Page 70 of Live To Tell

Then I lose sight of who I am completely.

I slide my hands across his naked chest, down to the tight abs before digging my nails into the muscles of his lower back. I can’t move, lost in the harsh, heady kiss. My legs weaken and if I wasn’t held against the locker by his body, I’d be a heap on the floor.

Good grief, Violet.

I catch a breath as he pauses and tips my chin, eyes bright. “Was that hard enough?”

“Yes. But don’t dent the locker next time.” I shiver as his thumb skims my bottom lip.

“I did?” He pulls me forward and frowns at the small dent. “Um. Sorry.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” I say and touch the metal. “Hardly anything. Not body shaped.”

He chuckles. “I bet the other dents in the lockers aren’t from things like this.”

I hold his face in both hands. “Grayson. I promise to keep you safe. I won’t lose you unless you choose to walk away.”

He smiles and rubs my cheek with the back of his fingers. “I promise the same. Even without the blood bond—I don’t need that. I never want your blood, Violet.”

I swallow down the desire to tell him I want the opposite. “That’s sensible if you value your bodily integrity. Dorian will find accepting what you mean to me difficult enough.”

His eyes go wide. “Can we not tell him?”

“Grayson. He isn’t stupid. Dorian already knows how I feel about you and has since the day I stood between the pair of you at my family’s home.” I bite my bottom lip. “I very much hope I won’t need to do that again.”

“Well, if I can avoid Dorian as much as possible, that would help. I’m not keen to see him anytime soon.”

“We need to see him as soon as possible. As long as Josef is out there, you’re not safe. I don’t ever want to see you beaten and bloodied again.”

“Yet you want me to spend time with Dorian? Sounds contradictory.” He draws me to him again. “Especially when I tell him I’m in love with his daughter.”

“Love really does make people choose unwise actions,” I comment. “One step at a time, Grayson.”

With a smile, he nudges my nose with his. “Did you seriously think I wouldn’t kiss you when every single time I see you that’s exactly what I imagine?”

“And again, an example of how people’s contradictory natures confuse me. Are you not ‘done’?”

“Violet, I haven’t even started yet,” he whispers, echoing his words from the night his lips first met mine.

Grayson kisses me again, his mouth’s warm touch moving from tentative to firm as I eagerly respond, pressing myself into him again. Grayson’s grip on my waist tightens and he slides his hand into my hair.

But Grayson doesn’t dent the locker this time.

Chapter 25

ROWAN

I make another note of timestamps in the footage from the USB ready to show Violet, hoping she’s deciphered something useful in the diary to help. I’d expected Violet to come over last night and inspect my work, but just me and Leif worked through everything. Her message asking if we’re both okay almost had me rushing over, but when she later responded she’s fine, I backed off.

Violet wasn’t wrong about the mundanity of this girl’s life. Many of the clips are Madison and the same two girls who Julius mentioned, camera often focused on their three faces, with wherever they visited in the background—malls, classrooms at their academy, and evenings out where the alcohol fueled the giggling further.

Seems Madison downloaded everything from a phone—Julius never found that. She would have had it with her at the dance, I suppose, so no footage from that night.

Although there aren’t any dates attached, the changes in season as the clips progress tell me the footage covers a couple of years in Madison’s life. There’s a guy named Archie in some of the earlier clips, who seems close to Madison, but he disappears after a few months. A failed relationship that’s too old to link to the murder? I note timestamps of the places he’s clearly visible anyway.

Madison and her two friends are tight knit—exclusive but not in a bitchy way. They’re witches who keep to themselves, a mini-coven and a trio who are in every part of each other’s lives. If Madison is as powerful as Julius and his family claim, there’s no evidence, even in the classroom footage, because she isn’t studious. But as I know, showing everybody how potent your magic is isn’t always the best idea.

Somebody rounds the bookshelves that act as our barrier against the academy, and I look up, ready to speak.

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