“That’s my cue, I’ll see you both soon,” Ares saunters from the room, leaving me with Tarian. Once he settles in the chair that our other brother just vacated, he turns his blue gaze on me.
All these years, every time I looked at him, all I saw was his mother. He’s the spitting image of her, from his dark hair to those baby blues. And he uses them just like she did. For his benefit.
“What’s up? You look like shit. Those guys did a number on you,” he tells me after blowing out a white cloud and handing me the joint.
“What happened?”
“We found you in the office, knocked out, nothing but your phone and wallet on you. They clearly searched you for something.”
I wonder what it could’ve been they were looking for. “We need to find Rukaiya.”
“I know, we will. We always do what’s needed,” Tarian reminds me. He’s the brains behind this with his hacker intel. He’s a whizz on the computer, and I know he’ll be able to track her when he gets to his office. “What did you want to tell me?”
“I saw someone tonight, someone we thought had died.” I’m wary as I speak. I don’t want to anger him, but I also don’t want him to think I’m bullshitting him. “Tarian, I saw your mother,” I finally utter after a few moments.
“What do you mean?” He’s on his feet, the joint hanging limply from his lips, and I notice it’s almost done. He doesn’t look at me as he paces. “She can’t be alive. I watched her coffin get lowered into the ground.”
“I know, we all did. But there’s something I never told you. From before.” My words halt him mid-step, and those blue eyes I’d come to know so well fill with something foreign.
“What?”
“I… It’s difficult to say… I mean… I was young… Stupid…”
“What the fuck are you trying to say, Etienne?” Tarian’s anger is volatile. He has something so violent that simmers beneath his cool, calm exterior. Ares and I have our rage issues, but when Tar loses his shit, it’s like a hurricane sweeping through the house.
I know I can no longer hide it, and the confession whooshes from me like a deep breath I’d been holding for far too long. “I slept with your mother. I mean she seduced me, years ago. Before… I mean, I can’t…”
“What the fuck did you just say?” The room takes on an icy chill which takes hold of me, seeping into my bones, racing down my spine, and I know this isn’t going as well as I’d hoped. Well, I mean… how did I think it would go? “You fucked my mother?”
“Okay, time out, kids,” Ares joins us once more, pulling Tarian back from the bed where I’m perched.
“He fucked my mother!”
I shouldn’t have said it the way I did, but then again, what’s a good way of saying something like that. There isn’t one. “I wish I could take it back, but it happened. And I’m so fucking sorry.”
Blue eyes lock on mine, darkness takes hold of them, and for the first time since I met Tarian Calvert, I’m scared. “You are nothing to me.” He pulls himself away from Ares and walks out the door, leaving us staring at each other.
The pain in my chest doesn’t even come close to what I’d expected it to be. No. It’s worse. So much fucking worse.
I just lost my best friend, and I’m sure he’ll never forgive me.
14
Rukaiya
When I open my eyes, I find myself in a luxurious room. It’s the same bedroom I changed in earlier. At least I think it was earlier. I was dragged from the inner circle, taken to what I’m guessing was Thane’s office, and then I saw Etienne. Even in the darkness, I felt a stab of hope, which was quickly taken away, when two men jumped him from behind. They knocked him out because he wasn’t alert; he was too worried about me.
That’s the problem with my life; nobody can get close enough, or they’ll get hurt. And this was evidence enough. I wanted him to run, to leave me be, but he didn’t listen. I watched them beat him up as I was injected with something that had my eyelids falling closed.
This all feels like a fucking nightmare. A movie reel playing out on a large screen, but I’m right in the middle of it. I don’t want to be, I want out. Pushing off the bed, I make my way to the door, knowing I’ll find it locked. And I’m right. When I tug on the doorknob, it doesn’t even twist.
My next idea is to pull open the curtains, so I race to the window and find the break in material, only to find the windows all locked up tight. But the view is what steals my breath. From here, I can see the town of Tynewood. We’re high up on a hill that overlooks a forest, I can just about see the lake where Dahlia and I first came across the boys, and I also can see the university.