Page 116 of Linger

“You’re scared,” I whispered when she took a step away from me, apparently deeming me ready.

An offended scoff left her, but she didn’t respond otherwise. And a few seconds later, the elevator came to a stop.

The girl hurried off the elevator, so I did the same. Even though each step from her seemed cool and confident, I could see the same sense of urgency as before as she led us toward a large bay filled with crates, containers, and half a dozen neon masks.

As soon as they rounded the corner, the girl latched onto my wrist and hauled me in the opposite direction. “Don’t say anything,” she reminded me under her breath, even as she hurried us away, then mumbled, “Shouldn’t have risked going that way.”

My head snapped over to look at her, my lips parted to ask what she meant and who was rounding the corner just as a deep, commanding voice rang out behind us.

“Autumn.”

The girl slowed to a stop with a hushed curse but turned with a flourish and taunting tone. “And here I thought I could escape you for another night.” She clicked her tongue as I forced myself to face the group of unfamiliar masks closing in on us. “Damn. How’d you know it was me?”

“Autumn—”

“Was it the heart?” A haughty laugh left her. “What am I saying, of course it was.” Her tone turned hateful when she said, “Because it’s gonna be what destroys me. Right, Dad?”

Oh God.

I knew right then I would rather take the room downstairs with Lachlan’s outrageous demand for trust than this. Because the man who had ingrained that sin and depravity in Lachlan was standing directly in front of me.

“Don’t have time for this, Autumn.” He sighed impatiently, then gestured behind him. “With what happened the other night, we think it’s best the wedding continues...with Aiden.”

A sharp, disbelieving laugh burst from the girl at my side, and she staggered back a step before rocking toward me. “I just hallucinated because it sure as fucking shit sounded a lot like y’all decided I’m still getting married...but to Sean’s brother.”

“Know your place,” her dad barked, and I wondered if I would start laughing or crying first.

I’d blindly put my trust in this girl, I’d let that hope bloom, and she’d been engaged to Sean—to Detective Higgins. She was probably leading me straight to Lachlan to show him exactly why he couldn’t trust me.

This had all been an elaborate trap, and I’d fallen for it.

Oh my God, I can’t breathe.

“I know my place,” Autumn shot back just as fiercely, refusing to back down. “You’ve reminded me of it my entire life. But maybe, I don’t know, give me more than three days to grieve before informing me I’m marrying my dead fiancé’s brother.”

At that, she turned again, reaching for me and pulling me with her, and I stumbled after her because I wasn’t sure what else to do.

Either way, everyone I loved was already in grave danger, and I’d signed their death warrants.

“Your fiancé was Detective Higgins,” I mumbled once we were hurrying down our second hallway. Autumn hushed me, but I still said, “I would say I’m sorry...but I’m not.”

A disgusted sound left her. “He can rot in Hell for all I care.”

I slowed as the bass of music and the hum of conversations started filtering through the walls, but Autumn gripped my arm tighter, trying to hurry me. Just as I started worrying over where we were going, she explained, “Our club. We can’t go that way.” She held up a hand before I could ask and added, “Masks aren’t allowed. If Lachlan’s in there, he’ll—”

Autumn and I came to an abrupt stop when the power went out. Despite the disappointed groans from the people in the club, the glow of neon lighting our bodies and path, and the absence of electrical whirring filled the hall with a thickness that had chills rising on my arms.

Or maybe that was anticipation and hope.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she whispered. “We have to go.”

“They’re coming.” The words were a breath leaving me, and I turned as if I might be able to see Diggs or his family in the pitch-black corridor. “They’re here.”

“And we shouldn’t be,” she seethed.

“No,” I cried out and ripped my arm from her when she tried dragging me away again, but then I was choking over a pained gasp and struggling for air when Autumn slammed me against the wall and gripped my neck with surprising force.

“Your boyfriend is only in here because I didn’t get you out there fast enough,” she harshly whispered. “Call attention to us, and we’ll be found by people you don’t want finding us. Now, let me get you out of here.”

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