Page 88 of Bleeding Hearts
Alice: Did you stop him though?
Alek: Shut up, smarty pants, and get down here.
I pocket the note and head down to the idling car. Evan waves from the passenger seat, and it relaxes me. If something was wrong, he would know.
Alek and Evan arrived an hour after I woke up. Apparently, Lally told them she would be busy today and ordered them to pick me up to hang out. I try to fight it after eating ice cream, but I’m dragged back to Alek’s house and forced to watch reruns and eat crappy food. We pass the day like that, but every time I check my phone, I see my calls and texts are unanswered, and a bad feeling builds within me.
She never ignores my texts.
Something is wrong. I just hope she knows when she’s figured it out, I’ll be right here waiting for her.
Turning to Evan, I smile slightly as my brother absentmindedly kisses his head, his eyes on the screen. I don’t think he even realizes he does it or how close he’s holding Evan.
For a moment, I just soak in their blissful happiness, knowing they fought to get it, but I need answers. “Evan?”
“Hmm?” He grabs some popcorn, shoving it into his mouth. “What’s up, cupcake?”
“Wait, I thought I was your cupcake,” Alek grumbles, and I raise an eyebrow. He meets my gaze. “I’m sweet, so what?”
“Sure thing, big bro,” I scoff as I focus on Evan. “What did Lally tell you?”
“She had something to do at school but didn’t want you on your own. She suggested we have a girls’—uh, boys’ day since we haven’t in a while, and she would be here later.” Evan shrugs before looking at me. “Why?”
“Anything else?” I press. This bad feeling won’t go away.
I don’t know what he hears in my tone, but he sits up and puts the popcorn away as he stares at me. “She was acting weird the other day, telling me she loved me and was happy for me. She made me promise to look after you. I thought it was strange, but she said she was just feeling emotional after seeing Tommy’s memorial.”
My heart clenches. She would only make him promise that if she didn’t plan to be here to look after me herself. What is she doing?
Is it about the money? School?
Alek reaches over and turns the film off, his eyes hard and worried. “Tell me what’s going on right now.” When I hesitate, he grabs my hand. “Alice, please, you’re scaring me. Are you okay? Is Lally? What’s going on? Don’t think I don’t know you two have been keeping secrets. I hoped you would come to me when you were ready, but I’m tired of waiting. You’re my little sister, it’s my job to protect you, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what I need to do.”
“And it’s my job to protect her.” Grabbing my phone, I pull up her number and call it again, but it doesn’t even go through. “Something’s wrong.”
“How do you know?” Evan asks worriedly.
I decide to just say fuck it and go ahead. She can be angry at me later. “Have you heard of Risk?”
They share a look. “Rumors,” Evan replies.
“It’s real, and it’s been happening here. Lally and I—we entered it.” The room is silent for a moment, and I wince.
“You what?” Alek surges to his feet, furious. “What were you thinking?”
“I’m okay. We are both okay. I was only hurt once, and I was in the hospital—” I cut off, and Alek stumbles to his knees, staring at me with heartbreak etched on his features. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie to you. I just . . . I needed to save her.”
“Alice.” He looks so pale and terrified, it kills me. “Tell me you didn’t. Tell me this is a joke. Tell me you didn’t risk your life in that stupid game.”
“I can’t,” I whisper.
“Why?” he asks, tears in his gaze. “If you needed money, you could have come to me. I would have given you everything.”
I knew it would hurt him, but seeing the destroyed, lost look on my big brother’s face has guilt eating me alive.
“She needed me,” I croak. “I couldn’t stop her, so I joined her. I had to keep her safe. If it had been Evan, what would you have done?”
“That’s different?—”
