Page 138 of Dare To Live

“You came.”

“I told you I would. I need to know what happened as much as the rest of you,” Garrett replies. “I wasn’t close to Kellan, like the rest of you were, so if this talk triggers any of you, I can help Ivan guide you back to us.”

I release Eli’s hand. “Do you think that’s going to happen?”

He shrugs. “PTSD can hit at any time.”

He takes a seat on the edge of the mattress beside Garrett. “Let’s call and order food first.”

Ivan nods, his phone already in his hand. “Tell me what you all want, and I’ll do that now.”

The thought of food makes me feel nauseous. Nerves swarm my stomach like angry bees. When it becomes clear that I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what to choose, Ivan picks for us and arranges everything with quiet efficiency. When he’s done, he joins his fiancé on the bed.

“Where do you want me to start?” Miles asks.

“At the beginning. When were you taken?” Eli’s voice is just as low.

Miles swallows hard and closes his eyes. “Kellan booked a hotel. We were going to take his car, but I wanted it to be a proper date. I insisted we should arrive separately, make a big deal of meeting up at the hotel bar. Make it fun.”

The memory of Kellan spooning Miles on his bed in Eli’s dorm room fills my mind. How they’d kissed and made their plans while I’d been wrapped in Eli’s arms across the room. A moment of happiness that hadn’t lasted long enough.

Ivan takes Miles’ hand and caresses his wrist with his thumb. “Take your time.”

Miles stares down at their combined hands for a second before answering. “It’s my fault he’s dead.”

“No, it’s not.” Eli leans forward, forearms resting on his knees and hands hanging loosely.

“We should have driven to town together.”

“Miles—”

My best friend raises his head, his eyes awash with tears and pain. “Evan used my cell to get Kellan to the chapel. He … he told him I had something to tell him.”

Eli’s shoulders stiffen.

Is he remembering the text he’d gotten from Kellan too? The one that led him to the chapel where he’d found his friend lifeless and sprawled out like a dark sacrifice?

“How did Evan get your cell?”

Miles’ eyes drop from Eli’s and his shoulders move as he sighs.

“How did he get you to the chapel?” Garrett’s voice is steady and calm. I know what Garrett is doing. He’s asking the same question Eli asked, just in a different way.

Sucking in a breath, Miles wipes at his eyes with his free hand, but the tears keep leaking. “I was leaving my room. Someone hit me from behind. I woke up gagged and bound by the wall near the altar.”

Ivan frowns. “How is that possible? No one saw you being snatched? The hallway might have been quiet, but someone would have seen you being carried from the building into the woods.”

My attention flicks to Eli, and he nods.

“Not unless they took the tunnels,” I tell the older man. “The school is supposed to be riddled with them. It’s a secret not many people know about.”

Garrett glances between Eli and me. “You know about them?”

“I thought I knew about all of them.” Eli’s voice is grim.

“Evan knew about more.” I squeeze myself tightly, still standing in the middle of the room, fighting back memories that threaten to overwhelm me. “He admitted as much when he kidnapped me.”

“Kellan came into the chapel, and he was smiling. He looked so happy.” Miles’ expression is twisted with anguish, eyes glassy and distant as the tears drip off his chin. “I tried to warn him, but Evan got to him first. They argued. Evan kept saying that Kellan was in the way. That he wasn’t playing the game in the right way. That Arabella was supposed to be the one to fall. And then he just … threw himself toward Kellan.”

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