Page 22 of Siccitas

Nothing.

Almost as if no one had ever been here at all.

Why did she leave without telling me?

It’s a thought that stayed with me long after I sat down in her recliner to train my eyes on the world outside.

Is she coming back?

I run a hand down my face as I clear my throat and get comfortable.

I wanted to go home, but I guess this will have to do until Jocelyn comes back.

Chapter Sixteen

Jocelyn

Skylar is tired andso am I, but I should have known better.

She told me a secret that I promised I would keep, and I wouldn’t be able to say anything to Von in front of her.

I want her trust, because I’m more than likely the last person in the world that she can rely on.

I’m just angry with myself for not realizing it sooner. Now that I have, however, I’ll take her somewhere I know that she’ll be safe, even if it means I’ll never feel that way again.

“Daddy’s gonna be mad if I don’t go home tonight,” she wheedles for what seems like the hundredth time in ten minutes.

I drag her a few more blocks away, doing my best to ignore her pleas to stop before I finally do.

Leaning against the brick building we’ve taken refuge behind, I do my best to catch my breath.

Skylar does the same. I can tell by the heavy sounds of her breathing, and when I glance down at her, I feel worse than I did when I first saw her.

She wants to go home, but I don’t know if I have the heart to send her back to that monster. I don’t know if I truly have the heart to keep her from him, either.

His love is probably the only one that she remembers, because who knows how long Darby has actually been gone?

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