Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High 2)

I imagined it was why Caleb had most of our contacts and spies hunting for him. The problem with Earl was that he was a ghost. No one could find him unless he wanted to be found.

“Yes, it was paid for.” She chuckled. “We had no idea what to do. For the first month, we didn’t even leave the apartment. There was enough food to feed an army. Ashley’s a damn good cook.” She sighed. “We got by. I don’t know how we did it. Eventually, leaving and visiting the city, it was easy to do, and got easier.”

“What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know. To be killed at a moment’s notice.” She pushed some hair out of her way. “What have you done to her?”

“She’s fine.”

“I don’t like not knowing where my friend is. Ashley never did anything wrong.”

“Em, what makes you think she’s in danger?”

She pulled out of my hold and spread her arms wide. “Look around you.” Gone was the reserved woman I recalled from high school. She’d lost that control. The woman before me was more open, more passionate, and I fucking loved it. “I know the deal that was made, River. What changed? Your parents aren’t in control anymore and from what little information Earl gave, they hadn’t been for a lot longer than now.” She folded her arms. “Tell me.”

“I can’t tell you.”

She stamped her foot.

“Ashley was the price,” Caleb said, surprising the both of us.

I turned to see Gael, Vadik, and of course Caleb on the steps leading toward where we stood.

“What?” Emily asked.

“Earl came to us. He knew your location and how to keep you safe.”

She burst out laughing. “Let me get this straight, you made a deal with a man who was willing to pay millions for a virg…” She stopped talking and looked at all of us while shaking her head. “No. Tell me no. Tell me you didn’t bargain my best friend’s virginity on this man to get me back.”

“It wasn’t just to get you back,” Gael said.

“He offered to help out with what our fathers had done. The arrangement he’d made to keep you away from Crude Hill.”

Tears were in her eyes. “You’re all fools,” she said. “He wants what he feels was taken from him, doesn’t he?”

None of us confirmed her assumptions. There was no reason to. She already knew the truth.

“Where’s Ashley? Tell me you got her before he could put his hands on her.”

None of us spoke.

Emily turned away and started to pace. “Where is she?”

“We don’t know that,” Vadik said.

Caleb held his hand up as if to stop him from talking. “No, I’m not going to keep this shit from her. We fucked up. We made a deal and jumped in because we only saw what we wanted. This is our mess. This is on us, not on her. This is our fault.”

“What’s happened?” Emily asked.

Caleb sighed. “Earl Valentine has gone missing, along with your friend. We don’t know if he has stuck to his arrangement or if he’s made a fool out of us.”

This, for some reason, had Emily laughing. It was more on the hysterical side. “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?”

None of us laughed.

This made her stop and look at us. She pressed her lips together. “She’s innocent.”

Again, there was nothing we could say to make her feel any better. We’d fucked up, we all knew that.

She turned on her heel and started toward the stairs. I followed her; however, Caleb reached out, capturing her waist.

Emily slapped him hard and fast right across the face.

The guards came forward, guns raised, and Caleb held up his hand to stop them.

“I hate you,” she said. “She is better than all of us. She’s kind, good, and sweet, and you sold her as if she was worth nothing.”

“You’re worth everything.”

“Not compared to her. I promised myself she would be free. She’d know only happiness.”

“We’re going to find her.”

I knew Caleb was talking out of his ass. There was no way we could find her, otherwise, we’d have done it already.

“Good, I want her back and now.” Emily stormed away, and I had no choice but to follow close behind her.

She entered the house and made wet footprints across the carpet until we got to the hallway.

She put her hand on the door and stopped.

“You can’t leave,” I said. “You’re no good to her dead.”

“I can’t believe you’d be stupid enough to make a deal with that man.” She turned accusing eyes at me.

I nodded for the soldier who was close to the door to leave. Grabbing Emily’s arm, I marched her into the room we used as an office, slamming the door closed and shoving her up against it.

“I get that you’re fucking upset, but you need to start being careful about what you say to us and when.”