Page 36 of Evil King

I didn’t want to press the issue. Instead, I gave Cherri’s hand a gentle squeeze and let it go so that I could drive. There was a spot about forty-five minutes outside of Postings where my mom had brought me to a brunch when I was younger. The excitement of the city could always have someone’s anxiety blazing, but this spot was up in the woods surrounding Postings and looked out over the city. With the sun beginning to set, it cast a beautiful orange glow through the spaces in the trees and was quiet and calm.

I parked the car in one of the few makeshift spots that visitors to the lookout point had made and got out so I could walk around to Cherri’s door and open it for her. Once she was out, I grabbed the couple of blankets I’d snagged on the way out of my house and led her over to the plateau at the top of the point. One blanket I laid out for us to sit on, and the other I slung over her shoulders to keep her warm. We sat down, not too close to each other, but not too far, and I didn’t prod Cherri to tell me what happened. I waited and gave her a chance to calm down.

“He’s never done that before,” Cherri said quietly. “He’s grabbed me a little, I guess, but never forcefully like that. Never so hard that I felt like I couldn’t snatch away if I wanted to. Something is wrong with him.”

“Yeah, something’s wrong with him if he would put his hands on you,” I replied. “There’s a first time for everyone, Cherri.” I had one leg kicked up so that I could rest my arm on my knee and had the other leg outstretched. I pulled at the fraying threads of the sweatpants I was wearing. “Are you planning on leaving him now?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to make him any worse.”

“If it’s a fear thing, I’ll protect you,” I said quickly. “You shouldn’t stay with someone like that.”

“Nathan isn’t abusive. He had this look in his eyes that was just… I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like that.” She was staring off into the distance with this thousand-yard look in her eyes like she was replaying it in her head. “Afterward, he became the most remorseful I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, let a therapist sort that out. It’s not your responsibility to fix an abusive person.”

It wasn’t a rare story. A woman is planning on leaving a guy, knows that she should, and then he gets abusive and backtracks. I should have known better than to get so close to Cherri while at Nathan’s party. That was likely the switch that flipped in him, leading him to hurt Cherri. I would never forgive myself for that.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “This is my fault.”

Cherri looked over at me for the first time since we arrived. “How do you figure?”

“I mean, I nearly kissed you at his party. If I hadn’t been there—”

“If anything, that wasmyfault, but I don’t think that’s what this was. He’s been getting more obsessive since the summer. I don’t really know what happened, but I think whatever triggered him then is the same thing that triggered him now. He’s just a jealous guy.” She must have noticed the look on my face because she looked embarrassed and averted her gaze. “I know I sound like one of those women who make excuses for a bad guy.”

“You do,” I replied. “If he’s hurting you, you should leave him.”

“He won’t do that again. Besides, what I said yesterday hasn’t changed. I’m not really in it for him. The Royal Court, they’re my friends, plus their network of influence iswaybigger than you’d imagine. I’ll be able to get into any college I want with their emblem on my chest.”

“So it’s about clout?” I asked, for the first time ever losing a brief bit of respect for the woman I cared about so much. “That’s not like you. The Royal Court has changed you.”

Cherri opened her mouth as if she was going to deny it but then stopped. She looked back out over the city and didn’t say anything else for a while. She sat, looking at the city and the setting sun, and I could see the pain in her face. She was fighting off saying more, and the very last thing I ever wanted was to stifle her if she wanted to talk to me about something, even if she thought I would disapprove.

“What, Cherri?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Hey.” I touched her arm gently, and she glanced sideways at me. “Tell me. I’m sorry. No more judgemental stuff. I shouldn’t have said that stuff to begin with.”

“Really?” she said.

“Yeah, come on. You know I’m not in any place to judge anyone. You just have to know, when it comes to you, it’s a little more serious for me,” I said.

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I know. Thanks.” She shifted so that she was facing me directly and pulled the blanket a little tighter around her body. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

A little chuckle escaped her lips. “I mean, this all happened so…suddenly. My dad got promoted not long after you left, and by Christmas, I was introduced to The Royal Court. They asked me to join them, and I didn’t really have anyone else, so I did.”

“That makes sense,” I replied.

Cherri pulled her knees up and set her head on top of them. “That’s all the last four years of my life have been, just doing what seems to make the most sense, even if I’m not entirely sure it’s what I want.”

“Have you ever really thought about it?” I asked.

Before she could answer, Cherri shivered and attempted to pull the blanket closer, but it was pretty much maxed out. I scooted a little closer to Cherri, perching my legs on either side of her so that I could settle my arms at her side and hold her close. I rubbed my arms along her arms a little bit to spread some body heat around.

“Is this okay?” I asked.

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