They need to understand that I can’t go back there. “After everything, you’re going to tell me that Bellthorn is the right place for me?” I demand.
“It’s safe for now.” Lex’s voice sounds far away, with Hadrian and Soren staring each other down a little too passionately.Damn, should I be jealous?
“Please.” I roll my eyes toward Lex, but I won’t dare move from my spot between these two. “They almost killed me, ordid you forget about that? Do we even know what could have happened to me if you weren’t there?”
The reminder of my almost drowning has the desired effect, and Lex’s features morph with anger.Good.Now we’re all pissed.
“It won’t happen again.” He’s so solemn that he’s hard to doubt, but more than fear prevents me from wanting to return. I’m not the same Sable. My uncle is dead because of me, and I’m more of a caged animal than anything after the past month. Fitting in there was impossible before, but now? I laugh at the thought.
“If it happened there before, it can happen again. Frankly, I’m tired of nearly dying on a quarterly basis.”
Hadrian chuckles darkly. “What’s a better timeline for you, Miss Briarwick? Yearly?” He always gets my jokes, and my shoulders relax a little with the familiarity.
“How about just the once, at the end next time?”
“Then let us take you to Bellthorn, where we can keep you safe. We have far more control at that school than we do anywhere else,” Lex says.
I want to trust them with my safety, and in a way, I do. They saved me back there, not only finding me but dealing with Uncle Carl when I couldn’t. In my hurry to leave Bellthorn, I got into that car without thinking it through.
Uncle Carl was never trustworthy, and I should have asked why he was near the school before ever leaving with him. The guilt of my own carelessness ate me alive while I was gone. If it weren’t for Hadrian and fucking Soren, I’d still be paralyzed over his body or possibly in jail. Damn, I owe my freedom to Liliana as well, but I don’t want to think about that when I haven’t even swallowed the fact that her damn name isNina.
Lex breathes out, taking me away from my thoughts. “Bellthorn is the safest place because we have resources outsidethe ones directly controlled by our parents. That school is a labyrinth, and we know it like the back of our hands.”
“Our parents can shut off the cards in our names if they try hard enough.” Hadrian reminds everyone. “If they think we’re playing along, they won’t have a reason to.”
I shake my head at them. This isn’t a good enough reason to go back. “Sorry to break it to you, but people survive without fortunes. All the time.”
“But you don’t need to,” Hadrian says quietly. “And we can keep you safer with one.”
“Your uncle is dead, Sable.” Soren has contributed so much insanity to this conversation that I don’t take him seriously at first.
“So what?” Hadrian says like he’s ready to fight again.
“Who do you think they’re going to suspect?” Lex says, eyes lighting as he continues Soren’s train of thought. “You don’t think they’re going to ask questions of his only living relative?”
“I mean, no, I hadn’t thought about it,” I admit, looking at all three of them with an entirely new fear in mind. I might have to pay for what I did to Uncle Carl after all.
“What are you suggesting?” Hadrian asks.
“Come on. Isn’t it better if she’s at school and unaware when they let her know no one can find your uncle? Or would you rather have her randomly drop for the semester and be on the run?” Lex says.
The argument is too rational, and I wave it away. “I was missing from Bellthorn for a month.”
“No one knows that,” Soren says, his cheeks burning, and I wonder what part of this he’s most embarrassed by. My eyes roll over his face as I remember that day, and a chill follows over my skin. I left, but we didn’t make a scene, and if they hid my absence…
“It’s not just for the fact you’ll look less guilty,” Lex sighs. It’s also a controlled environment, Sable. You know we do whatever we want in that school, you’ve seen it firsthand.”
An ugly curse is stuck in my throat, but instead, what comes out is a groan of frustration. Why is it that every time I’m desperate, Bellthorn is the only solution? My nails sink through my hair as I try to calm myself down.
How does this keep happening?
“I promise I won’t be in your way,” Soren says, his words stabbing me right in the heart. As if I’m not already bleeding right there, Soren continues. “You don’t need to ever look at me again, I promise.”
Beg for me!I nearly scream. It’s his promise that breaks me. The words squeeze my throat, and for a second, I can’t breathe. I wish he’d just apologize, I don’t want his silence or absence, but this is all that he offers me. This is the argument that works because I’m so wrung out from the pain that I don’t have it in me to fight anymore. Where else am I going to go anyway if they want to stop me? Didn’t I learn from my uncle that if someone wants to hold me prisoner badly enough, they’ll find a way? With a small smile, I realize what else I learned. If pushed hard enough, Sable Briarwick pushes back.
“Okay,” I agree in defeat.
They breathe a collective sigh of relief, clearly satisfied with themselves, but I can’t relax. Not when I just agreed to go back to that hell. Soren is the only one who doesn’t seem pleased. His eyes are far away, maybe in the future at Bellthorn, where he fulfills his promise to stay away from me. Is that what he really wants?
