Page 30 of Lethal Truths

“I hear you don’t like cars,” Heather says, startling me and stepping in front of me before I can get even halfway to the front door. I blink at her, getting shivers as a slow sharp smile spreads across her face.

“You heard wrong. You don’t know a thing about me,” I reply dryly, injecting false confidence into my tone. Meanwhile, every internal alarm in my body is blaring because this is very likely the bitch who set up my attack on Fright Night.

“Oh, I know all about you, Prudence Cate.” Heather tilts her head to the side, studying me, her soulless brown eyes sending a shiver through me. “I’ve tried to be good. I forced myself to sit back and let the others handle you for as long as I could. But for some reason, you’re still here. And unfortunately, there’s only so long I’m willing to leave my fate in the hands of stupid boys.”

Something sinister flashes in her eyes, and I stumble back a step. Frantically, I glance around for help, and I could just about cry when I realize that there are no other students walking by anymore. “Right, well, this was so much fun,” I say sweetly, just the barest hint of sarcasm in my tone. “But I need to leave before your presence kills off any of my brain cells.”

With a biting smile, I try to edge around her, but then Heather casually says, “Grab her.”

Before I can even take a breath to let loose a scream, a strong hand clamps over my mouth and another curls around my abdomen, fingers digging in painfully. I thrash and kick, but all that does is piss off the guy holding onto me. He snaps a winded curse, and a second later he’s shoving some kind of cloth into my mouth, lifting me off the ground, and then tossing me into the backseat of the red Suburban that’s idling by the curb. I slide across the seats and grab the handle on the other door, desperately yanking on it, but no matter how hard I try, the door doesn’t open. The guy climbs in after me, and I turn to pounce but stop short when I meet chillingly familiar dark eyes.

“What the hell is going on?” I rasp, feeling seconds away from puking. I fucked myself over and now I’m paying for it. Years of avoiding cars, of being too scared to ride in one since the crash, and now my fears are way out of control. It takes every last shred of willpower I have to stop myself from hyperventilating.

My attacker doesn’t answer me, simply drags his sleazy gaze over my body while Heather climbs into the driver’s seat and peels away from the curb. An hour ago, I thought my day couldn’t get much worse. Well, look at me now, fighting for my sanity in a car, staring into Mark’s eyes while Heather drives me to god-knows-where, likely for a repeat of Fright Night. Only I have the distinct impression that they won’t let me walk away this time.

“What’s your plan, Heather?” I ask as she takes a sharp turn and heads away from Greek Row. “Kill me? Bury my body in the woods? Then what?” I blow out a dry laugh, trying like hell to keep a tight lid on my rising panic. “Is murder seriously worth some extra cash in the bank? It’ll be blood money, I hope you remember that. For the rest of your miserable fucking life, every time you spend a penny of what they give you, you’ll be thinking of me; the girl who allowed you such luxuries,” I rant, fury and urgency causing me to trip over my words.

Heather grits her teeth, briefly flicking her gaze at me in the rearview mirror. “Would you shut her up, or do I literally have to do everything my-fucking-self?” she snaps at Mark.

His nostrils flare a second before he lurches toward me, clammy hands reaching out. I shove myself against the door at my back and kick out with my foot, aiming for his face, but Heather jerks the car to the right and I damn near roll off the backseat. Mark shoves my legs down and leans over me, effectively pinning my body to the leather beneath me. He uses his weight to hold me still while his hands grope and explore, all the while his hungry, disgusting gaze stays locked on my face.

“Get off me!” I scream, battling tears as memories of Fright Night rush to the surface of my mind. “You sick, abusive son of a bitch! I hope your tiny fucking dick rots off!” I punctuate my words by spitting at Mark, smirking in wicked glee when a glob of saliva lands on his cheek.

He freezes, lifting his right hand to wipe his face dry. The smile that spreads across his tanned face is haunting. “I’m going to enjoy making you regret that,” he whispers before rearing back and head-butting me so hard that I lose consciousness almost instantly.

20

Creed

Spending hours of my day with Bruce fucking Malcom is not my idea of a good time any day, but today it left a particularly sour taste in my mouth. I hate not knowing where my sweet Ember is. How she’s doing or if she’s safe. My thoughts have been clouded by horrific scenarios where she’s left unprotected and suffers greatly because of it.

Griffin said he had some freshman watching her, but I don’t trust anyone except the two of us to ensure her safety. To say I’m barely holding it together is a gross understatement.

Once Bruce finally leaves, I’m already about ready to burst out of my skin. Griffin and I make eye contact across Asher’s sorry state. Griff looks just as anxious as I feel, but I can tell Asher needs someone right now, too. With a subtle nod toward my cousin, I silently tell Griff to stay with him and I’ll go out to find Prudence. She’s probably fine, anyway, and I’m just overreacting. That’s what I’ll tell myself, at least until I get my goddamn eyes on my girl.

If Bruce showing up here in the middle of the night tells me anything, it’s that The Celestials are getting impatient. He was sent here to put some pressure on us, to force our hands in hopes that we’ll stop twiddling our thumbs and end Prudence. If they feel like his efforts were wasted and we’re still not cooperating, they’ll get her taken care of themselves. And fast.

That means Prudence isn’t safe. Not like she ever truly was with the three of us and Heather trying to make her miserable and flush out a weak spot, but now the threat is beyond serious. She can’t stay here at Blackwood any longer, and I refuse to part from her.

Looks like we’re going for a road trip without an end in sight.

I push up from the couch once Griffin nods to me, telling me to go. I don’t bother going upstairs to get my phone or backpack or anything because I don’t plan on going to class. My one goal is grabbing Prudence and dragging her back here so we can pack and get gone before it’s too late.

Just before I reach the front door, it bangs open, and a small, black-haired girl almost slams right into my chest. She’s familiar, but in my panicked mind, it takes a moment too long to recognize her as Annie, Prudence’s roommate. She’s pale and panting, her dark eyes wide as she stumbles to a stop before me.

“Creed, thank god,” she breathes out, putting her hand over her heart as if she’s willing the organ to settle. “Heather and M-Mark, they— Prudence. They just t-took her right off the sidewalk! I saw it through our window, but I c-couldn’t get outside in time,” she blurts out through an onslaught of tears, her entire petite body shaking like a damn leaf.

In seconds, Griffin and Asher are beside me, and I don’t doubt that the three of us right now are a terrifying sight.

With a deathly kind of calm, I tilt my head and peer past Annie into the street behind her. The Alpha Chi Omega house is right across the street. Prudence would have been right fucking there when she was taken. So close, and yet I couldn’t do a thing about it.

I failed her.

I sink into that colorless void, like a boulder in the ocean. Everything around me fades into shades of black, white, and gray, and without my Ember to bring me back, the only color I’ll see is the crimson of blood as I spill it.

“Hi, Mark,” I say, pushing off the brick wall of Lunar Hall as he passes me by. I’ve been waiting for him for half an hour. Annie told me where I could most likely find him, and I took the leap, hoping he wasn’t still off somewhere with Heather.

He does a double-take at me, his eyes widening a fraction before he cools his expression and squares his shoulders. “Hey, man,” he replies casually, as if I haven’t threatened him with unimaginable pain before. As if he doesn’t realize I’m about to deliver on that threat right now.

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