Page 201 of The Unravelings

“God, you’re so light,” I tease, sucking in a breath of fresh air and taking it into my lungs.

“Again with the judgment,” he snarks back. “I didn’t destroy anything you’re trying to imply, anyway,” he says in an even tone that shows no hint of deception.

“Are you sure about that? You were caught on camera doing it all. You should confess now, and I’ll go easy on you,” I lie my ass off, trying to catch the little fucker up in a lie. I swear to God, I saw Oliver coming out of the woods. But he’s adamantly denying the fact that he did anything to the grave or the treehouse.

Oliver sighs heavily. “I didn’t,” he says through a wheeze again. “I swear, I didn’t do anything to your treehouse or the gravestone. Or anything else you want to accuse me of.”

I roll my eyes and don’t say anything else. “Well, when you crawl out of the darkness with your worst fears realized, you can come to me on your knees and tell me everything you did,” I huff, walking into the graveyard with careful steps. “See ya tomorrow, Livy,” I murmur to her headstone as I pass by. Oliver stiffens on my shoulder at my words.

“Who is Livy?” he presses in a deeper voice, cracking with a slight emotion.

“No one you need to concern yourself with,” I grit out, hauling him from my shoulder and throwing him into the dirt near the mausoleum.

“Dude,” JJ growls, looking between Oliver and me with a tight expression.

“He’s fine. He’s tough. Aren’t you, OliPop?” I say, reaching and pulling Oliver to his feet. I grin when he grumbles at me under his breath.

“All right, fuckers!” I say, coming to stand by JJ and Hux, who watch me with narrowed eyes. “Let the fun begin.”

55

Olivia

Let the fun begin?

He’s got to be joking. There’s nothing about getting tied up and a dark bag thrown over your head that shouts good time. I mean, unless you’re into that sort of thing. Then you do you. But for me right now, that’s a big, fat nope. Oh, and sprinkle in a little kidnapping from the safety of my dorm for funsies. Even though I knew it was coming. It’s a recipe for terrible all over. Fucking torture. If only I could scratch my nose or see where we were going. But no. I can’t. Because I’ve been kidnapped by my ex-boyfriend, who doesn’t know it’s me.

This is wonderful.

The only saving grace is that he hasn’t resorted to violence. Yet. So, there’s that. I guess if you don’t count him sitting on my chest until I couldn’t breathe as he tried to pry answers out of me, as not violent. But hey, at least he hasn’t thrown his fist at me. Yet. This is dumb. I’m playing with fire. Why didn’t I question JJ more? Why didn’t I sit him down and force him to give me a play-by-play on what was going to happen tonight? The only thing I was able to get out of him was that someone was going to fake kidnap me and bring me to the caves. That’s it. Nothing more. He kept his lips sealed. Bastard.

This town really has rattled my thought process because Agent Seven would never go into anything like this without knowing every angle first.

Anxiety creeps like vines constricting over my lungs. I suck in several breaths, trying to push the anxiety attack away. My chest squeezes. Sweat drips from every surface on my body.

I’m okay. I’m fine. I’m not being held down. No one is going to cut my neck. Or try to burn me alive. I’m as safe as I’m going to be in Mack’s clutches. I’m not that girl lying on the ground begging for her life. I’m here and in the present. In the present, that consists of Macklyn grabbing me by my upper arm and shoving me forward as if he were about to throw me off the plank. Wait. He wouldn’t do that, would he? Throw me off a rugged path into a deep, forbidden part of this cave? He wouldn’t truly hurt a recruit, right? I’m sure Franco would have something to say about that. And, damn. That’s an odd thought. Franco might be saving my ass from getting seriously injured, but that’s about it.

“So, you still don’t want to confess?” Mack’s voice echoes through the caves as he marches me forward into the darkness, cutting through my spiraling thoughts.

I mean, I’m sure he can see. But me? I’m blindfolded by a black bag over my head that doesn’t give me a clue as to where I am. Or how close to the edge I might be. There are so many possibilities in these caves. Dangers are waiting around every corner. As kids, we used flashlights and made our way through the system with only scrapes and bruises. Now? Well, I’m sure he could throw me away, and no one would find me for a long time.

Not even JJ.

To ease the anxiety rising inside me from my impending death, I count our steps as we move through the various turns, downhill falls, and uphill climbs. Still, I’m certain I know where we are. Maybe. Or maybe I won’t have a clue when he takes the bag off my head and leaves me to die here. The caves were a place we explored a few times as kids. We almost dedicated it as our new hideout, but it was too far away from our homes. Too deep. Although I did make my way into the caves a time or two to hide from my dad’s fury until he cooled down. It was the only place he didn’t know about. Or if he did, he didn’t come looking for me.

The boys and I had various places we hid from the world. The places that shielded us from the atrocities our families were causing in the community or around the state. The Coliseum served as a playground. Somewhere we could explore and hide away, pretending to be kids for a split second, even though our entire lives had been dedicated to adult activities. The caves were the same. A playground we explored for the treasures left by pirates centuries ago.

We had several places in Greenwood we could run to in our time of need, but there was only one place that was our home together. It may have been small and suspended in the air, but it felt more like a haven than anywhere else.

The treehouse.

Built before we moved in, but always held a special piece of our hearts. We put our blood, sweat, and tears into the framing and fixed it so we could have a safe reprieve to climb into. It was always around when I was a kid. I’m not sure who found it first between Hux, JJ, and Mack. But it was always a place they went to and then showed me.

“There’s nothing to confess,” I say in a monotone, trying to keep the rampant emotions from bubbling up and exposing me.

The last thing I need Mack to get wind of is how hard I’m trying to hold myself together right now. From the moment Mack broke into my room and tied my wrists, my mind has been torturing me. Over and over again, images of that night flash through my brain. My body can’t tell the difference between a not-so-friendly kidnapping and the night I watched my entire world go up in flames after being dragged out of bed by my hair. The way their eager hands held me down on my knees and forced me to watch the murders of my sister and mom. Fuck. I squeeze my eyes shut, swallowing the heavy lump forming in my throat. It’s not happening again. Mack isn’t going to slice you. At least, I don’t think he is.

I grunt, letting out a surprised yelp when Mack roughly throws me down on my ass onto the hard cave floor. Pain explodes through my tailbone, but I bite back the groan trying to escape from my throat. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he hurt me.