Page 129 of Lotus

He’s so mad at me. He’s going to punish me. I won’t be able to play with Sydney for a long, long time. Weeks, maybe.

“Sweetheart, tell me what’s wrong. Tell me what happened.”

My mother.

She’s trying to console me.

And then he’s there, behind me, his hand clamping around my shoulder, squeezing so hard he freezes the words in my throat.

“You’re a troublemaker, Oliver.” He addresses my mother, tone scolding. “I discovered Oliver cheating during our game ofCapture the Flag. He knows better.”

“Oh, honey, you know that takes the fun out of the game.”

“It’s unacceptable,” Travis says, his grip tightening on my trembling shoulder.

He’s lying. He wants me to lie, too. Maybe I won’t be punished if I lie.

“I-I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

Another flash, and I’m in my bedroom.

I feel him there, standing in the shadows, looming over me as I stare up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling.

Travis whispers in my ear, a deadly command, “If you ever tell anyone what you saw today, I will send Sydney away forever and you’ll never see her again. Do you understand?”

No, no, no.

Not her. Not Syd.

I nod, tears leaking from my eyes. “I understand.”

Flash.

He saw me. He saw me. He saw me.

But I can never tell…

My eyes pop open, my breaths ragged and unhinged as the last two decades culminate into a sickening pinnacle. Travis is centimeters from my face, a smile curling on his chafed lips. Sweat mixes with blood as I run my tongue along my own upper lip. “I never would have told anyone,” I tell him, and it’s true…it’s true.

He knew Sydney was my weakness.

She still is.

His eye twitches. “I couldn’t risk it. My life, my future, everything I was building for myself would have been snuffed out by a loud-mouthed kid,” he says flippantly. “Don’t underestimate the gravity of your situation, Oliver. There are no lengths I wouldn’t go to in order to keep myself out of prison—not then, not now. I’m fully aware of what would happen to me there.”

“You’re a monster.”

“I preferself-preservationist,” he counters.

I growl at him, a deep rumbling in my throat, laced with fuel and white-hot anger. “She was just a child. You ruined her.”

Travis shrugs like it’s the most casual thing in the world. “Trust me, I debated getting rid of her, too, but I’m not an idiot. Two children who live right next door to each other going missing at the same time? I couldn’t risk the whispers and suspicion. Suspicion brings questions and digging and poking around—obnoxious,” he says, his tone glib. “Besides, Clementine was my favorite toy. I trained her well, and Iknewshe would never speak a word of it to anyone.”

“You’re sick,” I seethe.

A wicked grin stares back at me. “I’m a survivalist, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect myself.” Travis straightens his stance, removing the gun from my side and stuffing it into the hem of his blue jeans. Cold gray eyes drift between me and Sydney before he begins to pace the room once again. “The biggest mistake I ever made was trusting that bastard, Earl, when he told me the deed was done. Ford must have paid him off.Stupid.” And then he plucks a lighter from his front pocket, flicking the little wheel until a flame sparks to life. “But I won’t make the same mistake twice. This time, I plan to watch you burn with my own eyes.”

His implication is not lost on either of us, and I turn to look at Sydney, eyes brimming with apology and love and remorse and so many things left undone. Our dreams will soon be nothing but ashes and decay, buried right along with Travis Wellington’s secrets.

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