Page 138 of Pretty Poisoned

"I can take you there—I'd love to take you there. You'd look good on the Mediterranean."

"Okay," I tell him.

"I'll see you soon, okay? I love you."

"I love you, too."

He kisses me on the lips before leaving the room.

"I'll come check on you every twenty minutes," River says. "I set a timer."

I smile. "You know, it'd be pretty easy to turn that 'D' into an 'R'."

"Don't tempt me," she laughs. "I am so fucking mad at him."

"Let's go, Riv," Hazel says. "Get some rest, Teagan."

"Thanks, guys."

They walk out the door, leaving me alone in the dark room. I sigh, lying back and closing my eyes, and then I hear footsteps in the room again.

Eli sits on the coffee table, facing me.

"What…what do you want?" I ask.

I've barely interacted with the man who was apparently Declan's best friend in high school, and I don't really want to like this now—weak and alone in a dark room.

"You should have ran, kid," he says. "I am. I didn't sign up for this shit. I just want to play fucking bass. I never wanted to be part of some dark underworld cult of rich assholes or bury girls in the fucking woods. I have a wife and kids—daughters—and…I'm trusting you not to repeat this. Can I trust you?"

I nod.

"After Dallas, I'm done. I'm going north, and I'm staying there. I've got a plane ticket home, and then I'm going to Canada; my family is already on their way. I bought a house and a bar in a small town with a new name…and we're just going to disappear. You meet me downstairs at eight on Sunday morning, and I'll take you to the airport, too. Don't try to pack, don't worry about your things, just come downstairs and get in the car."

"But I don't want to leave," I tell him. "I don't have anywhere to go."

"It's that or the woods, Teagan," Eli says. "Your choice."

"Hey," Rhett says from the doorway. "What are you doing? Let's go."

"Just having a friendly chat with Teagan," he says, standing up and making his way toward the door. "You get some rest."

Rhett makes eye contact with me as Eli brushes past him to the hallway. His eyes narrow, searching my own for something—maybe some kind of hint as to what I might have been discussing with Eli.

"Was he bothering you?" Rhett asks.

"No."

He narrows his eyes. "Okay…I'm glad you're okay, Teagan. Do you want the door closed?"

"Yeah," I tell him. "Please close it."

I close my eyes, and, even though I can hear the concert going on through the concrete walls that separate me from the rest of them, I still fall in and out of sleep for the next hour and a half between my check-ups.

And in that space in between, I think of the first time I saw them on stage—of how magnetic Declan was, how his voice still sends chills up my spine.

The only thing I've ever wanted—my drug of choice, as Declan called it—is freedom. Specifically, the freedom to exist and move through life the way that I want. Free of judgment. Free of the expectations of others.

Before I met them, I thought the only way to have that was to be alone. I was at peace with the idea of living in solitude.

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