Page 230 of The Black Trilogy

I called Tia straight back. “Right, I’m on my way. I’ll be about three-quarters of an hour. Are you hurt? Cold?”

“A bit cold. I’m only wearing a party dress but I’m not hurt apart from my face and that aches where Theo hit me.” That rush of words was followed by more sniffles.

“Sit tight, sweetie. I’m on my way.”

Worried for Tia and furious on her behalf, I drove far too fast and made it to the area in thirty-five minutes. As I got nearby, Mack guided me to Tia’s precise location. I took a few deep breaths before I got out of the car because being cross wouldn’t help matters. Anger wasn’t an emotion I often felt. Although I saw a lot of nasty things, that was normally in the line of duty and the people involved were strangers. I found it easier to stay detached that way.

Now that I was in a situation involving someone I cared about, my emotions threatened to make an appearance. The strange thing was, I hadn’t yet felt anger over Black’s death when by rights I should have been furious. Every day, grief overrode my sanity, coupled with enough numbness to give me an out-of-body experience. I needed the rage to come—it would be easier to deal with.

Ten feet into the forest, I found Tia sitting on a log, arms wrapped around herself and mascara running down her face. The bottom of her dress hung in tatters, and her eye already looked nasty and purple. Lovely. I squinted in the gloom, taking in the cut on her cheek and her busted lip as I helped her up.

“Where does Luke think you are?”

There was no way he’d have let her stay out at a party this late.

“At Arabella’s. I told him I was staying the night.”

I got a blanket out of the boot and wrapped it around Tia’s shoulders before helping her into the front seat. Once I clipped her seatbelt on, she started shaking, and even when I leaned in and gave her a hug the tremors didn’t stop.

“Don’t worry, we’ll sort this,” I whispered.

“How?”

I knew what Luke’s reaction would be if I took Tia home, and sympathy wasn’t it. I figured I should do my civic duty and save him from an aneurysm.

“If Luke’s not expecting you back, I’ll take you home with me, and we can get your face looked at. What happened?”

“There was this boy I liked. Arabella said he wasn’t a nice person, but I went out with him half a dozen times, and he took me to fun places and bought me things. I thought he cared.”

She gave a sniffle, and I passed her a packet of tissues from the door pocket. Thanks, Bradley.

Tia paused to blow her nose before continuing. “We went to a party tonight, and after a couple of beers, he acted just like all the other guys. He only wanted one thing.”

She squirmed in her seat as she talked, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“You didn’t…” I began.

“NO! I refused. That’s when he started to get rough with me.”

“So the guy drove while he was drunk then tried to force himself on you? Nice.”

“I feel so stupid for trusting him. I honestly didn’t think he’d be like that. Maybe it was because he’d been drinking? Or I did something to encourage him?”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself. Alcohol only exacerbates tendencies you already have. It doesn’t change your personality completely. A few drinks wouldn’t have made this guy into a monster if he didn’t already think that way. If you told him to stop, he should have stopped, no questions, no hesitation.”

She fell silent for the rest of the journey. I had no doubt she was playing the evening’s events over in her head, especially when she started to sob quietly. As I reached over and squeezed her hand, I vowed I’d do my best to fix this.

Back at Albany house, I parked in the underground garage and led Tia into the lift. Once the doors opened on the ground floor, I guided her through to the kitchen and helped her onto a stool at the breakfast bar. The lighting was best in there, and I took a better look at her eye.

“Is it bad?” she asked.

Nothing seemed broken, but she’d have one nasty bruise in the morning.

“No lasting damage.”

I fetched an ice pack and got her to hold it on. After a minute or two, her breathing evened out and she looked around the room with her good eye.

“Is this your house?”

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