Telling the sheriff and his deputies where the bodies are buried is a risky move, but it’s the only play we have left. They just have to trust melike I trusted themwhen I decided to stay.
“Is this true?” The sheriff’s hopeful eyes bounce from Khalil to Zeke and then Thorin, waiting for one of them to confirm. I stop breathing when the crucial seconds that the sheriff’s gullibility will last stretch and thin until his bushy brows are furrowing once more and I see doubt start to creep back in.
What the fuck?
I can’t stop myself from searching them out this time, uncaring if it unravels my carefully fabricated lie. Why aren’t they answering? The goal post isright there.
Thorin’s shoulders are bowed, his gaze pinned to the floor so I can’t see what he’s thinking, but he must feel my attention because he suddenly looks up and…I stumble back a step, colliding with Khalil’s chest at the sheer amount of regret swimming in his pale blue eyes.
It hasn’t escaped my notice that they’ve been silent this entire time, but I just assumed they were following my lead for once.
But now…
Following a hunch, I glance behind me to see a tight jaw and brown eyes staring at nothing. Khalil feels me watching, his gaze dropping to mine, and he sucks in a sharp breath that expands his chest. The sorrow and apology in his eyes make my heart pound, and I know immediately that it isn’t for the mistakes he made in the past but for the one he’s about to make right now.
Khalil isbreaking.
He’s going to tell the sheriff what really happened.
He’s going to tell himeverything.
And all because he chooses now to wish he’d played the hero.
I’m not sure if it’s desperation or instinct that makes me turn to my most unlikely ally for help.
Zeke.
He’s leaning now against the wall between the kitchen and stairs with his foot propped up and his arms crossed. He seems perfectly content to let this life we’ve only begun to build crumble around us, and while it’s no secret he wants me gone, I have to believe he doesn’t feel the same about Thorin and Khalil.
Our eyes barely meet because he’s already speaking, turning his head to address the sheriff before I can even figure out what to say to him.
“It’s true,” he says before Khalil can damn us all. Even though I’d hoped he would, it still shocks the fuck out of me that he’s going along with my story.
“I see.” The sheriff nods once, seemingly satisfied, and plops his hat back on his head before giving us all a hard look. “But until I can investigate the site and verify your claims, I’m going to need the four of you to come with me.”
Fuck!
KHALIL
After showing Sheriff Kelly the site where the bodies are buried, he ordered an excavation team up to our mountain to find them before marching the four of us into Hearth. The moment we reached the station, he threw Thorin, Zeke, and me in a holding cell together with a great amount of pleasure before escorting Aurelia into an interrogation room where they could talk.
That was an hour ago.
Obviously, he wants to see if her story will change now that she’s safely out of our reach. Ironically, Zeke, the only one of us who isn’t guilty, hasn’t stopped pacing since she disappeared.
“That was pretty fucking brilliant,” Zeke grumbles.
“What was?” I ask, even though I don’t care.
“That bullshit story Aurelia told the sheriff. I never pegged us for the heroic types. Did you?”
Thorin winces, and I know I’m not alone in my guilt. I’ve been slowly drowning in it ever since Aurelia clawed her way into my heart, but it’s been a hundred-foot wave battering me without a moment’s reprieve ever since she stood in front of the sheriff—the one person who could rescue her—and chose to cover our sorry asses instead.
I guess that makes her our island—our only refuge in this storm we created.
But what if that means sinking herself in the process?
I can’t let that happen. Iwon’t.
