The November air flows in immediately. I shiver looking at the parked car. Cody is still asleep. Beckett glances at me. I look to the backseat, unable to tell if he’s there.
"Theo?"
A beat of silence.
It’s too cold, so I step back from the doorway.
I close the door and go back to the kitchen, holding the book.
I sit down.
And I wait.
Chapter 66: Adela
Theonevercomes.
The afternoon bleeds into evening, and evening bleeds into a very dark night over the lake. I’ve reread the last margin note a dozen times, and I’m not proud of that.
I would burn every other thing down before I'd take it back.
I put the book on the nightstand and take a shower. I changed into the pajamas that Beckett had happened to throw in my bag for me.
I am still mad that I’m here.
But I haven’t made an effort to leave either.
I get into bed and look at the string lights strung along the headboard.
It’s late, and I didn’t get any sleep last night. I guess he’s not coming, so I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.
I hear something like footsteps, so I open my eyes.
Three masked figures in black stand over me, and the sound that comes out of me is pure instinct — I scramble back against the headboard, heart slamming, the sleep ripped out of me completely.
Cody –– I’m sure it’s Cody –– grabs my ankle and drags me to the edge of the bed near them.
“What’re you doing?” I scream, not fighting it. My heart races at his touch. The gloves start to warm against my pajama pants. “Cody!” I snap.
“Baby,” he says, and I’m surprised to hear him speak. “Did you make your choice?” His voice is muffled behind the mask as I stare up at it.
“What choice?” I garble out, trying to tug my leg back. I look at the other two masks on either side of him.
He won’t let me go.
Cody says, “You get to choose.”
“Choose what!” I shout, feeling my frustration topple over. They woke me up when I had just fallen asleep, and apparently, I have choices now. They forced me into this lake house, and I don’t feel like anything is a choice right now.
“You have the truth laid out at your feet,” he says, tugging me closer to him. “And I told you earlier today that you have to make a choice, so who do you choose?”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”
He lifts his mask, revealing a filthy grin underneath. “I thought we established that already.”
He pulls my leg up to him, looking at my toes. I know that look. He’s done it before, and I’ve giggled like an idiot. And if he thinks I like that, he’ll…
“Cody, don’t,” I warn, trying to pull away.
