Page 92 of Twisted Secrets

“You look warm,” Jagger says, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

“I am now. Not sure I can say I will be once we’re out there.” I nod toward the sliding glass doors to the porch that’s covered in a good two feet of snow.

“No kidding. It’s fucking insane. Makes for a good ride on the sleds, though.”

“Victor should be here with the shuttle any minute,” Neo says. “I’m gonna bring Maddie out there, so we can get her in once he arrives.”

The guys made some last-minute calls to arrange for a way to get Maddie to Jude. Crew and Riley have left already, and they’re bringing Jude out of the tunnels. We’re all hopeful that seeing Jude will jog some sort of memory for Maddie, and we can finally get some closure.

Deep down, I’m hoping like hell he’s innocent, but even if he is, I’m not ready to forgive him for all the shit he put me through.

“We’ll be right behind you guys,” I tell Neo and Maddie.

Neo pushes her through the kitchen and into the living room, and I give Jagger my full attention. My arms wrap around his big winter coat, and I lift my chin. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, beautiful,” he says. “I missed you last night.”

I bite my lip, averting my gaze. “Yeah. About that.”

“I know,” he says, catching me off guard.

“But, how…”

“Crew went to check on you last night and you weren’t in your room. He came to my room, thinking you might be there, and when he realized you weren’t, we both knew where to find you. Sure enough, we opened Neo’s door and there you were, sleeping in his bed.”

Holding my breath, I ask, “Are you mad?”

His lips press together, and he shakes his head, still peering down at me. “Nah. You were honest with us. That’s all we can ask for.”

“Look. I know this whole situation is weird—”

“Are you happy?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Yeah, I am.”

“Then that’s all that matters.”

This time, my head shakes no. “No, it’s not. You guys always say that, but my happiness isn’t all that matters, yours does, too.”

The sound of someone laying on the horn of the shuttle interrupts us, and we both crack up laughing.

“Neo?” Jagger says.

“Oh, for sure. It’s definitely not Maddie.”

Jagger takes my hand and we leave the house together. Once we’re outside, we both laugh at Neo, who’s cursing us to hurry up from the driver’s seat of the shuttle. “We ain’t got all day. Get your asses in here,” he hollers.

Some things never change.

After a quick stop at the school to drop off Victor—which is a surprise in itself, since Neo would normally make him walk back—we pull up to The Ruins. As instructed, Riley and Crew have Jude tied to a chair above ground. The snow is still coming down pretty heavy, which means we have to make this quick.

Crew and Jagger get Maddie’s wheelchair out and I watch Jude’s face for an expression of guilt.

“What are they doing?” Jude asks, panic-stricken.

“You’ll see,” I tell him.

Once it’s in place, under the overhang, Neo comes out of the shuttle carrying Maddie.

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