Page 10 of Claiming Pretty

The same way I was bowed over Ty’s grave.

If I couldn’t rest beside Ava, then I’d lie here, near my brother.

They were the only two people I loved. The only two who mattered.

“If she’s gone, then…” My voice cracked, the words catching in my throat. “I don’t want to live.”

I sucked in a breath, trying to summon the courage to do what needed to be done. I closed my eyes, willing myself forward, the weight of everything pressing down on me like a storm I couldn’t outrun. And I—

My phone buzzed.

The sound jolted me, breaking through the haze of despair.

My jaw clenched, irritation flaring at the interruption.Of all the times—

I closed my eyes tighter, gripping the knife harder, trying to block out the noise. I was so close. Just a breath away from ending this torment.

The phone buzzed again.

I growled under my breath, scowling as I dropped the knife with a soft thud onto the grass beside me.

My hand shot to my pocket, pulling out the phone with shaking fingers, ready to silence whatever had dared to intrude.

Then I saw it—the notification. And I froze.

Ava’s name.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, my mind racing to catch up.

The program I’d written, the one I’d set to bug Ebony’s mansion phone, had just triggered.

An alert every time Ava’s name was mentioned. My thumb hovered over the screen as my heart thundered in my chest.

I tapped it, activating the playback.

“Ebony? It’s me. Ava.”

Her voice. Her voice—so familiar, so real—stabbed into me like a knife, but not one of pain. Relief flooded through me, sharp and overwhelming, washing over the despair like a tide, leaving me breathless.

She was alive.

I let out a strangled gasp, my vision blurring as tears welled up. My chest shook, and I nearly started sobbing right there in the cold dirt beside Ty’s grave.

Every ounce of the weight crushing me seconds ago evaporated, replaced by something I couldn’t name. Relief. Hope. A sliver of salvation.

I clutched the phone tighter, my pulse thundering in my ears.

She was alive. And I wasn’t going to let her slip away again.

My breath caught, the rush of relief faltering as a new, sharper fear clawed its way up my throat.What if it’s a trick? A trap?

I stared at the phone in my hand, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely think.

The Society—they were clever, ruthless. What if they’d figured it out? What if they knew I was the one getting rid of their members? They could be threatening her, forcing her to say those words.

I glanced over to the dead Dr. Hickey lying nearby, eyes lifeless and mouth open in a final plea.

Dr. Vale.

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