Page 46 of Her Wicked Knights
I haven't figured out how to make my own mother feel better, let alone what to say to Marley. I don't think there's anything to say, though. Nothing will make it not true. Nothing will make it better.
Turns out, though, Marley is exactly what mom needed. She flips a switch the minute she sees Rev lift her into his arms and carry her in the house, turning on her mom mode and throwing the pillows off the couch, letting them land unceremoniously on the floor. It's so out of character, I want to shake her, to snap her out of whatever this is, but instead I watch her direct Rev to set Marley down as Marley says something about how she could have walked.
Rev sits with her against him, because the other choice would pretty much just be to drop her onto the couch. I notice the way she clings to him, her fingers full of his black shirt. I don't think she even realizes she's clinging to him. Instead of being jealous, though, I'm grateful. I'm absurdly fucking grateful that he was there, that he was with her when the deputies showed up.
Marley looks at us all, a little lost, and then mom swoops in to pull her into her arms.
I'm not sure who sobs first, and then I'm not sure whose cries are whose as they devolve together. I scrub my hands over my face, rubbing my eyes, which are fucking burning. When I glance up, I'm surprised to find Colton staring at me.
He tips his head toward the kitchen, and as much as I don't want to leave either of them, it would probably be a good idea to give them a minute to fall apart together, without worrying about who's watching them.
Rev waits for me to go first and then follows me into the kitchen, which shows evidence of how frantically I've been trying to ease my mother's grief. There are tea bags on the counter and spilled honey and an open cannister of sugar. Colton grabs the bottle of whiskey I left uncapped when I poured a shot's worth into her chamomile brew and tips his head back, taking a long swig.
Rev takes it right out of his hand when he finally drops it from his lips, and I watch him take a long drink too, wincing when he passes it to me. I shake my head, because I don't need it. I need coffee or something, because I suddenly feel ancient.
"Something's not right about this." Colton shakes his head, and I note the way his fists are clenched, like he's just waiting for someone to fight.
"No shit." I snap, careful to keep my voice low. "Marley's parents aredead."
Rev drags his fingers through his hair, pacing back and forth and cutting a glance back at the sitting room we left my mom and Marley in.
"I'm aware. I mean, with Jake and Audrey."
"Seriously?" I sneer. "You're really thinking about them right now? Our best fucking friend is falling apart in there. I think I just watched my mom's heart break, and you're worried about whether Jake's fucking the whore you don't even care about."
"Tripp..." Rev warns, glancing toward the sitting room again. I clench my fingers in to fists; they suddenly ache, like they need stretched.
"That's not what I'm worried about. Shut your fucking mouth and hear me out or go try to make yourself useful with Marley but let me fucking talk."
I throw my hands up and let him have the floor.
"They've been weird for months. I don't mean sneaking around or flirting, I mean, like... toxic. Like they're hiding something."
"And what about it?" Rev asks. "How do you think that's relevant to anything?"
"I think they committed murder." Colton says seriously.
I scoff. As much as I dislike the two of them, they're just lousy people, not fucking murderers.
"As in whose murder?" Rev asks, though there are only three people that I know of who have been murdered around here.
"Jenny?" I laugh. "Why would they do that? Jenny wasn't friends with either of them."
"No. But that night Mr. Lavigne found her body... we were at the beach house, remember?"
"Right. As in, not here, in Serenity Hollow."
"No." Colton agrees. "But Audrey and Jake showed up together. Late."
"We were late too." Rev reasons. "They were probably just fucking."
I squint at him, wondering if he realizes he just implied that that's what we were doing when we were late. It absolutely wasn't.
"Okay, but it was Audrey's party. She shouldn't have been late. She should have been there early to set up."
"Audrey doesn't exactly care about what she should do." Rev says, which is about the nicest way he can say Audrey cares about nothing other than Audrey.
"No." Colton agrees. "But she was acting really strange. She got sloppy drunk fast and tried to suck my dick in the middle of the kitchen. When I took her to the bedroom, Jake grabbed her and told her to keep her mouth shut."
