I brush past John and don’t look back at any of them. Not as the garage door opens. Not as I pull out onto the highway. And not as I drive down the long, dark road toward the laundromat.
It crosses my mind to just sayfuck themand leave town, but I’m tired of running from my past. I don’t want to run from them too.
It’s time to face my problems.
I pull up to the laundromat, which is eerily surrounded by nothing but farmland, much like the diner. It’s an older building with a flat roof. Windows make up most of the walls, and there’s a minty?-green glow from the tiles. Lines of washing machinesand dryers make up the aisles inside with a few of those old-timey metal laundry carts I remember playing in as a kid.
Two a.m., and there’s not a car in sight. Not a soul inside that I can see.
My fingernails curl into my palms as I get the courage to step out of the car and head inside. A small bell dings over the door, and elevator music plays in the background.
The intimate sensation that I’m being watched sends chills up my spine. It’s terribly bright in here, and I can’t see a thing outside with how dark it is. I swallow nervously and walk slowly around the aisles. I’m the only one here.
Ten minutes pass by agonizingly slow. I sit between the washers and dryers, shielded from the windows. I know the Icarus Squad is out there somewhere waiting for Callum to show up. I can’t stand the idea of their eyes on me. At least I’m shielded from that much for the time being.
I go over what I’m supposed to do once Callum shows up and try not to think about the fallout with Icarus.
A soft clicking interrupts the elevator music and draws my attention. I shift to my feet and stand slowly. There in front me, like a ghost from my past, is Callum. Or perhaps I’m the ghost, since he thought I was dead.
His dark hair is now shaved on the sides and tapered on top. He’s not the man I once loved. The eyes that take me in are only that of the man who thought he finished me off and left me to rot, not the Callum I let into my life for an entire year.
Neither of us utters a word. We stare at each other with bitter expressions. His hands are tucked into his black trench coat pockets. He takes me in and looks me over like he’s still making sure I’m real.
“Chloe.” He says my name as if it’s something lovely. “You know, I brought flowers to your grave every week, only to findout you were never ?in it.” His voice wraps around me like a viper. Smooth and filled with dark intent.
I steel my heart. “Sorry to disappoint you.” I keep my tone even.
His brows soften, and he takes a step closer.
It takes everything in me to stay where I am.
“Disappointed? Chloe, I’ve died every day since I thought I killed you. I yearned to pull you from the earth, rotted or not, and hold you again.” He closes the distance between us and gently swipes my hair back from my face.
He was always a master manipulator. A wordsmith who was all too easy to fall for. He knows how handsome he is. And he knows how dearly I once loved him.
“You did kill me,” I whisper, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. “You killed me in every way a person can be killed. Chloe is dead.”
He seems stunned for all but a moment before his lips curl into a dark smile. “Yes, you go by Briar now.” He lowers to one knee and presses a kiss to the back of my hand. He looks up at me, hope flickering across his eyes. “And what a rebirth you’ve undergone. I barely recognize you.”
My heart twists, and I try to keep my expression free of the pain that moves through me. I loved him thoroughly. As no one ever should, only to be left for dead. I force a tight smile.
“You look well too.” I manage to get the words out without spite stinging my tongue. “Mind telling me why you had to burn my farm down to deliver your note?”
Callum stands and grins like it’s some silly prank he pulled. “Because any trace of the Dark Forces is going to be scrubbed clean from Bane Falls. That little group you’ve been entertaining has been pretty crafty keeping their presence known as the town’s bad boys. Grahm had no clue that they were secret soldiers until you came along.”
“What have you gotten yourself into, Callum?” I whisper.
A wicked smile spreads across his lips. “You mean what have Ibuilt. I’d love to show you, Chloe.” His tone is as endearing as ever. I’d be an utter fool to fall for his antics again.
I just had to get him alone. I anxiously look toward the windows.Where are they?
“Come.” Callum grabs my hand and pulls me toward a back panel in the wall. A secret door? We move through it, and the door closes behind us so seamlessly that no light seeps through the cracks. We’re cast into the dark for only a few seconds as stair lights flicker on and dimly light the space leading down.
“Where are we going?” My palms are clammy, and my instincts tell me to do anything but follow him underground.
“No one conducts business aboveground anymore. It’s not practical.” He chuckles at my question. “And once you enter the dark, you can never return to a life of mindless pleasures. Not once you see the ugly underbelly of what those pleasures cost. You entered this world the moment I got that phone call all those months ago.”
Callum leads me slowly down the stairs until we reach a cement platform at the bottom. He glances at me, and regret moves over his features. Now that we aren’t in the harsh glare of the laundromat’s fluorescent lights, I can see how worn out he looks. The shadows always pulled at his eyes more than most.
