Page 59 of Heartless Legacy

When Thea steps into the hall, I grab her around the waist, lifting her off her feet, and drag her right back inside the classroom. She screeches, kicks and screams bloody murder. I ignore her antics, putting her back on her feet, then turn to lock the door. When I turn back to face her, I realize that the door should have been the least of my concern. She’s holding a very sharp-looking knife in the hand Holden’s gripping. Was she about to stab me in the back?

“God, Finn. Are you fucking crazy? I could’ve killed you?”

She could have. She literally could have killed me just now, if Holden hadn’t of been in the room. I flinch, realizing just how fucked everything is, because I’m not sure Pax would have intervened. Pushing that unsettling thought to the side, I say, “No, I’m not crazy. I’m just confused about what’s going on.”

She wrenches her arm free from Holden, but doesn’t re-sheath the onyx hilted, serrated blade. Where’d she get that from? It’s not one of the ones I gave her.

“Confused? Don’t you have this backwards?” She huffs. “I should be the one confused, since I was happily minding my business until you dragged me in here.”

“I’m confused about what I did to upset you.” Holden arches a brow. Oh right, it’s not just about me. “Whatwe’vedone to upset you.”

Her voice is flat, her face devoid of all emotion when she says, “I’m not upset.”

“You’re not?”

“Not at all. What could I possibly have to be upset about?”

The sarcasm slips through and I realize just how idiotic this line of questioning is. Of course she’s upset. She’s been in jail and comes back to everything being different with her status in The League and her relationship with Pax.

Thanks, mom. Because hadn’t she warned me about this reaction when I mentioned Thea was back? Hadn’t she said that for us life continued, but Thea may feel stuck in one place and struggle to figure out where she fits now?

“I get it, Pet. You’ve been re-acclimating, and we’ve been giving you space.”

“Have you? Do you call this giving me space?”

“I do. Not giving you space would look a lot different from this.”

“Oh, forgive me if I can’t tell the difference between this and leaving me alone.” That snippy little comment is accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll.

“The difference is I haven’t moved into the dorm room next to yours and put myself in every one of your classes.”

“Again, I can’t tell the difference. Youarein one of my classes, Finn. In fact, you’re each in one class andyou’replaying football with my friends and eating at my table when I’m not around.”

I’m happy she’s noticed the effort I’ve been putting in. “That’s because I want to be close to you. But when you show up, I sit at the legacy table to give you space. So, I get it. I get that your time in solitary confinement may have made you a bit more… moody. Or overly sensitized to stimuli. But that doesn’t explain why you’re outright ignoring us. We say hello. We smile at you, and you look at us like…” I glance over at Holden for help.

He supplies, “Like you’re not seeing us. Like you’re looking through us, as if we’re not truly here.” I nod, because that’s a perfect description for it.

“Stop being so damn sensitive, Finley.” She snaps. “I’m not ignoring you.” Me sensitive? That’s a pretty dismissive take on my feelings. She continues, “I’m living my life. I’ve moved on, just like the three of you.”

Did her time in jail make her doubt my feelings for her? Is it because I didn’t come visit her? I would have if I’d have known she was there. Doesn’t she know I would have broken her out of jail and gone on the run with her?

“There is no moving on, Pet. Weareyour life, and we’re not dropping the plans we were making.” I don’t even know how Holden didn’t laugh in her face when she called herself dumping him.

She looks away from me, staring at the wall as if it holds the answers to all her problems. Holden pushes off the deskhe’s sitting on and comes to stand next to me. Staring down at her, he asks, “What’s going on with you?” That means he’s seen something I didn’t. I love that he’s basically a human lie detector test.

“Isn’t it clear? I’m over you guys.”

“It’s clear.” Tilting my head to the side, I say, “What’s muddy is why? Why are you over us?”

“Why?” She laughs. It’s a hollow sound that sends chills of unease down my spine. “Why do you think? It’s taken nine months, but I have a second chance to do something with my life, and so do you.”

Her gaze strays to Pax. “Maybe I should amend my statement. It’s been nine months for me, but you guys moved on before the ink was even dry on my fingerprints.”

Holden nods. “There’s a lot that happened while you were gone. Pax’s engagement to Eloise being the worst. But I’ve already told you his choices aren’t mine or Finn’s.”

“Yes, they are. All for one and one for all.” She drawls, sounding a bit more like herself.

“Awe, Pet. Are you mad at us? Do you think we’ve been with Eloise? Because I swear we haven’t. We would never-” She arches a brow at me. “Okay, I have, but that was way before I ever met you and I’d rather pretend it never happened. In fact, let’s pretend I was a virgin until you.” I beam at her. “So if you want to argue and fight about one third of my Trium hooking up with her, we can. We’ll come up with a system to make sure you don’t have to be around them.”

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