Together, we move toward the sound.
Jude pushes the doors open.
My blood runs cold.
Because there, in the middle of the room, stands Lainey Sikes. On top of a chair with a rope fastened around her neck.
Rafe steps out of the shadow, a serpent on legs, and sighs a theatrical sigh. “My, my. Cosette was right. We really have stepped back in time.”
46
THE RIFT
At the sight of Rafe, Lainey’s expression twists strangely. She cries his name on a choked exhale, like he is her knight in shining armor. And yet, her eyes tell a different story. They are wild with terror. “Please, Rafe. I don’t remember how I got up here.”
“Lainey, Lainey, Lainey.” He tuts as he strolls closer. “I’m afraid we need to have a little chat.”
“Can you help me get down first?”
“You might want to stay. See what I have to say before you make a decision.”
Her body trembles.
Jude stands beside me like a lion about to pounce—frozen, alert, every muscle coiled.
“We just aren’t working, you and I,” Rafe continues. “I think it’s time to take a break.”
“A break?”
“I need space, Lain. This relationship of ours is starting to feel claustrophobic, you know?”
“But I thought?—”
“I know, I know.” He heaves a sigh. “You thought I loved you. And I may have alluded to that, but Lainey, the truth is, I don’t. I never have.”
Mascara streaks down her face. Her chest rises and falls like at any moment it might collapse and she better get in some good breaths first. I want to go to her, climb up on that chair, and remove the rope. But it all feels so fraught. Like one wrong move could snap Lainey’s neck.
“I tried. I really did,” Rafe says, his silky voice cutting like the edge of a razor. “But at the end of the day, you’re just … not enough.”
“Not enough?”
He shakes his head in mock sorrow.
Lainey buries her face in her hands and sobs.
The ruby brightens.
It wasn’t my imagination.
It’s like the gemstone is feeding off her emotion.
Rafe stops behind the chair. “I could have plucked any girl from the crowd. Bent her to my will. But this way is more fruitful. So much more emotion to work with once they’ve fallen in love.”
Lainey wails.
The lights flicker.
My mind races.
