Page 20 of Twisted Hearts

But tomorrow morning, we’re going to find out together.

5

EILISH

I wasn’t a “sneakout at night” kind of teenager. I mean, it’s not like I was a total square, or didn’t have any friends. But sneaking out of the house to go hang out with friends was more Neve’s thing, not mine.

So it’s Neve I’m channeling when I come home after hiding in one of the academic buildings on campus for the rest of the afternoon.

After my meeting with the devil himself. The one where he smiled while telling me he basically owns me now. I shiver at the thought. But I still manage a smile at Barry and Jon—the two guards on front entrance duty tonight at the Kildare family home—before I unlock the door and quietly slip inside.

These days, the huge, rambling Upper East Side brownstone I grew up in is a bit quiet. It’s just Castle and me left now, and while he’d never openly admit it, I know even he’s just here becauseI’mstill here.

Castle isn’t officially my or Neve’s bodyguard anymore. He’s basically Cillian’s number two for the whole organization. But, try tellinghimthat he doesn’t have to look after me anymore.

Neve lives with Ares now, obviously. And I guess even overly protective Castle has conceded that she’s more than safe over there, with an army of Drakos guards watching over her, not to mention Ares himself. But me? I have a feeling I could move into Fort flipping Knox and Castle would be setting up a sleeping bag outside my room “just to be sure”.

It’s a good thing I love him like the big brother Neve and I never had.

So, yeah, Neve’s gone. And Cillian’s moved into his place with Una in Brooklyn full time. Which leaves just Castle and me here. And the reason I’m using Neve-inspired sneak tactics tonight is that Castle is the last person I want to face right now.

The man is a freaking bloodhound when it comes to picking up on things that might be bothering or worrying you. There’s no way I could be in a room with him right now without him knowing in a nanosecond that something’s amiss.

Well, “amiss” is putting it lightly.

“Defcon one” would be more apt.

Gavan knows.

A cold, cruel shiver curls its way up my spine as I tiptoe through the front entryway and toward the grand staircase that leads up to the sanctuary of my room. My memory flashes to the growled voice in my ear, to the raw, dark power emanating off his sculpted, imposing body.

To the baggie he dangled in front of my face containing a single spent bullet casing.

He fucking KNOWS.

He knows what I did that night. Which means he saw me. Fuck me, he might have even filmed—

I cringe as my weight sinks onto the foot I’ve just placed on the first step of the staircase, causing the old wood to whine like a screaming baby.

“Eilish?”

Shitshitshit.

I swallow back the groan, pulling a smile out of my ass just as Neve pokes her head around the corner from the direction of the kitchen. She beams when she sees me.

“Hey hey! I was wondering when you’d be home from class.”

“Surprise?” I shrug with an awkward smile.

My sister smirks. “Were you just trying to sneak upstairs?”

“Not at all.”

She snorts. “Yeah, sure. For future reference, steps one, six, eleven, and eighteen—but just the right side—squawk like motherfuckers. Not that you were trying to go unnoticed, butifyou were—”

“I wasn’t!”

She rolls her eyes with a grin and nods her chin at the kitchen. “Well, since you’renotavoiding humans, come have a drink.”

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