I thrum my fingers on the top of my thighs. “Did Ayden seem sick this morning?”
Fiona shakes her head as she unzips her backpack. “No, he seemed fine.” She pulls out a thick textbook. “My parents seemed freaked out, though. My dad was acting like a weirdo the entire drive and gave us this huge lecture about being careful and keeping an eye out for anything weird today.”
“It probably has something to do with the fact that the police were at our house this morning.” Kale appears in the doorway with a slice of pizza in his hand.
I turn the volume of the stereo down. “How do you know the police were at your house?”
He shrugs, sinking down into a chair. “I was hanging out at one of my friend’s houses across the street, and his mom asked me about it.”
I bite down on my lip and pull out my phone to send Ayden a text.
Me: When r u going to b home?
When he doesn’t answer, an uneasy feeling gnaws in the pit of my stomach. I know he’s told me time and time again not to worry about him, but I can’t help it. I love him, and not knowing where he is drives me crazy.
I get lost in my thoughts as I flip through songs while everyone works on their homework. I’ve always had a rather overactive imagination, and it conjures up a thousand different horrible scenarios of what could be going on.
When my mother walks into the room and motions me to come over, I suddenly realize that maybe my imagination was right. Perhaps something terrible has happened.
She points at Fiona, Kale, and Everson, then puts her fingers to her lips, indicating for me to be quiet before leaving the room. I causally get up and wind around the sofa.
“Where are you going?” Fiona asks, glancing up from the textbook.
“To get a snack,” I reply, hoping I sound calm.
“Grab me something, too, would ya?”
I nod. “Sure.”
She smiles and returns to her homework while I hurry and sneak out of the room. When I get into the kitchen, my mother is sitting at the table with her phone clutched in her hand, and my dad and Uncle Ethan are hurrying for the back door.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
My dad motions for me to come with them. “We need to go to the hospital.”
I feel as though someone has punched me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me. “What happened?”
Worry is written all over his face as he grabs the car keys off the counter. “There’s been an accident. I’ll explain on the way. We need to go.”
Bile burns at the back of my throat as I slip on my shoes and follow them out the door. We climb into my dad’s 1969 Chevelle, and he breaks almost every traffic law as he flies down the street and onto the freeway.
“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?” I finally say after ten very long minutes go by.
My dad glances at Ethan who looks as though he’s about to be sick.
“Go ahead and tell her.” He grabs his phone out of his pocket and sends a text. “She’s going to find out eventually.”
Sighing, my dad focuses on the road and begins telling me a horrible story about a letter and a meeting and basically a plan that consisted of Ayden risking his life.
By the time he’s finished, I almost ask him to pull over so I can throw up.
“But he’s all right?” I ask Ethan, sliding forward in the seat to look at him.
“I’m not sure. Lila . . . her text said . . .” He shakes his head. “I never should have let him do it.”
“Knowing Ayden, he would have done it without you,” I tell him. “I think he believes it’s his job to save his sister.”
“I know.” Ethan’s phone vibrates in his hand, and he glances down at the screen. When he sighs in relief, I know it has to be good news. “I just got an update from Lila. Ayden’s okay. He hurt his head and had to get stitches, but other than that, he’s going to be fine.”
I breathe freely for the first time as I lean back in the seat. I hadn’t realized how worried I was until now. Worried more than I ever have been.
Love, it’s like a drug
I can’t live without.
I thought I was stronger.
But love, it owns me now.
Without him, I feel so lost.
Without him, I don’t feel whole.
Love, love, love,
What have you done to me?
Chapter 18
Ayden
Despite Lila’s many protests, after I get the stitches put in my head, I talked to Detective Rannali who has been waiting in the emergency room with us. She watches him like a hawk from the corner of the room, ready to yell at him the moment he says something that pisses her off even more.
“Are you sure you didn’t get a positive ID on the woman?” He pulls the curtain shut to give us some privacy.
I shake my head. “All I know is that she was wearing a red raincoat and black rain boots. She had a voice like a heavy smoker.” I reach up to scratch my head then remember I can’t because of the stitches. “I know she was the woman who was at the house, though. The one who warned me about being there.”
“Can you recount what was said by her?” he asks, grabbing his pen and notebook from his pocket.
I replay everything I can remember her saying, and he writes it all down.
“I don’t get how you guys didn’t catch her, though,” I say after I’m finished. “She was right there with me in the trees.”
“We still have a team out searching the area,” he says. “But I have a theory that she might have had a boat nearby. We have some people out on the water, searching, and we did find a red raincoat tossed in the bushes near the shoreline.”
“You said he was going to be safe,” Lila interrupts, crossing her arms and staring him down. “And that nothing bad was going to happen, yet the woman got away, and my son’s in the hospital.”
“And I’m greatly sorry about that.” He clicks his pen and tucks it away. “But I also told you that I couldn’t predict everything that was going to happen, only what I hoped would happen.”
She shakes her head, enraged. “You lied.”
“Why do you think she said that thing about my real father?” I slide off the bed and plant my feet on the ground, steadying myself as the world starts to spin underneath me.
“Take it easy, Ayden.” Lila holds onto my arm. “The doctor said you need to move slowly for a little while.”
“I’m not sure,” the detective answers, stuffing his notepad back into his pocket. “Do you know who your real father is?”
“I thought I did.” I lean against the bed for support. “But my mom was the kind of woman who might have lied about stuff like that.”
He mulls over something, and I know what he’s thinking, because it’s probably the same thing I am. That my real father might have something to do with this. He might be part of the Soulless Mileas.
“I’m going to do a little searching into you,” he says, drawing the curtain back. “I’ll keep you updated, but in the meantime, I’m going to send a detective to keep an eye on Ayden.”
His words don’t soften Lila at all. In fact, her face reddens with anger.
“If this escalates into something worse . . .” She jabs a finger at him.
“I know. I know. You’ll cut off my balls.” He swings around her and heads for the doors that lead to the waiting room.
After he’s gone, Lila turns to me. “’How are you feeling?” She squints at my face to examine my eyes. “The doctor says we need to keep an eye out for a concussion.”
“I know. I was right here, remember?” I ask, starting for the door.
“I know. That was a test to see how your memory is.” She walks ahead of me and pushes the door open so I can go through.
“My memory’s fine.” But that’s not the truth.
I may be able to remember tonight, but I still can’t remember that time in the house. Part of me wonders now if the reason why I blocked it all out isn’t just beca
use of the trauma and horrible things that happened to me in that house. Maybe my mind is trying to protect me from the pain of who was behind it all.
Could it be my real father who chose to break me, his own flesh and blood?
As soon as I step foot into the waiting room, my worries momentarily vanish, and all my thoughts center on one thing or person, anyway.
“Ayden.” Lyric’s eyes light up when she sees me. She sprints across the room, pushing people out of her way to get to me. When she reaches me, she throws her arms around me and almost knocks me to the ground. “I was so worried . . . I don’t even . . .” She stops talking and holds me tightly.
“Careful, Lyric,” Lila says from beside us. “He might have a concussion.”
Lyric starts to pull back, but I place my hand on the small of her back and press her closer. “She’s fine,” I tell Lila.
I won’t let her go.
Not until she knows.
Ethan gives me a pat on the back while Lyric remains latched on to me.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Her eyes are red like she’s been crying.
I’ve been crying, too, but not because I’ve been worried for my safety. I cried during the ride to the hospital because the woman got away. My hope to find Sadie got away.
Lyric and I remain joined at the hip as we pile into her dad’s car. Lila rides with us, too, because she refuses to let me out of her sight.
“I’ll come back for the car in the morning,” she says as she climbs into the backseat with Lyric and me.
Ethan nods in agreement as Mr. Scott drives forward and out onto the road. Everyone stays pretty quiet during the drive, and the sound of the tires and the lull of the radio fills up the silence.
Lyric keeps her arms around me and her head resting above my heart. I count to ten under my breath, over and over again. Not because she’s touching me. Not because I’m having a panic attack. But because the need to tell her how I feel is about to combust inside me.
I thought I was going to die tonight,
Be buried in the trees
Beneath the stars and the moon
For only the sky to see.
My body would sink into the dirt
And be stilled in the silence forever.
And in the midst of my mind,
I knew I’d never be able to tell her.
It’s well past midnight by the time we make it home. Everson, Kale, and Fiona are asleep on the Scott’s couch and floor, and Lyric’s mom looks worried out of her mind.
“Let them sleep,” Mrs. Scott says to Lila. “I’ll call you when they wake up tomorrow.”
Lila nods gratefully. She has bags under her eyes, her blonde hair has slipped from her braid, and she looks drained dry. Even Ethan doesn’t look in that great of shape.
I want to make this easy on them so they can get some rest, but there’s something I have to do first.
“Can I talk to Lyric for a moment?” I ask as Lila leans down to kiss Fiona on the head.
“Of course.” She moves to Kale, pulling the blanket over him. “Just make it quick, please.”
I nod then steer Lyric toward the stairway.
“Where are we going?” she asks as I take her hand and lead her up the stairs.
“I have to tell you something.” I move slowly; otherwise, my head throbs. My heart, on the other hand, races violently inside my chest as I mentally go over what I’m going to say to her. Preparing doesn’t do any good, though, because the moment we make it into her room, and she looks at me with her stunning green eyes, my mind blanks out on me.
“I-I love you?” I stutter, sounding more like I’m asking a question than declaring my feelings for her. As soon as the words leave my lips, I want to smack myself in the head. “God, that sounded awful.”
“No, it didn’t. It was perfect.” Her hands glide up my chest, and she links her arms around my neck. “I love you, too.”
I seal my lips to hers, kissing her deliberately, savoring the taste, feel, scent, the warmth of her as I back her to the bed and lay her down. I know we don’t have a lot of time, but I need a moment to feel her beneath me, know she’s here.
Know that I’m still here.
I thought I was never going to have this again. Now that I have, I don’t know what I was so afraid of. This is better than music, poetry, words spilled on pages.
This is . . .
Perfect.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I say, pushing back to look down at her.
She nods, her lips swollen from the kiss, her chest heaving as she struggles to catch her breath. “Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
She says exactly what I knew she would say. I just hope she’ll keep her word.
“I’m going to call Dr. Gardingdale and make an appointment to do the experimental treatment, and I need you to be there for me, because I know Lila’s not going to. Not after tonight.”
“Ay”—she hesitates—“are you sure that’s a good idea after what just happened?”
“That’s the thing.” I push up, sit down on her bed, and pull my knee up to rest my arm on my leg. “Tonight could have been avoided if I had just done the damn treatment to begin with.”
Lyric sits up beside me, combing her hair into place. “You know I’ll be there for you if you need me.” She lays her hand over mine and threads our fingers. “I just need you to be sure you want to do this.”
I turn and look her directly in the eye so she’ll know how truthful I’m being. “I want to do this.”
She grasps onto my hand and shuts her eyes. “Then I’ll be there for you.”
“Thank you.” I lean in and kiss her before moving off the bed and retrieving my phone from my pocket.
“You’re calling him now?” she asks, standing to her feet.
I nod as I dial his office number. “I’ll leave a message on his phone, but I need to do it now; otherwise, it’ll drive me crazy.”
I put the phone up to my ear, taking deep breaths and preparing myself for what I’m about to do. The cards have shifted now that I know my real father might be involved, and I’m even more terrified of what’s locked away in the box in my mind.
I have to do it now more than ever.
I know what the risks are. Shock. More memory loss. Heart complications. There’s a short list of other side effects, as well.
But it’s time to take that risk. It’s time for me to face my demons head on and find out what really happened to my siblings and me in that house. And who did it to us.
Inspiring You (Unraveling You, #4)
Coming May 2015
About the Author
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author that lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
Other books by Jessica Sorensen:
The Coincidence Series:
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
The Redemption of Callie and Kayden
The Destiny of Violet and Luke
The Probability of Violet and Luke
The Certainty of Violet and Luke
The Resolution of Callie and Kayden
Seth & Grayson (Coming Soon)
The Secret Series:
The Prelude of Ella and Micha
The Secret of Ella and Micha
The Forever of Ella and Micha
The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
The Ever After of Ella and Micha
Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always
Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always
The Shattered Promises Series:
Shattered Promises
Fractured Souls
Unbroken
Broken Visions
Scattered Ashes (Coming Soon)
Breaking Nova Series: