Page 5 of Midnight Waters

Dad’s shoulders sagged.

As the eldest of the two of them, Sandra had spent most of her life bossing Dad around. He had told me more than once that he didn’t quite know what to do if she ever stopped.

“Come on, Dad.” I stood and hooked a hand under his arm. “Let’s get back. There’s nothing more we can do.”

Sandra accompanied us to the sliding doors and gave us all a hug before waving us off across the car park.

“I’ll drive,” I said, holding my hand out for the keys.

Dad slapped them into my hand, every movement looking like a monumental effort.

“Look at this, Ben. Walk of shame if I ever saw one.” A voice I didn’t recognise snatched my attention and I turned around.

Two young men stood several yards away on the pavement, watching us. Or at least, one of them was. The other only looked up from his phone once his associate spoke.

Adrenaline flooded my muscles, and I stiffened. Adrian Everhart sidled off the pavement in our direction, flicking a cigarette between his fingers.

He had shed much of his puppy fat since I had last seen him and grown a good six inches. His jaw and cheekbones had sharpened, but something told me his tongue remained the sharpest thing about him.

“Ade, don’t,” the other Everhart said, the one I knew more about, Ben, Adrian’s older brother and a boy I had gone to school with.

They shared the same jet-black hair and brown eyes, but Ben had a gentler face. His hair had grown out into a tousled undercut since last I saw him.

Ben grabbed Adrian’s arm, but Adrian shook him off.

I squared my shoulders as Isadora hurried toward the car. She never had been one for conflict.

“One of you finally copped it?” Adrian’s pace quickened as Ben swiped at his jacket. “Long overdue if you ask me.”

My fist that held the car keys twitched.

“Get out of here, now,” I said.

“Or what?” Adrian was only a few feet away from me when Ben finally grabbed hold of him and yanked him backward.

“Or I’ll come over there and knock your teeth out,” I snapped.

“Maeve.” Dad placed his hand on my shoulder and steered me toward the car. “Stop.”

“He needs to be knocked down a peg,” I said. “Do you think Keith would stand down if someone said something like that to him?”

“Since when do you take life lessons from Keith?” Dad asked.

He had me there.

London had forced me to develop a hard shell. Part of defending yourself from the aggression of strangers was making them believe you would stand up for yourself if you needed to.

In Dusk, walking away was the only acceptable solution to conflict.

I snorted. How much had the outside world changed me since I left?

Adrian’s taunts echoed around the car park as we got into the car.

When I started the car, I revved the engine and drove out of the car park at a high speed, pressing my middle finger to the window as we passed them.

I glanced into the rearview mirror to see his reaction, but Adrian didn’t even look in our direction. Instead, he focused on Ben who poked him in the chest before spreading his arms wide.

Hah. That dickhead deserved a dressing down.

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