Page 67 of Without a Trace
“No,” I snapped. “Do not say my name like you still get to.”
The silence crackled.
I laughed. It was sharp. Ugly. “You know, I used to think you were both just emotionally constipated. Turns out, you’re something worse. You’re cowards.”
“We didn’t want to hurt you,” Trace said, voice rough.
“Too fucking late.”
Alden’s voice was low. “We were trying to protect you.”
“From what?” I snapped. “From yourselves?”
He looked at Trace. And that told me everything.
My stomach twisted. “Oh my god. This isn’t about me. It’s about something bigger, isn’t it? Something you’re both too scared to say out loud.”
Traces voice was strained. “Eventually… we’re going to have to take you somewhere safe, when the time comes you’re going to need to trust us.”
I froze.
“So what is it? You’re part of some club? A cult? A secret society that makes you swear on your dicks or something?”
Trace rubbed his jaw. Gaze dark. “It’s complicated.”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.I didn’t flinch.
“Try me.”
Alden’s voice was quieter. “It started years ago. Before we met you.”
I blinked. “And you never thought to mention it?”
Trace looked me dead in the eye. “If you knew what we’ve done… what we’re tied to… you wouldn’t look at us the same.”
My throat tightened.
Was I supposed to cry now? Throw something? Or just stand here and pretend this wasn’t the worst moment of my life.
“Who says I ever really saw you?”
That landed.
Trace stepped back like I’d hit him clean in the chest.
“Why me?” I demanded. Heat rising up my neck. “Why am I the fucking center of this? Why am I the one being lied to, watched, followed—what the hell do I have to do with anything?”
“You’re not the center,” Alden said. “You’re the anchor.”
That stunned me.What the hell does that even mean?My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
“You’re the only thing keeping any of this from falling apart.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
So I didn’t.
I stared at them for a long moment. At the wreckage of who we used to be. At the fucking lies still thick in their throats.
