Page 12 of The Blood we Crave

I could do without the corruption, the scandals, sex trafficking, and murder. But there are fragments of me that love this place, no matter how hard I try not to.

It’s different for them though. I know that.

This town had done nothing but hurt them. Ruin them. Turn them into versions of themselves so dreadful I’m sure at some point, they scared themselves. There was nothing left for my friends here, not when Ponderosa Springs had eaten it whole.

“I’ll leave you to talk, Lyra. I’m sure you all have a lot of catching up to do.” Conner walks to my side, giving a kind smile before pushing towards the door, waving slightly at my friends. “Miss Lowell, Mr. Caldwell.”

I watch his back fade away into the empty halls, waiting till he is out of earshot before returning my attention back to Briar.

“Are Sage and Rook back too? How’s your mom? Oh my gosh, wait till you see the cabin I spent all summer decorating, I mean, I know you two have an apartment now, but you can still come over. We still need mandatory Loner Society meetings—”

“I missed you too,” Briar laughs, cutting me off from my babbling and pulling me into another hug.

I did miss her.I missed her so much. I missed all of them.

My first real friend in years had spent the summer in Texas, visiting her family, showing Alistair where she’d grown up. Sage, a girl I’d seen go through hell and back, one I’d come to admire as a friend and a woman, had packed her bags for a road trip down the coast with Rook Van Doren, the Hollow Boy I get along with more than the rest because he always has snacks. There was also that time we set a legendary school tree on fire, but that’s a story for another time.

They’d all left me here, and I wanted to be upset about it—really, I did.

But I understood.

Briar, Alistair, Rook, and Sage needed a break from the carnage. The constant suffering and never-ending pain this place inflicted on them. Just for a few weeks, they needed to be normal, to enjoy life, and I couldn’t blame them for that even if I wanted to.

“Sage and Rook will be back tomorrow night. We’re meeting at Black Sands Cove.” Briar’s eyes sparkle with that familiar mischief that I’ve come to love and hate. It usually means whatever we’re doing is going to require us to do something physically demanding.

“The beach is closed at night,” I point out, hoping this little hiccup will be enough to derail whatever plan they’ve made.

“We know,” Alistair smirks behind her. “Rook will need to blow off some steam. Being back in Ponderosa Springs without Silas here is going to wreck his shit.”

My heart thrums. We’re not sure how long Silas will be getting help. Considering how bad the psychotic break was, doctors said anywhere from a few months to several years.

It breaks my heart, but it destroyed Rook. The two of them were close, so fucking close, and I know Rook blames himself for not realizing he was off his medication sooner.

We’re not hanging out tomorrow night for us; we’re doing it so we can be there for Rook. Secretly, I think they all need it. They all miss him.

“Reunited for the first time since Mayor Donahue’s funeral. You think Sage is going to be okay?” I ask.

“I think,” Briar starts, “Sage is handling her father’s death just fine. She knows that accidents happen.”

Accidents, right.

Because setting a purposeful fire with her father and a federal agent inside her house was totally an accident. But like I said, these are secrets that I’ll carry to the grave. I have to if it means protecting my friends. It’s not like I don’t have secrets of my own that Sage and Briar are keeping for me. Keeping from their boyfriends. Everyone.

We protect each other and the secrets we carry along our shoulders. It’s part of the deal when you join the Loner Society. You are allowed to be alone but never lonely.

“We figured we’d rekindle our friendship with a little game,” Alistair says. “For old time’s sake.”

A game.

Always a game.

Usually illegal, and it never fails that I rip my lungs open, trying to keep up.I swallow my fear, not of playing but of knowing that my plan is about to begin, and I will have to face him in order to start it.

Not just hide in the shadows and watch him quietly. No, I will have to stand in front of him, use my words, and ask for what I want.

Months ago, he’d come seeking me out. A settled debt, he said. But I’m not finished with the Prince of Death. I’ve barely started. He’d denied me the first time I’d asked for a favor.

But I refuse to take no for an answer.

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