‘Fine,’ I say, ignoring him when his eyes find mine. ‘Hey, were you able to get into the folder on that flash drive I gave you?’
An odd expression takes over his face for a moment and I frown at him. ‘You forgot about it.’
‘No, I, uh, I'm still trying to get it open. I should have something soon.’
Is he lying to me?
He doesn’t say anything else and I move away, my mind reeling, only to be captured by Shade who takes me to the couch. He sits down and puts me onto his lap.
'We need to talk,' he says.
I blink at him, not liking the tone or the words at all. Are they breaking up with me? Do they want me to leave? Are they going to leave?
‘About what?’
'We think you need to talk about what happened at The Heath.'
I wrinkle my nose, very annoyed all of a sudden that they seem to barely speak to me, but they’re clearly talking to each otheraboutme.
'It doesn't have to be with us,' Shade says, incorrectly guessing the reason I’m bothered. 'It could be with a therapist.'
'No, thank you,’ I mutter.
'Would you be comfortable talking to us?' Mav asks, taking my hand in his.
I lean back against Shade, letting out a long breath as I look up at him, allowing myself to pretend just for a moment that things are normal between us all.
Except for Blake. The liar is on the other side of the room, I notice, like a voyeur even in his own life right now.
'What is there to say?' I ask, pushing Blake out of my head. 'Stoke’s techniques are barbaric. Torturous. I probably have PTSD from it.' I shrug. 'But that's something I'll just have to deal with in time. We already talked about this.'
'How often were you locked down in those cells?' Blakeasks from the wall like he cares and ignoring my last words on the subject.
'Only twice,' I say, keeping my reply, matter of fact. 'Once when I was about fourteen and the last time... I don't think there's any reason to talk about it,' I sayagain. 'It just goes around in circles. I’d rather just move on.'
Shade and the others share a look and I force my lip not to curl up as I’m locked out in yet another way. Instead, I get up from Shade’s lap, standing back on my own two feet.
'Tell us what will help,’ Shade says.
I regard him stonily and give Blake a pointed look. 'I told you. Taking them down. I want The Heath destroyed, and I want to be the one to do it if possible. I want Stoke to be fired and never allowed to work with children or vulnerable people again. That's the least he deserves. I want them to go to jail for what they've done.'
'We can help you do that,' Mav says just as he did before.
I barely stop the scoff that I want to release, my mood spiraling. It’s been weeks since my return. Will their help be like Blakes, I wonder? Will they forget about important things and then lie to my face?
'Good,’ I say instead, stepping away from them, wanting space and yet wishing they’d hold me, that things weren’twrongbetween us. 'What happened, happened. I just need to find a way to balance the scales.'
'And that will make you okay?' Blake asks dubiously.
I raise my brows. 'I think so,' I say. My lip quirks upwards. It’s forced, but I doubt they notice.
'Perhaps I'm just a simple creature. I just want revenge.'
Blake's answering wicked grin makes my false smile widen, and I decide that if they won’t hold me, I’ll just make them. I know enough to seduce them. It won’t be pretty orpracticed, but maybe if we’re alltogether, we’ll all feel better.
In one swift move, I have my sweater over my head, and my T-shirt underneath follows, dropping to the floor. A moment later, I meet all their eyes and turn around to go to the bedroom, looking back over my shoulder with what I hope is an enticing expression, but they're already following. I knew they would.
'What is it that you want?' Shade asks, kissing my shoulder and up my neck.
