Page 33 of Ever Dark

When she stands to greet me, I can’t help but drool over heroutfit—skinny jeans, brown leather knee-high boots, a lace camisole, and an ankle-length patchwork cardigan that looks as expensive as it is soft and fuzzy. She looks like she just stepped out of a fall fashion catalog.

“You look amazing,” I sputter as she hugs me. Fuck. She even smells divine. Like freshly baked cookies.

“So do you,” she replies, her tone matching the warmth of her smile.

I look down at my ripped jeans, motorcycle boots, and black zip-up hoodie, and I cringe. “You don’t have to lie to be my friend,” I tease.

She giggles in that infectious way that you see pretty girls do on television. “I’m not. You have a unique style. I like it.”

I order a black coffee while Villette sips on her pumpkin-spice latte. It literally goes with her outfit, so I refrain from making a smart-ass comment about having a little coffee with her sugar.

“So, I want to apologize for the other night. I was not my best self, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,” I ramble out without taking a beat.

She shakes her head. “No need. You didn’t offend me. I grew up with those guys. I know better than anyone how infuriating they can be.I’msorry that my brother is acting like such a creep. I can’t believe he broke into your house.”

I’m dumbfounded. I threw a drink at one of her friends, insulted her brother, and told her to fuck off, and she’s apologizing to me? This girl is an angel.

“Well, I appreciate that, but still… I had no right to snap at you. It’s not your fault. Friends again?”

“We never stopped.” She grins over her sugary drink. It lights up this entire room.

It’s nice to have her to talk to. I’ve been around girls my whole life, but as soon as I left Wickford Hollow, it was just me. Then my ex for a bit. But I never made any girlfriends outside of the orphanage.Most people think I’m weird and unapproachable. I guess I am. But Lettie is different. I don’t think she has a judgmental bone in her entire body.

“So what’s the deal with the three of them? Why do they want that poison so badly?”

She rolls her eyes and huffs. “They are relentless. I’ll try to bring you up to speed. Are you familiar with the poison trade?”

I’ve never been one to partake in it. It’s like the crème de la crème of drugs. Better than all of them put together. But it’s lethal to most unless taken in small incremental doses. “I’ve heard that some people are immune to it. That they can drink it like it’s a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey. But I don’t know much else.”

She nods. “It’s true. There are families who have built up an immunity to it—the Thorns, of course. They make and supply the poison. Then there’s the other four, Blackwell, Erebus, Graves, and Crane. Our history runs deep in this town and in Raven’s Gate.”

Somehow she looks even more badass to me now. “Crane? That’s your last name, right? You can drink poison?”

She sighs. “I can. I don’t though. Not in a long time. So, Aries’s father is a monster. He did horrific things to Aries’s twin sister, Libra. He didn’t even bother to look for her when she went missing last year. Anyhow, she finally resurfaced about a month ago, and we learned that she’d been held captive in Absentia Asylum. And it had been arranged by Draven’s grandmother, Penny Blackwell.”

What the fuck? These people are nuttier than I thought. I order a refill and lean back in the booth, wishing I had popcorn for this story. “Wait, aren’t Draven and Aries best friends? I can’t believe his grandmother would do that.”

Villette snickers. “Oh, you didn’t know Penny Blackwell. Up until recently, she was the most formidable person in this town.”

“What happened to her?” This just keeps getting more unhinged.

She nods. “I can’t say it out loud, but… let’s just say she got what was coming to her.” She mouthsLibra, her hand cupping the side of her mouth, blocking the view of the other customers.

“Holy shit.”

“Libra signed over her shares of the poison fields to Aries so he can have a bigger stake than their father. They are working on ousting him from the business altogether. In order to do that, they need more buyers, more money, and more poison. That’s where Harker Mansion comes in.”

I gasp. “The baneberry. Fuck. I thought Draven was just being a self-entitled rich asshole. I had no idea that I was sitting in the middle of a fucking poison war.”

She looks at me with pity, like I’m a wounded puppy. “I’m sorry you got mixed up in all of this.”

Fuck. This changes everything. “What will they do if I don’t sell?”

She looks out the window and bites her lip. “I don’t know.”

But something in her expression tells me that she does and can’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“Lettie. Be honest with me. Please.”

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