“Mr. Gerard is here to see you.”
I square my shoulders. I can’t talk. I can only nod.
The door stands open. I hold my breath.
Thayer steps in. I blink in surprise.
“Thayer,” I say in a hoarse voice.
“Hey. Lyam told me you were here.” He goes on and says something about the snakes and Savannah and Avril, but I don’t hear a word he says because… he isn’t Lyam.
I told myself I could leave him. I told myself I could run away and hide and save myself, but for that one brief moment when I thought Lyam was coming, I can't deny that I was hopeful. I wanted to see him. Even if he was angry and cruel and distant, I wanted to see him.
My heart sinks.
The Gerard brothers look so much alike that from a distance, I thought it was him.
I look down and realize that the thing Thayer’s carrying is actually a pet carrier. Princess, Lyam’s ball python, is curled up fast asleep.
I open the cage and stroke the large, gentle creature. I never liked snakes before Lyam, but Princess is tame. And right now, there’s something about her that makes me feel closer to him. Most people can’t train snakes, but Lyam has taught this one literally to eat out of the palm of his hand.
“She ate an enormous breakfast and is set for the next week,” Thayer mutters. “She’s tired. Now, I don’t know when Lyam’s coming, so I figured he was here with you. Where is he? I need to talk to him.”
I blink in surprise and stare at him. They never lose touch with each other, not ever.
“What do you mean you haven’t talked to him? Thayer, he isn’t here.”
Thayer stares at me for a minute, uncomprehending. “What do you mean?”
“How else do I sayhe’s not here?”
Thayer’s face goes dark as he processes what I’m telling him. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“It was two days ago. My God, Thayer, this isn’t good. I haven’t seen him and you haven’t seen him?—”
Thayer turns to me, as stern as I’ve ever seen him. “Tell me the truth, Cosette,” he snaps.
“What?”
“Did you two have a fight?”
“Yeah. Somehow, he thinks I’ve betrayed you guys. Imagine that. You told him Montague was my father, and he thinks I betrayed you.”
“Jesus.” Thayer scrubs a hand across his face. He looks older, as if he hasn’t slept in days. “This is not good.Okay, so you saw him two days ago.”
“Yep. Right before I was escorted here. He said he’d come back that night, but he never did.”
Thayer throws his hands up in the air. “And you didn’t think to tell me that?”
I throwmyhands up in the air. “Why would I think to tell you that? We left on bad terms. He was pissed at me. I needed to figure my shit out. He got it in his head that I was somehow in league with Montague which, I’ll have you know, is patently false. I figured he didn’t come to me because he was angry with me.”
Thayer’s eyes narrow. “Is it like Lyam to go back on his word?”
I shake my head, panic rising. “Absolutely not.” Angry or not, furious with me, whatever he is, he isn’t one to ever not do whathe says he will. He hates the concept of being unreliable and means what he says. It’s one of the scariest things about him. “So where the hell is he, then?”
Thayer takes a menacing step toward me. “If you had anything to do with this… I’m telling you right now, Cosette, if you worked with your father?—”
Something inside me snaps. I could slap him silly right now. “Oh fuckoff!No! I’ve never talked to my father, and now all of a sudden, just because he decides he wants to get on your ass, I’m suspected to be in cahoots with him? No. Fuckallthe way off,Thayer. My man is missing, and after what he went through when he was taken hostage before, I amnotletting you start putting false blame on anyone and wasting any more goddamn time. Now are you going to find Lyam, or do I have to call in favors myself?” I’m shaking, my hands on my hips as I glare at him, daring him to take me on.
