Deep Burn (Burned Duet 2)

“Belle’s dog was probably after food again. I swear that tiny thing eats as if she’s a Doberman.” He shook his head. “Come on.” Dad tapped me on the back. “Let’s get back out there before the humans start a riot for food too.”

I didn’t answer him as he walked back outside and headed right for the grill. I waited to see how everyone would react, but not one person glanced at him. They were all consumed by the conversations they were having.

“Food’s ready!” Dad shouted, and I blinked, trying to pull myself out of the daze I was in. For weeks I’d been trapped inside a bubble with only me and Elodie, but now we were around the people who cared most about us, I was paranoid they’d be able to see through the veil I’d created. They couldn’t know the secret I was keeping because they wouldn’t understand, not like my dad. I was limited with the time I had left as a free man, and I wanted to make the most of it. I didn’t want to spend it arguing what the right thing in their eyes was to do. I’d made my choice, and they’d have to deal with it.

ELODIE

I’d always been good at keeping secrets. I was an expert at not telling the people around me things I didn’t want them to know. But I was starting to understand I wasn’t like that anymore. I felt antsy, like I needed to blurt out what I knew, but every time I opened my mouth to say it, nothing came out.

It had been two days since we’d gone to Lola and Brody’s house for a cookout. Two days since I’d overheard Asher and his dad talking. Two days of my mind swirling, trying to make sense of what they’d been saying. But it was no use. Every single time I came to the exact same conclusion: Asher was prepared to take the fall for something he did to help me.

I clutched my hands in my lap and tried to keep my concentration on the teacher at the front of the class, but nothing I did helped. All I could think about was what would happen when Asher turned up at court. I’d heard what Asher said loud and clear: Twenty years. He’d go to prison for twenty years, and all because he’d protected me.

I couldn’t let it happen, no matter how much of a fight Asher put up. Maybe I was being selfish wanting Asher beside me every day. Maybe I was doing this more for myself than him. But I couldn’t let him do it. I needed a plan. I needed to figure out what I had to do.

“Elodie?” Leo whispered from beside me. “You okay?”

I turned to face him and opened my mouth to tell him what was on my mind. I was desperate to tell someone what I’d heard. It was on the tip of my tongue, but something stopped me. Something halted me from voicing my thoughts. It was Asher I should confront, but I didn’t know how he would react. Would he be mad? Would he sign the deal? My eyes widened. What if he’d already signed the deal? Shit. I hadn’t thought about that.

“I…” I stood, my chair scraping against the tiled floor. “I have to go.” I grabbed my bag, threw my book inside it, not bothering to zip it up fully. I had to help Asher, even if it meant going behind his back to do it. I sprinted down the hallway and toward the main entrance, pumping my legs as fast as I could.

“Elodie!” Leo shouted after me. “Stop!”

I didn’t listen, just kept on going, knowing I needed to confront this situation as soon as I could. I slammed my hand down on the bar of the doors and they whooshed open. I practically jumped down the steps and didn’t stop moving until I was at my car.

My shaking hands caused my keys to rattle, but it only took two attempts to get the key in the lock. As soon as I was inside my car, I clicked my belt in place, and turned the engine on. I’d already made my mind up to where I was going, so sped out of the lot.

It only took me minutes to pull up outside the house, but my heart was racing so fast I thought it was going to explode out of my chest. I darted up the driveway and opened the front door. “Brody? Lola?” My feet carried me through the living room and into the kitchen where they both sat at the table with cups of coffee. Lola was still dressed in her pajamas, but Brody was fully clothed in jeans and a T-shirt. “I need to talk to you,” I gasped out.

Lola stood, her eyes wide and face panicked. “What’s happened?” She reached for me and pulled me toward the table. “Sit down, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shook my head. I didn’t have time to sit. There was an urgency to the situation. Asher hadn’t confided in me about his case, and I understood why now, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t upset with him. I’d leaned on him more than anyone else I ever had, yet it was as if he didn’t feel like he could do the same. But deep down I knew it wasn’t the case. He’d told me things he’d never confided in anyone else.

“I heard you talking,” I blurted out to Brody. “I heard you and Asher talking the other day.”

Brody’s shoulders dropped, his gaze flicking to Lola who was still standing next to me. “I thought you had.” He leaned back in his chair and pushed his hand through his graying hair.

“I need you to take me to his lawyer.”

“His lawyer?” Lola asked, her attention swinging between me and Brody. “Why do you need to go to his lawyer? What’s going on?”

Silence consumed us as neither Brody nor I looked away from each other. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her, not only that, but I’d only heard enough to understand what was going on. I didn’t know the ins and outs of it all, but I had a feeling Brody did.

“The DA wants to charge Asher with attempted murder,” Brody told her, but he didn’t look away from me as he said it. His dark-brown eyes that looked so similar to Asher’s held a pride I’d never seen before. “He’s been given a plea deal.” He paused. “Twenty years.”

“Twenty years?” Lola gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. “What the…how can they…” I felt her gaze on the side of my face, but I didn’t give her my attention. Brody knew what I was going to do without me having to spell it out to him. “But he was defending Elodie.”

“He doesn’t want her to give her statement,” Brody confirmed what I’d overheard.

“But how can the same DA who is prosecuting Knox do this to Asher?”

“It’s not the DA,” Brody told her. “The two cases are under different assistant DAs. They either haven’t shared their files, or don’t care.”

“That can’t be right.”

“It’s not,” Brody gritted out. “But it’s the way it works in an office that big.” Brody glanced back at me, his eyes softening. “He thinks he’s protecting you.” He stood slowly. “He doesn’t want to make you have to relive it over and over again.”

I chortled. “He doesn’t understand that I relive it every time I close my eyes. Every time someone knocks on the door. Every time someone gets too close to me.” I heaved a breath, trying to calm myself. “I don’t get to pick and choose when I remember what Knox did to me.” I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to protect myself from what I was saying, but it was no use because it was all trapped inside me. “If telling them what happened that night means he doesn’t get charged, then I’ll do it. I’d do it a thousand times over for Asher.”