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“I’ll definitely ask her.” My tone couldn’t possibly have sounded sincere, but Anya didn’t seem to notice. I get the impression that my sister is as likely to have dinner with as she is to drown me in a bowl of soup.
“Do you know what classes she’s taking?”
A shrug as the door closed behind me was my only response. Luckily, Anya didn’t follow me out.
Even though the campus is nearly full of returning students, the chapel is as empty as I’ve ever seen it. This place doesn’t seem to attract anyone aside from me and the occasional couple looking for a quiet place to make out. Judging from the moans I hear coming from inside the confessional, someone is making good use of the fact that the priest hasn’t returned from his winter holiday.
Blasphemy aside, I’m really not in a position to cast aspersions.
My fingers clutch at the rosary beads in my pocket. Just like that, I’m back in the moment when I was last here. When Drake gave the beads back to me. When he told me he loved me and promised he would come back to me.
I just have to hope that was a promise he can actually keep.
Without him here, it’s getting harder and harder to find a reason I should be. With Olivia back and Drake gone, I am quickly running out of purpose.
Olivia told me to leave. The reality of that hits harder than anything else she could have said. Even if she was telling the truth about recanting her statement in exchange for my immediate departure, I refused to take her up on it. I refuse to let Drake think, even for a moment, that I turned my back on him.
But the bitter truth is that even once he comes back to St. Bart’s, Drake won’t stay here forever. He’ll be graduating in only a few months and I have no idea what that will mean for us.
The thought that he might leave me behind is deeply unsettling.
And I still haven’t answered the question of why Olivia would come back now.
Stubbornness is one of the few traits that the two of us have in common. But while I barrel through obstacles like a raging river, Olivia has always been more like the rock in the stream. Quiet, immovable and more than ready to trip you up if you can’t figure out how to navigate around her.
Since torturing my own sister for information is out of the question, waiting is my only option. She won’t tell me anything unless it’s what she wants to do.
All I can do is wait.
Only one other person is actually using the chapel for its intended purpose. The interior is dim enough that I can’t see anything more than a dark head bent in what I assume is prayer. My footsteps creak on the wooden floorboards and whoever it is glances back at me.
It’s too late to avoid his notice when Vaughn turns in his seat to stare right at me.
I tamp down on an unpleasant start of surprise as he watches me take a seat in a nearby pew. Aside from a brief nod of acknowledgement, I say nothing to him. It’s tempting to turn around and leave, but the last thing I want is for him to think that he scared me away.
As I stare at the altar in pretend contemplation, I still sense him watching me. His narrowed eyes are just barely visible at the corners of my vision.
A quiet giggle comes from the confession booth, further shattering any attempts I might make at finding some damn peace.
With an annoyed sigh, I rise to leave.
“I take it you’ve seen her.”
His voice is barely audible as it floats over me. Soft enough that I could get away with pretending not to have heard him at all.
I decide to answer, if just because there isn’t any question of who he is talking about. “Briefly. Have you?”
He shifts on the pew, still watching me too closely. “Yes.”
“How did you know it wasn’t me?”
“You managed to fool me once,” he acknowledges. “But it won’t happen again. I see very clearly who both of you are.”
“You don’t exactly sound happy about that.”
Vaughn looks away from me to direct his brooding stare at the altar. “Drake is like a brother to me. He ever tell you that? Better than a brother really, because my actual brothers can be total assholes sometimes. I’m the youngest and they’ve been kicking the shit out of me since we were kids. My father already has his heir and his spare. My grandfather makes no secret that he thinks my mother waited too long to get her tubes tied. They both make sure I know about it every time that I fail to live up to the family name.”
“That’s sad.”
