Page 7 of Lethal Truths

The crack in his voice blows me back. I suck in a deep breath, trying to find the lie, searching for the next game he’s throwing me into. But when he raises his eyes to mine, I don’t find anything but a desperation to fit somewhere. And fuck, I know that feeling well.

The hushed confession takes my breath away. I don’t know what the hell to do with this, and it’s all so overwhelming. But one look into Creed’s open, vulnerable gaze, and I shatter for him, putting my pieces in his hands and begging him not to throw me away like so many others have.

Maybe it’s stupid of me, but I didn’t survive that night in the woods for nothing. I need to live for myself and take what I want. Didn’t Creed teach me that himself?

“I’m willing to try,” I murmur. “But if you fuck me over, Creed, I’ll castrate you and make you swallow your balls.”

The vulnerable, soft smile he offers me is everything. “I’d do it myself, Prudence. Happily, if I knew you suffered because of me again,” he says easily, genuinely, like he actually means it… I don’t know if I’m making a colossal mistake or not, but I guess we’ll see.

5

Asher

Dad: A little bird told me the Sexton girl has been hiding out in your house while she recovers from a tragic attack. Quite the story, isn’t it?

That’s the text I wake up to nearly two weeks after Creed decided to drag Prudence’s broken body back to life. I haven’t heard from my dad since before Fright Night. Until right now. Truthfully, I’ve been avoiding him. I didn’t know what the hell to say about any of it.

I lured Prudence out into the forest, hoping to break her mind and will. Not her body. Whoever went in after me went a hell of a lot further than I would have, and something about it hasn’t sat right with me. I’ve had plenty of time to think it all over, and still, I can’t put all the pieces together.

Were The Celestials involved? Had they given someone else instructions about Prudence without filling me in? Or was it just a coincidence that the girl I’m meant to break got so brutally attacked she almost slipped through my fingers before I’d had a chance to make my own move?

Me: Unfortunate, I know. Creed took it upon himself to play the hero. I’ll fix it.

Dad: You better. And if Creed proves to be an issue, you know what to do.

My stomach sours at throwing my cousin under the bus, but Creed’s a loose cannon. He’s always been an asset to The Celestials. He’ll pop off in a second, and when he slips into one of those episodes, no one is left standing in his wake. He’s strong and bloodthirsty, and the Elders have been eager to use that dark need in him.

But nothing is going as planned, and I can’t count on him for this anymore. Seems I’m the last man standing, and Prudence’s fate rests in my hands.

Griffin was the first to veer off. I saw the way he looked at Prudence. I noticed how often he’d leave at night, only to come back smelling of her lavender perfume. But I could never bring myself to say shit to him because… well, out of everyone, he’s the one person I have a soft spot for, I guess. And maybe I’d been a little jealous. I mean, Griffin and I have been best friends for most of our lives, and all of the sudden, he was avoiding me and spending more time with her. I didn’t know what to do about it, so like a coward, I turned a blind eye.

I was confident Creed and I could still ruin Prudence without Griffin’s help, anyway.

Until Creed flipped a goddamn switch. I’m not sure what changed in him, but the second Prudence showed up bleeding out on our porch, I knew. He’d gone rogue. She’d somehow roped another one into her orbit.

She’s awfully manipulative.

Hell, she’s even gotten under my skin. I’m man enough to admit that. She’s a lot stronger than I first gave her credit for, and I can’t deny how enticing it is to go up against someone who gives it right back. She’s been quite the fun plaything, if I’m being honest.

But like everything else, good things must come to an end.

It’s time I get my head on straight. It’s time I complete my initiation.

I’m going to hell.

Prudence sure as shit thinks that’s where I belong. And if she found out what I spent the last hour researching, she’d probably bury a knife in my gut and send me there herself.

She’s not as easy to shatter as I once thought. But she slipped up. She showed me one tiny glimmer of genuine pain the night her mom called and I answered the phone. If I want to get this job done and move on with my life, find another sassy woman to sate my need for a good fight as foreplay, then I have to use everything I can.

So that’s how I end up perched at my desk, staring at my computer screen, and pointedly ignoring the guilt trying to eat my heart right out of my chest.

Serene Acres is a group home for the mentally unwell. It’s several hours up north, and visitation is only permitted to family. I flick through photos of their facilities on their website, trying to picture what Prudence’s mom looks like. Does she have the same fiery hair? The same sunburst eyes? What about their mannerisms, are those similar? Do they hold themselves the same? Did Prudence get her headstrong attitude from her mother?

I guess I’ll have to find out for myself.

After all, I’m a distant relative who’s just found out his favorite aunt is tucked away in that place.

I drum my fingers on my desk as I call the place, thankful my dad shared her name with me earlier. Irene Marjorie Sexton. Not much came up on a web search of her name, though if she’s spent her life in delusion, I suppose she wouldn’t have had much time to make an impact of any kind. I found her high school graduation picture, some shots of her time here at Blackwood, and then a newspaper clipping of a birth announcement shortly after she fled from the college. Seems Irene was pregnant when she ran. My father didn’t mention that.

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