltanything butconfident and steady.
Nessa gasped and jumped off Callum’s lap like she’d been scalded, her eyes wide.
“Evie! Fuck, I’m so sorry!” She said in a rush, her hands fluttering at her sides. “What do you mean about last night? Are you two seeing each other? I didn’t know it was likethat. He didn’t tell me, I swear!”
I don’t even look her way, keeping my eyes on Callum. He looked dazed and disheveled. His dark brown hair was wild, like Nessa had been grabbing it, and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned. His icy blue eyes were slightly unfocused, but when they finally latched onto mine, they went wide with surprise. But the reaction was delayed, slower than you’d expect from someone who had professed his love to mejustthe night before. He just sat there staring at me like he hadn’t justcompletely shattered my very existence, then started glancing back and forth between me and Nessa quickly.
“Eve! It’s not what it looks like. I…”
But I didn’t even let him finish. I turned and ran down the hall, down the stairs, weaving in between the people standing around, and I swore I heard the sounds of someone fumbling down the stairs behind me. I didn’t look back. Ronan was turned in my direction as I made my way to the open front door. I felt a surge of anger knowing he knew what was happening and didn’t tell me. He was supposed to be my brother, my best friend.
“Evie, what’s goi…” Ronan asked, but I dashed through the front door before he could finish the question.
There were other classmates scattered in the front yard, but I didn’t give them so much as a second glance. I only had one mission at that moment.Get out. I saw the gates at the end of the driveway open for a car pulling in. I pumped my legs faster, wanting to dash out of the gate before it closed again, and I felt a brief rush of gratitude that I’d worn Vans tonight and not my heels.
Running down the sidewalk at full speed, I cut the corner too quickly and snagged my dress on a holly bush, the delicate pink lace on the hem pulling away with a ripping sound. I stopped, my chest burning and heaving. The lace hung on the bush and blew slightly in the night breeze. I watched it for a moment, the weight of what I’d just witnessed crashing down on me. It was surreal. Unbelievable. I ran my hands through my hair as a ragged sob escaped me. In that moment, I decided I’d burn that fucking dress as soon as I got my hands on some matches.It was Callum’s favorite. All the more reason. Better to rid myself of it than to keep something that would tie me to this terrible night, and tohim.
Suddenly, my phone began to ring, and I ignored it.
I knew exactly who it was.
Callum, then Nessa, then Callum again. Everyone had their own assigned ringtones. After a brief moment of hesitation, I turned it off. Orin would probably chew me out for going dark, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t speak to anyone in that moment. It felt like my chest was caving in. My thoughts were racing. I couldn’t understand how I’d missed it, how I’d missed the signs. Hepromisedhe loved me. Guess he was full of shit.
I glanced once more at the pink lace on the holly bush, then took off once more down the sidewalk. I cried, ran, and cried more. No traffic this time of night, so I never checked up. I ran past neighborhoods filled with cookie-cutter houses, I ran past the lake, I ran past the high school, I ran and ran, and my feet carried me all the way home without faltering.
Nine miles.
Numb.
Empty
But once I stopped running, no more tears fell.
The two people I held closest in life had just betrayed me. And I just felt empty, like that nine-mile run had purged all the emotions.
But it didn’t make sense. As I stood beside the gate to my father’s estate, trying to pull myself together, questions bombarded me. Why would he say he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with mejust last nightif he didn’t mean it? If he was just going to fuck me over the very next day? Who does that? I love him…lovedhim, rather. Had loved him my entire life. What a waste. Not to mention Nessa’s betrayal. She was my best friend andmy cousin. Family doesn’t betray family, especially in my world. Nothing about this made any sense.
Suddenly, Orin, my bodyguard, pulled up to the curb beside me in his blacked-out SUV. I should have known I hadn’t been alone on my run home. He was always there.
Always just far enough to give the illusion of freedom. But that’s all it was. An illusion.
Orin was the son of one of my father’s most dedicated men, Oisín, and had been with me for years, watching, protecting, and defending when necessary. Most of the time, I was thankful to have him. I was an only child, and he was the closest thing I had to a sibling. He was only five years older than me, so we could relate to each other and talk to each other. But right now, I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to be alone.
He stepped out of the SUV and glanced up and down the street. His dark brown hair was pulled back in a bun, andhis tight black t-shirt looked like it would rip if he flexed too hard. The tattoos stretching down his muscular arms seemed to ripple as he moved toward me, a look of concern on his face. I just looked back at him blankly, still trying to catch my breath.
