Page 46 of Heartless Legacy

Thea

I’ve been trying to convince myself that I’m okay. Trying to force myself to act like everything’s normal, but it’s not. I passed out last week, after unloading my shit onto Deacon and barfing up what little food I had on my stomach. I’m surprised he didn’t ask for separate accommodations after I told him I think I’m going crazy and freaked out about him touching me.

He’s been giving me space, sleeping on the couch. I appreciate the gesture even though it won’t help with my chronic insomnia. It’ll probably take moving to a deserted island to make me feel comfortable enough to close my eyes ever again.

I’m still not sure I can trust myself and what I’m experiencing, but maybe if I filter information through something other than my immediate surroundings, it will help. If this is real, then I need to figure out what’s going to happen next for me. Can I stay on this ship indefinitely? I’ve been missing for four months. Malcolm told me nobody missed me, that everyone moved on. Now, I need to know exactly what that means.

“Tell me what I’ve missed.” I say, sliding into an empty seat across from Wolfe.”

“What do you want to know?”

I shrug. “Everything. Nothing.” I start with the people who have a habit of ignoring my existence. “Moira and Scott? Did they look for me?”

“They made some inquiries, but after a few weeks, they stopped.” He watches my reaction before continuing. “They think you ran from The League, and from what I hear, your agreement was to never contact them if you did.”

“It was.” I shove a cracker in my mouth, chewing slowly. “So, is that the consensus around town? That I ran away?”

“That’s the messaging The League put out. The school’s listed you as withdrawn from enrollment.”

“And my friends believe that?”

“Thea, there’s convincing evidence that you would have wanted a fresh start somewhere else.”

I do. “Why now? After the shit I put up with all year, why would I just pick up and go now?”

“The legacy families have been denouncing your behavior from the beginning. League members jumped at the chance to label you as unaligned.”

Malcolm probably led the smear campaign. “Why didn’t you believe it?”

He holds my gaze as he says, “Who says I didn’t?”

“You’re here. So…”

“I figured it was a possibility you took off, but I wasn’t about to let you do it without saying goodbye to me. Then Sasha-”

I straighten in my seat. “Sasha? You talked to her?”

He nods. “When three days passed without you answering your phone, I called and asked if she’d heard from you. She told me any escape plan you had included mandatory check-ins, and you missed your first one.”

I blink back the moisture in my eyes. I knew it. I knew that if anyone would think some foul shit went down, it would be her. “Is Canyon Falls still standing?”

His brows furrow. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

There’s no way to answer that without giving up too much information. “Because um… Sasha tends to get a little destructive when she’s working.”

“The town is still intact. I guess her work didn’t reach our neck of the country yet.”

“So everyone just moved on? For everyone other than you and Sasha, my disappearance meant nothing?”

“I can’t say how other people felt, Thea. I wasn’t in the headspace to check in on their feelings, because I was so caught up in mine. LJ cried and harassed me for weeks, but her family obligations ramped up over the summer and she stopped coming to the gym. Tank and the rest of the guys noticed you were missing, but stopped commenting when I threatened to rip their heads off. Tank took over training while I was out looking for you. I already told you Sasha and I were working together. Who else do you need to know about? The Trium?” He spits out the word. “Word around campus is that they’re the reason you left, so I didn’t give a fuck about how they werefeeling, and I sure as shit didn’t waste my time asking.”

We fall silent, because what can I say about that? After a while, I ask about Connor and Austin.

“They took off for football camp as soon as the semester ended.”

“Then I guess Malcolm was right. Everyone moved on with their lives.”

“Moved on?” He scoffs, “Thea, I forced a secret spy organization to give me access to their system so I could find you.”

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