Deric, Tara, and Viv all drink immediately, but I see the hesitation in Eve’s.Is she going to lie? What will I do if she does?
It takes a moment but eventually, her drink comes up to her mouth and she takes a large swig before bringing it back down.
Wylder looks over at her from the corner of his eye before clearing his throat, “Never have I ever woke up naked at the aquarium.”
Deric groans and takes a drink, shaking his head as he brings his cup down. “One time man, in college.”
Tara hides her snort behind her hand, “I totally forgot about that story. How did you even – “
“Never have I ever killed someone.”
Eve’s voice is as cold as her eyes when I look over at her, her stare shooting straight through my soul. I can’t tell if she’s asking because of the case…or because she knows something she shouldn’t.
“Damn girl, way to ruin the vibe.” Tara snorts and keeps talking to Deric about his time in the aquarium, but I watch as Wylder takes a large drink from his cup,his eyes daring me to do the same.
I look back at her. Eve. The little moth who sits on the other side of the fire because she knows if she got too close, she would love nothing more than to fall into my darkness.
My hand raises my cup to my lips and I take a sip, lowering it just in time to see her finishing off her drink, and tossing her cup into the fire.
Chapter 12
Eve
Age 19 – Graduation Day
Mother Laney looks down at me with tears in her eyes, her voice soft as she repeats the same two words that had me shaking in my graduation gown and collapsing to the floor.
“He’s gone.”
I shake my head, tears streaming down my face as I look up at the house mother. “He wouldn’t leave me here.”
She sighs as she drops down to her knees in front of me. “I know it’s hard to understand, but you’ve relied on Kortez for too long. It’s a good thing he decided to go off on his own, Evangeline.”
My head shakes of its own volition, my long blonde hair falling out of its clip and into my face. “He wouldn’t.”
“Evangeline – “
“He wouldn’t leave me!”
Her face goes slack with shock as I stand, wipingthe tears from my eyes with a harsh swipe from the back of my arm. “I’m going to prove it to you.”
I turn, racing out into the fading sun where Atlas’s black Maserati shines like new from across the street. I drove it to graduation and back, wondering the whole time why he hadn’t texted me and why Kortez didn’t wake me up with a knock and a smile like he usually does.
Today is supposed to be the last day of this life. It’s supposed to be the first day of our new one – together.
Instead, all my calls went to voicemail, all of my texts left on delivered. For both of them.
It doesn’t make any sense.
I came to the realization in the middle of walking across the stage that Kor probably looked for Atlas last night to raise hell about the proposal and…and my virginity. Then the question came…if Kor did go raise hell, would Atlas let him live?
I’m not so naive that I don’t know Atlas is into some shady stuff.
There’s no doubt he’s got blood on his hands; I just didn’t care because he used the memory of the blood on his fingertips to anoint me in his own personal brand of violence. He showed me the misfit that he was and dared me to love him anyway. He marked me as deep as my soul so that I could never enter the daylight again without craving the dark.
I knew all this.
But did Kor? Or did I let him walk into a situation he wasn’t prepared for?
