Page 41 of Splitting Secrets
That thought jars me. It’s entirely possible that there are things they were hiding from me as an adolescent. Things they may have thought were too much for me to understand. Every parent does it.
But hiding a whole ass rebellion? That seems like something I’d catch onto, eventually.
It seems like something they knew would take them from me one day.
My heart drops into my stomach.
No. They wouldn’t do something so reckless.
I don’t bother arguing with him about it anymore. Mostly because I hate the idea that he may know more about them than I do. My own parents.
“I won’t apologize for resenting what you took from me.” It was so much.
Too much to fall for his hollow words and allow him back in.
“You can resent me all you want.” He brings his hand between us to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear, then replaces it with his lips. “But that won’t stop me from spending the rest of my life on my knees before you, begging for forgiveness.”
I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Don’t be dramatic.”
Sucking his bottom lip between his teeth, he watches me through narrowed eyes, thinking. “This isn’t some schoolboy crush, Little Nightmare. When I tell you my mind is set on you, I mean it in every sense.”
The rebuttal denying that sits bitterly in my mouth. In what world does a man staking his claim include throwing her into a dungeon and locking the door? None that haven’t been written by Stephen King, I’m sure. But arguing has proven to be useless, especially when we’re only standing in this bedroom because he helped me escape. So I keep my mouth shut this time.
I hate that I’ve even stayed in this room with him alone for so long. Ava, Beatrix, and Jonah are probably dying for him to leave so they can relax, and here we are playing little mind games.
As if I’ve said the thought out loud again, he checks his watch and stands from the bed. “I have to get going. Please don’t do anything to get yourselves caught out here. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
I nod, and I can tell he wants to do something reckless, like reach out and touch my face, or kiss me the way he would when he left before. Thankfully, he refrains, giving me his back as heopens the bedroom door to find all three of my friends standing right outside of it with stern looks.
They step out of his way, allowing him to pass through toward the front door. He throws the same warning not to get caught over his shoulder at them, then leaves without saying goodbye.
“Ava won the game of rock, paper, scissors to take a shower first. You’re going to have to be last,” Jonah explains as soon as the lock clicks into place. Then, as the three of them plop onto the couch, he throws over his shoulder, “We made you a bowl of rice.”
Smiling, I follow them to the kitchen and grab my warm bowl of food. We may not be out of the woods yet, but at least we have each other.
22
Raze
It’s a risk to go down to the cells now that the others are gone. The Syndicate could discover their absence at any time, and I’ve got to make sure I’m as far away from those cells as possible when it happens. But I can’t leave Matilda’s body lying there the way Brody and Niles left her.
A simple drive past the mayor’s home tells me that James has already retired for the night and the others have likely followed suit. Given the lack of attention they’ve paid their captives since they were brought down there, I decide it’s worth the risk to sneak back into the school on my way back to my apartment.
Calling in help is not an option. At least, not for this part. I can’t bring any member of the rebellion into the belly of the beast without risking their life—which I won’t do. In the chaos of everything, I haven’t even had a chance to break the news of anything that happened on this fucked-up day to anyone. Specifically, my mother, who has considered Matilda as more of a sister than a friend.
The loss will devastate her. It’ll devastate all of us. Every member’s life is as valuable as the next.
But Matilda was an integral part of our movement and we were confident she’d make her way out. She deserves to be laid to rest with respect, not discarded like a useless sack of flour by a man with less integrity than a fucking rock.
I find her in the exact position where Brody dropped her in his memory. Part of me is relieved that she’s still here for me to take, and the other is completely dumbfounded that those fucking idiots haven’t come back to clean up their mess yet.
Who kills someone like this? Of all the ways, this had to have been the least efficient. They’ve created a mess of blood and other bodily fluids that will never be scrubbed clean from the stone floors. And now all of it is going to be onme.
The chaos of what happened down here still lingers in the air. Sonny’s screams seem to have clung to the walls and they still vibrate with her energy. A quick peek into the cell she was locked in reveals a puddle of blood sitting beside her makeshift bed. I hadn’t noticed any major injuries on her before, but I was too distracted by everything else to do a full examination.
I hope they take the healing tinctures I left for them.
Twisting around, I try to place my feet in the same place she was standing when Matilda was killed, just to get her point of view. Of course, she had a direct sight of the whole thing. That’s why they taunted her so much before they did it.
