Page 6 of Dare To Fall

“She was like a zombie.”

“You know she might not be the same Arabella after all this.”

“I know.”

There’s a moment of silence.

“At least we don’t have to worry about anyone looking for her.” The second voice is closer. “The way she’s been acting, they won’t expect her to come out of her room.”

“Until the ball tonight. She said something about the ball in her texts.”

“We should check her phone, but first, I need to go down and make an appearance. I’ll bring some lunch back up. Miles will join us when he can get away.”

“Be careful.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be ready for them this time.”

“Text me when you get there and when you’re on the way back.”

“Yes, mother.”

“I mean it, Kell.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll see if I can get her some soup and a bowl of plain rice. We just have to make sure she eats it.”

“I can feel how much weight she’s lost.”

“She must have been starving herself for weeks with all the stress of what she’s been dealing with.”

“It stops now.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

A door opens and closes.

Awareness creeps in. I’m lying on a mattress on my side. I can barely move under the weight of the blankets heaped on top of me, but it’s the body curled up around me that holds all my attention. A hand is stroking my hip gently, and I can feel a face pressed into my hair.

I frown. Where am I?

All I remember is the chapel and the cold. I open my eyes slowly and focus on a wall.

A dorm room?

It’s not mine because I don’t recognize the hoodie hanging on the back of the chair.

“Hey, Kitten. Are you awake?”

Sin?

Turning my head, my gaze collides with a pair of intense green eyes.

Eli.

I stare at him, my brain trying to process what I’m seeing.

Eli is in bed with me. I’m in his dorm room. Why does he sound like Sin?

Realization comes in a creeping wave of horror.

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