Page 64 of Heartless Game

“How—how did you find me?” I asked, trembling.

“Jack saw Isaac carry you out. We’ve been driving around, trying to find you, and we happened to be driving past campus when we saw Isaac carrying you back to his car. Why are you only wearing his shirt? What did hedo?”

“Give her back to me.” Isaac’s voice broke on that last word.

Aviva released me but kept a hand on my shoulder as she whipped around to face him. “Absolutely the fuck not. She’s standing here, barely dressed and shivering, withyou. You have blood all over you. I’m shocked and ashamed of you, Isaac. This is not the man I know. I don’t understand what the fuck has gotten into you, and I don’t give a shit. You don’tget her back. Jack and I are taking her home with us.”

“I—” Isaac started, but Jack put a hand up, interrupting him.

“Aviva’s right. Whatever the hell is going on between the two of you is not okay. Tovah’s spending the night with us, and you can talk to her in the morning.”

“Absolutely the fuck not,” Isaac parroted Aviva as he advanced on Jack, bloody fists clenched. “She doesn’t go anywhere without me. You try to take her, and I’ll kill you.”

“Tonight, she does,” Jack said, voice even. He lowered it, saying something to Isaac I couldn’t hear, but it must have worked because Isaac unfisted his hands, only to scrape them angrily through his hair. His eyes were wild, desperate, seeking mine in what…an apology?

Like he and Aviva had said, absolutely the fuck not.

God, I thought that stranger was about to rape me. And I couldn’t have done anything, and Isaac had left me there to be hurt…and it was worse than anything he’d ever done to me. Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to contain a sob.

It broke out anyway.

Isaac let out a terrible sound I’d never heard from him before, moving toward me. Jack caught him by the shoulder and tugged him back.

With his free hand, he tossed Aviva his keys. “Take her home. I’ll deal with him.”

Through a blur of tears, I saw Jack holding Isaac back as Aviva guided me toward the car, gently sat me in the passenger side of Jack’s car, and buckled me in. As we drove away, I heard an anguished, almost animalistic roar—so loud, it could have shaken the trees.

* * *

I was curledup under the covers in Jack and Aviva’s guest room, lights ablaze, watchingHouse Hunters Internationalthrough dry, burning eyes when Aviva knocked on the door.

“You can come in,” I called.

The door opened. She entered the room holding a mug of hot chocolate.

I glanced over at the bedside table, where two other mugs of hot chocolate sat, both near-full, both cold.

“You know, you don’t have to keep bringing me new mugs.”

“Well, you haven’t drunk the old ones,” she scolded half-heartedly. “And you need to get your blood sugar up. Please, Tovah, have some.”

Sitting up, I held out my hands for the mug, and she handed it over. I took a few sips under her watchful, worried gaze, before finding a spot for it on the bedside table.

“Tovah…”

“I’m okay,” I told her softly. “Really.”

I wasn’t. But I didn’t want to worry her any more than she was already worried. Worrying would just lead to questions, and I couldn’t give her real answers. Because if I told her what Isaac was holding over my head, and she did anything about it, it would get her killed.

“You don’t seem okay,” she said. “Don’t think I couldn’t hear you crying. Tovah, what did he do to you?”

I shook my head. If I told her, she’d drive back to campus and try to take Isaac on. And I couldn’t let her. Partially because I didn’t want her getting hurt, but also because—and I hated that I felt this way—I didn’t want her doing anything to hurt him, either.

I buried my head in my hands.

She pulled my hands away.

“What—” she started. I cut her off.

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