Page 179 of Blood & Betrayals

I exhale and wrap the sheet around my naked body before I sit up. “Oh no. What’s wrong?” I grab Connor’s jersey and pull it on, so I’m not so exposed.

“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and you need to tell Connor. This isn’t right, Sum.”

I frown in confusion. Tell him about what? A hazy memory of messages I shared with the stranger last night flashes throughmy mind. But they weren’t that bad. Right? No. Alice didn’t see them. Did she go through my phone?

“About what’s going on.”

My brows draw more.

“With the murders, Summer,” Alice says, her voice sharp.

“Alice…”

“You need to tell him, Summer. You love him, right?”

I nod. “I do, but?—”

“You don’t think it’s weird?” Alice asks. “Keeping him in the dark like this?”

“He’s already worried, Al.”

Alice shrugs. “It’s your relationship.” She watches me carefully. “Would you have kept me in the dark about it, too? If I hadn’t been here when Headmaster Emrys came?”

I think for a long moment. “I don’t know, Al. If it would protect you from living in fear, maybe.”

Alice tenses, her eyes flashing. “Seriously? You would have lied about it? Tome?” The way she emphasizes the last word is a punch to the gut. How can such a short word have so much impact?

“Not lied…”

Alice stands, shaking her head. “Omission is also lying.” She looks at me, hurt in her eyes. “You’d have kept that fear all to yourself? You wouldn’t have let me help you?”

“Alice…”

She scoffs. “You keep acting like you’re alone. Like nothing has changed since we came here.”

I climb out of bed. “How?”

Alice throws her hands up in frustration. “Because you don’t think you can rely on me. Or maybe you think I’m going to leave you, or maybe you’re planning to leave me. I don’t know.”

Her words are like daggers, but I can feel the truth in them. We have been here for so short a time, yet she has become theclosest friend I have ever had. She and Connor have had a bigger impact on me than anyone in my life ever has, and the thought of being the one who is causing Alice so much hurt is agony.

All of my words are lost. I want to comfort her and apologize, but all I’m doing is what I’ve been doing for three decades. I’ve had to do things to survive so I could make it here, and I just cannot bring myself to apologize for that.

“Alice, I have told you things I’ve never told anyone. It’s got nothing to do with not trusting you or wanting to leave. You have to know that.”

“No?” Alice snaps. “Then whatdoesit have to do with?”

“It’s that I don’t want you and Connor hurting. To get hurt.”

“By refusing to let us help? You’d rather we find out when they finally got to you? You’d rather Connor walk into a classroom and see your body there?”

“That’s not going to happen.” I hear my voice rising and try to stop it, but I am overwhelmed by the emotions surging inside me.

“That’s what happens, Summer!” Alice shouts. “They save their fixations for last. The perfect murder. The perfect corpse, eternally. Do you know what happens when an angel loses the person they love? They die, Summer.” Alice’s voice raises, matching mine. “And you know what happens to me?” Her voice cracks. “I’ll break.” The last words are practically a whisper, a broken confession.

I take a step toward her, but she backs up, her eyes welling with tears. “You say you love us, but it doesn’t feel like it. I don’t think you even know how to love.”

The words slice into me, and I feel my heart fracture with each one. Alice turns like a whirlwind and storms to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. I stare into space, her words echoing in my head until I can’t stand it anymore, and I pull on a pair of shorts and my shoes.

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