Page 90 of Dare To Fall

We fall silent.

I’ve almost drifted off to sleep when he speaks again. “I know everything between us is fucked up, but we need to talk.”

Stretching against him, I dissolve back into a languid, sleepy puddle. “Not everything that’s broken can be fixed.”

“Maybe not, but there are still some things you need to know.”

“What do you want from me, Eli?”

He strokes his fingers down my spine, bringing it to a stop just above the swell of my buttocks. “Just listen to me, Kitten. Can you do that, please?”

I’m silent for a beat. I don’t want the tension between us to return. I like this warm, dark world we’re lying in. But there’s a tone in his voice that reaches to something deep inside me. “Okay, fine. Talk.”

Chapter 59

Eli

“Did you know that if you count the seconds between the lightning and thunderclap, it tells you how close the storm is?”

“What?” Her head lifts from where it’s buried against my throat.

I know it’s not what she expected me to say, but I hadn’t expected her to agree to talk, so I need a moment to get my thoughts together.

“Five seconds is one mile. Ten seconds is two miles.” I pause when a flash of lightning brightens the room, not as bright as it has been, but enough to see the shape of her burrowed beneath the sheets. “Count, Ari.”

She reaches thirty before there’s a faint rumble of thunder.

“Six miles away,” I tell her. “It’s traveling away from us now.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because not long ago the lightning and thunder were almost instantaneous.”

“No, I mean about the counting.”

I shift my position slightly, so she’s lying half on me instead of using me as a bodyboard. “My mom told me when I was little, and I was scared of a storm.”

“Oh.” Her head drops back onto my shoulder.

My fingers run up and down her spine. I flick my lip ring with my tongue, then suck in a deep breath.

“I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean to. I thought wearing the ski mask would make you realize it was me, Sin. I didn’t think you’d be so fucking scared.”

“I thought it was them … coming to kill me like Zoey.” I can feel her heart hammering where she’s pressed against my chest.

“I realized that almost the second you ran. I swear, Ari, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. But I needed to stop you from going home and bring you somewhere no one knows about.”

“Why?”

I stroke my other hand through her hair. “Kellan thought about it first. We were talking about the texts and how they always seemed to know where you were in relation to me. He thinks they have a tracker on your cell. We know … well, we’re pretty sure … that they cloned your cell, which is how they knew you were talking to Miles. With a tracker, they could confirm you were going to wherever they directed you. That’s why Kellan took our phones. If they’re not here, they can’t be tracked.”

“They?”

“If they’re tracking yours, there’s a chance they are tracking mine as well. Kellan put some kind of signal blocker in the car during the ride here, so they have no idea what direction you went in once you left Churchill Bradley. Without your cell, they have no way to contact you or find you.” My fingers stop their path up along her spine. “I’m not willing to play their game anymore, Ari. They got what they wanted, and I almost killed you. I’m not taking that risk again.”

“What did they want?”

I laugh, even though it’s not funny. “I’ve spent this past week talking to the school therapist, Principal Warren, and Kellan. All three think that the things they were making you do, trying to get me to react, were all to build up to that last video. They wanted me to hurt you … in front of everyone. To prove I’m the monster they call me. And, fucking idiot that I am, I walked right into it and let it happen.”

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