Page 99 of Under the Lies

The one Sayer has been staying in.

I hadn’t planned on sleeping here after we had sex. I hadn’t planned on sleeping at all, just like I hadn’t for the past week, but somehow after our last round, I collapsed on top of her and started lazily tracing circles on her soft and sated body.

I told myself I’d stay there for a few minutes, to catch my breath before I went back to searching for her sister and X but somehow a few minutes turned into more and Sayer left me to go to the bathroom, but I still didn’t leave.

For the first time in twenty-eight years, I stayed.

Sayer was surprised as well when she came back out and saw me, raising an eyebrow as she walked back to her bed.

I didn’t say anything as she crawled on the mattress, reaching for the covers, I didn’t have an excuse when I grabbed her hand and pulled her into me.

“Noah…” she says, her hands finding a home on my chest.

I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to search for the reason why I was still here. All I knew is that I didn’t want to leave and having her in my arms awoke something in me I didn’t want to explore.

The last thing I remember was falling asleep to the sounds of Sayer’s rhythmic breathing and the smell of honey and almond and her.

But Sayer isn’t in here now.

Where is she?

After a quick glance to see if she’s in the bathroom only for the door to be open and the light to be off, I jump out of bed.

I’ve learned to rely on my gut. Instead of letting emotions control me, I let my gut do the steering, but right now it’s silent and that’s what has my pulse kicking up.

Something’s wrong.

I tear out of her room and through the second floor, only to not find her.

She’s fine. She’s fine. I try to rationalize with myself. My home is secure. Security is top of the line. No one can get in without me knowing…No one can leave either.

Not that I think Sayer would leave at this point. If she hadn’t after me ditching her the first few nights, then she wouldn’t now. I know her and I know she feels safer here than she would back at her apartment.

Then where the hell is she?

My feet pound like thunder down the stairs, I’m about to whip out my phone when I skid to a stop.

Sayer’s standing at the window, overlooking the city’s skyline. The shirt I was wearing earlier swimming around her thighs.

“It’s your move,” she says, not turning around, but I see her twirling one of my chess pieces in the reflection.

I don’t care about the game right now. I want to pull her away from the window. “What’re you doing here?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” She sounds exhausted though.

Timid, like approaching a spooked animal, I approach her. I don’t speak until my chest brushes her back. “Why?”

She seems so small right now. I can almost physically see her shrinking into herself as she says, “I’m scared.”

Sayer turns around and looks at me with wide, shaken eyes.

My chest seizes. “About what?”

Maybe it’s the late night hour or the fact that she’s always pulled at parts I’ve kept hidden from everyone including myself, but I want to wrap her in my arms and never let her go.

“About everything!” she explains. “So much is happening around me and I don’t know anything. I’m in the dark and I hate it, Noah. The reason why I left here was because I hated all the secrets my family kept from me. I ran from the toxic town only to find my way back after almost a year of feeling lost, but I don’t feel found. If anything, I feel more lost than before. I just want to know what’s going to happen. Who’s after me. And what you’re going to do when you find my sister.”

I stare at her, dumbfounded and lost for words. She’s asking me questions I don’t have the answers to.

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