Page 118 of Dare To Fall

I try to muster up some excitement, but anxiety is a heavy weight in the pit of my stomach. “Great.”

I turn at the sound of footsteps. Kellan and Eli are walking toward us. Eli halts directly in front of me and stares down into my face.

“You and Miles go first. We’ll leave in an hour.”

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my coat, I curl them into fists. “Okay.”

“No going to the chapel or the cemetery. You stay where people can see you.”

“I promise, no wandering off.”

He lifts his hand and cradles the left side of my face. “I’ll see you soon.”

I nuzzle against the warmth of his palm. “Okay.”

His hand drops away, and he steps back to join his friend. I suck in a breath, refusing to let the emotions inside overwhelm me. It’s going to be fine. Everything will be different. I’m going to be safe.

Once I’m in the car, I click my seatbelt on. Miles chatters as he starts the engine, but all my focus is on the dark-haired boy with green eyes, watching me moodily from in front of the cabin. I wave, but Eli just nods in response. I keep my gaze locked on him, turning in my seat until he vanishes from view.

Chapter 79

Eli

Once the car is out of view, I turn and find Kellan studying me, eyes narrow.

“What?”

“I was expecting to see more damage, to be honest. You look pretty good for someone who just spent a week with a girl who wouldn’t have pissed on you if you’d been on fire.”

“Golden showers are not my kink.”

“Interesting that you don’t deny the fire part, though.”

I shrug. “She burns me alive every time she touches me.”

Kellan’s laughter echoes around the clearing.

“What’s funny?”

“I told you months ago you were in love with her. You kept denying it.”

I roll my eyes and walk back inside the cabin. Kellan follows me.

“Seriously, though. Did you figure things out?”

“I think we still have a few sharp edges to sand down, but yeah … I think we’re in a good place. Took a while, and I wasn’t sure it would happen at first.” I stop in the center of the kitchen and turn to face him. “Do you have the diary with you?”

“In the car.”

“Anything in there that could help us?”

“Maybe, maybe not. We need to get with Arabella and see how much of what she was made to do matches what they wanted Zoey to do. There might be things we don’t know about. One thing it does confirm is that you’re the main target. Zoey seemed to think that whoever it was wanted to break up our friendship. They asked her to come between us. Flirt with us both, set us against each other for her attention and affection. Make you jealous and angry as often as possible.”

“It makes no sense.”

“To us, it makes no sense. But we don’t have all the answers. There’s something we’re missing that will tell us why this is happening.”

“Did you find anything on our cell phones?”

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