Page 32 of Blood Moon
Moments later, I left everything as it was, closed the garage, and climbed into the car with Em. I texted Bobby the moment I was seated, demanding we get together this Sunday.
After the text was sent, I didn’t feel any better. Bobby had secrets. Rena had secrets.
Julian had secrets. All of it bothered me. I wasn’t completely sure how all of them were connected, but I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
And soon.
CHAPTER19
The blood was on my hands. There was no use hiding it.
Article V, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
Dawn came quickly.
It was Saturday, and I lay in bed, thinking of all that transpired. Julian, my mother, the wall of Bobby’s findings. It drew another question: How could he trust her and grieve her absence if he thought for a single second that she could be involved?
And if she was involved, why would she warn me?
I stayed there, wrapped in a protective cocoon, looking at the pictures I took of Bobby’s collage, zooming in and out of the images and documents I’d already read, willing them to reveal new information somehow. Even with the red line stringing pieces of it together, it seemed indecipherable. There had to be more, a crucial piece I’d overlooked.
And Julian. He was strong. Incredibly fast. He saved my life, and still, he couldn’t tell me everything I wanted to know.But I’m under oath. I can’tsayanything.He’d whispered it with a stillness about him. I remembered the hopelessness I felt, the cracking in my voice, how it made me feel slighted. Had I not been in shock, had there not been a sense of urgency to get out of the woods, I would have pressed him harder. And I wanted to, even now, but due to his absence, I simply had to wait it out.
I willed myself out of bed, threw on some sweats, and left the dorm. I had breakfast in the dining hall with my friends before they left for practice. Today was the big day: the first football game of the season, and the first dance performance of the year.
“I’m gonna be sick,” Em said, pushing her eggs to the side of her plate.
“She’s nervous about performing,” Abi said to me and Stevie, her eyes on her phone as she scrolled. “But she’s always nervous.” She poked Em in the side. “Pull it together, Em.”
Em rolled her eyes, and Abi smacked her lips. She set her phone down to hold Em by the shoulders, looked her square in the face. “Emmeline, do you need a xanny?”
“No,” Em groaned, the palms of her hands pressing into her forehead. She slumped into Abi’s arms like a princess in distress.
Stevie reached a hand across the table. “Em, you can’t let this shit get to you. How long have we been practicing this routine?”
“A few weeks.”
“And how long have you been dancing?” Stevie probed.
“My whole life,” she mumbled, slightly raising her head from Abi’s embrace.
“You can do this routine in your sleep,” Abi added, and she tried patting Em’s back, but even from across the booth, I took in how Em’s brows knitted together in confusion at the out-of-character gesture.
“You’re going to do great,” I said because at this point, my lack of words would be strange. But it was true. I’d seen their routine. It was remarkable.
“See, we all believe in you,” Stevie whispered, and when she moved again, I could smell the lavender and eucalyptus on her skin. She had an entire growing collection of oils and crystals. While it was a practice I didn’t understand, it brought a sense of peace. There was something to be said about it because, since her collection had grown, I hadn’t seen a single set of glaring eyes from the window.
“We’ll work on some breathing techniques,” Stevie said. “But trust me, I know you’ve got this.”
Abi took a long, deep breath that eventually turned into her snorting. Em moved away, confused. “What?” Abi mocked. “Stevie said it better than me … but that was basically what I meant.”
We laughed, shoulders bumping side to side, a core memory forming between us. These girls were the perfect slice of what college should be, but consuming me was the aching pull of everything else.
The four of us shared a long hug before I saw them off. I wished them luck and shouted reminders to stay hydrated before heading for Hester Hall. On the way, Bobby responded to my text:
Sure thing. I should have set something up sooner.
Sorry about that, bug.
