Page 74 of Her Wicked Knights
"So, the story broke." Colton nods. "News vans will be here soon to swarm this place."
"This is so fucked." Rev laughs, a humorless sound as he dips his head, letting it rest between his hands on the steering wheel.
"Which part?" I prompt. "The one where we watched him assault her and did nothing about it or the part where we left her tied up next to a dead body in a puddle of blood?"
"Tripp..." Colton warns, "get over it."
"Get over it?" I laugh, and mine is a humorous one. Because what Colton said is actually funny.
Get over it.
"No, sorry. I can't just get over the fact that we let her be used like a fucking lamb for slaughter. You have any idea what this is going to do to her? That's traumatic, Colton. Layers of trauma, like a rotten fucking onion. This is going to ruin her."
"Maybe she needed ruined." Colton argues, far too easily for my liking.
I turn in my seat to glare at him where he sits in the middle, his knees spread so that one leg is behind the driver's seat, and the other is behind mine. He looks so calm, completely unbothered by everything that just happened.
"She neededruined?"
"Part of her did." Colton doubles down. "I mean, she's been different since her parents. Reckless, like she wants a collision."
"Makes sense." Rev says.
We haven't spent nearly as much time with her as I'd have like to lately, so I'm not sure what Rev is talking about.
"When you're grasping for control, you'll grab hold of anything, destructive or not."
I'm about to ask him how he knows when I remember how he was a few months ago, after Whit slipped into his mind and controlled him. Rev was reckless then too, drinking so much that I found him half-dead in a fucking bar outside of town. He was hurting, and I was helpless to stop it, and he tried to numb the pain. Is that what it's been like for Marley?
I've tried to be there for her in the wake of her parents' death, but it almost feels like Jake and Audrey closed ranks more than ever in the wake of those murders. They sunk their hooks deeper into Marley, pushing us out, and she was hurting so she held tight to them. Except for, maybe Jake hung on too tight, because she kicked him to the curb months ago. And without him, I think she relied on Audrey even more.
I've been a shitty friend for not trying harder, for not fighting for her. I accepted too easily that she didn't need me, but when you're struggling, you need all the support you can get.
It's quiet as I resolve that I'll never fail her like that again.
It's quiet as the flashing lights stop flashing and turn solid.
It's quiet... until Colton's phone begins ringing.
His face goes blank when he looks at the screen, but he rushes to answer. "Marley?"
Rev's hand slips over mine as the gut punch hits me hard. The realization that she called him, that he's the first person she wanted to talk to after all of that, is like a blade to the chest, threatening to cut me right down the middle and let me bleed slowly to death.
It's quiet as I watch him in the rearview mirror, listening to whatever she's saying. I can't hear anything from here, and he doesn't speak other than to say, "I'm on my way."
When he ends the call, his eyes find mine in the rearview, but they're not victorious, like I expected them to be. He looks almost ashamed.
"She called you." I say, voicing out loud what we've all already been thinking.
"Because Audrey was my girlfriend, and she's dead. Marley wants to tell me in person."
I swallow back my response, because we all know it's something more than that. While it's true that she has to be the one to 'break the news' about Audrey, there's no way that's the only reason she chose to call him first... not after something like that. After what Whit put her through, she needs someone who's going to make her feel safe.
She called Colton, and it tells me all I need to know about how much she needs me.
I push Rev's hand off of my own as Colton rakes his through his hair, blowing out a sigh.
"Time to dust off those theater skills, Colt." I tell him. "You've got a show to put on."
