Wynn texted her brother back before we left for dinner.
Something’s wrong.
Once her eyes finally dried, a darker resolve settled in place of the tendrils of hope I saw days ago.
She stared blankly at her phone until he messaged her back. Whatever he responded with made her feel less guilty about the money. She doesn’t have that fight-or-flight look in her eyes anymore, which makes me feel a little more at ease.
But the darkness, the hurt, that worries me.
Lanston and Yelina sit with us at dinner. I’m sure he’s told her everything already by the way her eyes keep flicking over to my arm with worry.
I know Yelina is into me—she has been since the day I arrived—but I’ve never been one for romance, not until Wynn.
Our eyes meet and I try to give Wynn a reassuring grin, but it must fall short because her brows knit and sorrow ebbs into my soul from those beautiful brown eyes.
Lanston clears his throat and mutters, “So, Yelina is going to town tonight, Liam. You should go with her.”
That gets my attention.
“I don’t really want to go out tonight.” I shift uneasily in my seat. Fucking asshole, he knows I try to avoid Yelina like the plague.
Yelina’s smile falters, but she straightens back up. “Well, it’s not like Wynn will be able to hang out with you tonight. She’s spending the evening with him.” Her thumb juts into Lanston’s chest and he flinches.
My cheeks heat with jealousy.
Wynn looks at Yelina indifferently. “She’s right, you should have fun.” Her raspy voice hurts to hear.
The bite wound burns on my arm, reminding me that she hurt me before wrapping me up tenderly. I want to hold her. I want to tell her it’s okay. I want to make her forget everything that happened today.
“Fine, I’ll go with you, Yelina.” I rest my elbow on the table and lean my chin on my palm. Wynn avoids meeting my eyes and Lanston frowns, worry pulling his brows low.
I can’t believe he thought I’d hurt her… I’d never.
Yelina clasps her hands together and giggles, clearly unable to read the depressive mood of the table. “I’ll go get ready now! Pick me up out front in twenty.” Her blonde hair waves behind her as she hurries away toward the dorm wing of the manor.
I guess I should get dressed too so I don’t look like a bum.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I say over my shoulder. I don’t miss the dull ache I see in Wynn’s eyes. Lanston, make her smile, make her not want to die. I grit my teeth and force myself to leave.
I zip up my black leather coat and wear my least distressed dark-blue jeans. My mind won’t stop swarming with what Wynn and Lanston are going to do tonight. How is she feeling? Is she really okay? I don’t know if he can help her the way I can.
She was made for me—not him.
I take the side stairwell to the underground garage and remotely start my car. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a drive. Maybe this won’t be so bad. Yelina isn’t completely insufferable.
My white Camaro is spotless, still basically new and hardly used. A frown pulls the side of my lips as I get in and set my hands on the steering wheel. I used to tear out of back roads and race through highways late at night.
Back when I had friends.
Before I took to hurting myself.
Before my brother died.
Chills crawl up my spine and I have to suppress the urge to run back inside.
Yelina stands beneath the front canopy in a tight, marigold-yellow dress. Shit. I should’ve asked why she wanted to go to town because she’s not dressed for grocery shopping or a bar.
Her green eyes warm on me as she slips inside and fastens her seatbelt. She smells like grandma perfume and dead things. Ugh.
“You look nice,” she says smoothly.
“Thanks. You too. So, where are we going?” I say tightly, returning my eyes to the road.
Yelina slides a hand across my thigh and goosebumps crawl up my arms. “I was planning on going to that steakhouse they have at the edge of town.”
My brows pull together. “Don’t you need a reservation for that place?”
Her lips curl. “Yep.”
“What if I didn’t want to go with you tonight?”
She shrugs. “I would’ve found someone else to come with me. It’s not like I can’t find someone interested in me. I have half the men in Harlow wrapped around my finger.” She’s like a fucking snake.
I give her a pointed look. “Yeah, because that’s something to brag about,” I snap. She scowls at me, returning her hand to her own lap, and remains silent as we drive down the long road leading away from the mansion.
The trees are going to lose all their leaves in the coming days. Halloween is right around the corner and the Fall Festival is next weekend. I wonder if Wynn likes things like pumpkins and hot chocolate, cozy blankets and midnight moonlit dances. Of course she does. She’s an autumn soul.
“Did Wynn really bite you?”
Pulled from my daydreams, I sigh. “Did Lanston tell you that?” Yelina nods and eyes my arm like she wants me to show her the wound. “Yeah, she did.”
She glares out the window and crosses her arms. “You should’ve told on her. We can’t have deranged people like her in our program… not after last time.”
I clench my jaw and snap my head toward her. “Shut the fuck up, Yelina. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Her lip pouts out and she tries to move closer to me, touching my arm as if attempting to calm me down. I shake my arm but she only clings tighter.
“You have to talk about it, Liam. You haven’t been the same since coming back from the hospital.” She threads her arm through mine. Everything in my body is in overdrive. My heart’s racing with the traumatic memories she won’t leave in the grave and the car’s going too fast.
My eyes dart down to the speedometer. 100 mph. Fuck.
I slam the brakes and the tires screech as the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. Yelina screams and grabs onto the door handle like she’ll go flying through the windshield if she doesn’t.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” she screams and unbuckles her seatbelt. She steps outside and slams the door so hard it startles me.
My hands are trembling on the steering wheel. I hit the gas. I need to get the fuck away from her. I need pain, to feel, and to think of anything else except him. Anything except that dull, dark look in Wynn’s eyes that tells me she wants to die.
I peel away and gravel pelts Yelina. I watch in the rearview mirror as she stomps and throws her purse on the ground.
I don’t fucking care. She can throw as big of a fit as she wants. I don’t care.
Not about her.
The sun is setting and distant wildfires scorch the autumn sky with a bright-red fury. I want to be that angry. At anything. I want to be as alive as I felt when Wynn sank her teeth into my arm and I had so many emotions, I wasn’t sure what I was even feeling.
I drive until I reach Bakersville. The lampposts glow orange and the community is already starting to set up festivities. The hay bales are topped with pumpkins and leaves. Cornstalks and scarecrows line the main street with numbers beneath them for the competition.
As I drive through, people look up and gawk at my car, at me. I just want to be invisible right now. I don’t want anyone to see me. Is that so much to ask for? I try to duck as much as I can until I reach the outskirts of the town.
A few houses are out here, but other than that, it’s pretty empty.
I follow the long, winding road up to the lookout and stop in the center of an empty parking lot.
My car idles as I stare out across the small town, filled with people who probably don’t know Harlow Sanctum lies only a few miles outside its walls. I look out over the vast valley and try counting to ten like our counselors tell us to.
I try thinking of things that bring me relief other than cutting into myself.
But the pull is unbearable.
There’s been a hunting knife locked in my glove box since last November. It belonged to my eldest brother, Neil. I spin the knife in my hands. The black steel is clean and sharp. Sweat beads my forehead as I tell myself over and over to not do this.
Will Wynn be upset with me?
A sharp knock comes at the passenger-side door. When I look up to see who the fuck is out here this late at night, my bones chill.
His smile is crooked and all too familiar. My scars burn and my breath catches in my lungs. His eyes are as blue as my own, but altered, evil.
I will never escape him.
