Now, Tobias, who isn’t a friend or a family member, who isn’t someone I would ever have imagined I’d share more than an uncomfortable silence with, is asking me to open up something that feels slick and black and shameful.
“I can’t,” I say. “I can’t do this.”
“Listen to me,” Tobias says. “Either you tell me, or I’m going to go downstairs and ask Kyle what the fuck he did to have you looking as pale as a ghost.”
“NO,” I blurt, grabbing onto his soft white shirt. “You can’t.”
“Shit, Cora. You look fucking terrified.”
“Please,” I say. “Please don’t do anything.”
That’s the moment I see something change in Tobias’s eyes. They go from a soft, mellow honey to a fire-filled amber, and his jaw ticks. “Did he do what I think he did?” he growls. “Did he hurt you?”
“Tobias…” I don’t let go of his shirt because I know. If I don’t hold him here, he will bolt downstairs and kick the shit out of Kyle. I can feel the coiled tension throughout his muscular body. It’s practically vibrating off of him.
“Did he?” he says, just as River enters the room again, closing the door with a soft click.
“Did who?” River asks.
I swallow again because what do I say? How do I go back to the Cora I was minutes ago, when my only thought was finding something to eat for the evening? How can I slam the lid back down on these memories when the teenager who hurt me is downstairs, now a fully grown brutish man?
“I swear, Cora.” Tobias’s hand slides from my cheek to rest at the side of my neck, his fingers pressing to the ridges of my spine. It’s a firm grip, but I don’t fear him. Instead, it’s reassuring. He’s strong and capable, and he’s trying to show me that I can trust myself in his hands.
“He touched me between my legs…at a club…I didn’t want him to.”
The darkness I see in Tobias’s eyes is instant, like blackout blinds have been drawn down and obliterated anything other than the cold fury that’s raging inside him. I grip his shirt tighter as River mutters foul curse words and begins reaching for the door.
“You can’t do anything,” I blurt. “You can’t because then he’ll know I’m here. I don’t want him to know, okay? I don’t want anything to do with him ever again.”
Tobias’s hands slip, and he takes hold of my wrists gently. “Listen to me, okay? If you think I’m just going to go downstairs and party with a fucking predator, you have no idea who I am. That man isn’t welcome here, ever again, do you understand? And he’s going to be told that now.”
“River!” I shout as he opens the door. “Please.”
When he turns, and our eyes meet, his usually ethereal eyes are stormy and dark. “Cora,” he says. “Let us deal with this.”
And before I can say anything else, Tobias has risen and left the room with his brother.
12
TOBIAS
The red mist that hovers behind my eyes is all I can see as I follow River down the stairs. The noise from the party gets louder and louder, but the thump of my heart in my chest and the rush of blood in my ears is loud enough to obliterate it all.
River’s the first to spot Kyle, who’s talking to Alden. They were friends at college, and although they don’t see each other much these days, they’re deep in conversation.
“KYLE!” River yells. Two seconds later, as Kyle’s mouth has dropped open as though he intends to say hi, River punches him on the cheek. “You fucking piece of shit,” River hisses as he throws another punch. Suddenly, my red mist is gone, and all I can see is my brother losing the grip he has on his self-control.
Alden steps in, trying to grab River’s flailing arm before it connects with Kyle’s skull again. “RIVER!” I shout, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him back. “STOP.”
“What the hell is going on?” Alden asks me as River pulls against both of our gripping hands, trying to free himself. Kyle has recoiled and is staring at River in disbelief.
“ASK THIS ASSHOLE,” River hisses. “ASK HIM WHAT HE DID TO CORA.”
“Shit,” I mutter, knowing this isn’t what she wants and knowing that River is going too far.
“Cora?” Alden says as a flicker of understanding passes over Kyle’s features.
“ASK HIM!” River rages.
All around us, people are staring, torn between moving closer to hear more and stepping back to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Kyle’s arms cover his head as he cowers back, and I understand why. The two of us struggle to restrain River, and if we can’t hold him, all that power will rain down on Kyle like hellfire.
“I didn’t do anything,” Kyle says, and that’s it for me. There is no way this asshole is going to deny what he did. There’s no way I’m letting him do that.