Page 63 of Vying Girls
That reluctant kindness again. It used to confuse me, but now it’s clear as day. She’s remembering what we once were. It’s still inside her somewhere. I vow here and now to pry it out, to show it to the sun and force it back to life.
I inch across and take her hand, relieved to be off this death trap.
She pulls me a little too hard and I stumble. She peers down at me as I find purchase on her arms. There’s little of that life in her eyes now. It’s like she’s sleepwalking.
I pull drenched hair away from my face, not wanting to lose sight of her. ‘I know you still feel it.’
‘Feel what?’
I toss out my arms. ‘Everything.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong.’ She turns away from me. ‘I don’t feel fucking shit.’
CHAPTER 11
Nic
Cold wood soaks into my arms where I lean on the windowsill. My eyes are on the tops of the pine trees, the only part of them I see against the black sky. They’re spiky, like serrated blades. My legs are jiggling to fuck; I can’t keep still.
In the window, I see his face. I blow out a breath, fogging the glass. I feel him all around me—inme. His rough calloused hands, his rough stubble, his fucking knife. All of it just rough.
You can run but you can’t hide.The line runs through my head like a chant. Except I never hid either. I came here, to a place he’s inextricably tied to. He’s in the walls, stalking the caves, a reaper in the woods.
And it’s not just me he wants to reap.
I hear Tilda’s laughter downstairs. It’s late; they’ll be waiting for me. It’s Wednesday night.
I wasn’t going to bother, but now…
Blakely assured me he’s off the island, barred from The Order, penned onto Hazelhurst’s infamous blacklist.
But she doesn’t know him like I do. He’s tenacious. Will hold a grudge for ten million lifetimes. Never lets go once he’s got his jaws stuck into something.
I can’t let Tilda near his teeth. Just the thought’s enough to make me want to scream. Not fucking Tilda. Jesus. I’ll kill him, fucking kill him. I’ll killherif it means he can’t get to her.
But I can’t keep her safe alone. I’m going to have to tell them, Haz and Elly. Haz is going to hit the roof. Elly… God, I don’t want them mixed up in my shit. They’re my shields from it, a buffer against the past. They’re the only good things in my life.
I scrub my eyes with the heels of my hands, feeling them sting.
With a disgusted sniff, I push off the window. From my bedside drawer, I find the baggie Skylar gifted me. Blue powder’s pooled into one corner. It looks like pool chalk. I turn it over in my hands, trying to work out what the fuck it is.
Grabbing my phone, I take a photo and send it to her.
What is this shit?
Skylar: The good stuff babes xxx
I huff. Helpful. Whatever. It’s all I’ve got. It’ll do.
Darkening her message, I tap the powder onto the screen. Takes me a frustrating minute to find something to shoot it with. Then I sit on the edge of my bed as I wait for it to kick in.
I blow out a long breath when it does. Well, it’s not coke, that’s for sure. But it’s not bad either.
Feeling the storm calm inside, I brush blue dust from my phone before thumbing open the house group chat.
Time to get this over with.
Tilda
