“Oh, come now. You make me sound like an evil mastermind.” Aria chuckles good-naturedly and brushes at a strand of wavy blonde hair. “All I did was make Doyle aware of the listing. I knew he would come crying to Dominic. Believe it or not, Doyle isn’t actually a bad guy.” She turns toward Dominic, her smile softening, though it doesn’t reach her eyes. “He actually cares about you. Wants a relationship with you. His mother and brother, on the other hand…” She pretends to shudder, but I can tell she’s enjoying this. She’s a narcissist through and through, and there’s nothing she loves more than being the center of attention.
“So you wanted us to kill those fuckers,” Zane drawls, reclining back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. “Can’t say I’m too upset. If what you’re saying is true, then they deserved it.”
“Perhaps.” Aria shrugs a single shoulder. “All I knew was that they were in my way and needed to be eliminated. I couldn’t have them destroying all the work my family has put into this organization over the years.” Her long, manicured fingers come to rest on the table, tapping rhythmically. “And now, with you, my dear Ellie, I have the masses under my control once more. If I can get them to believe again, then they’ll have faith in me and the Paragons of Prosperity. Do you understand now?”
Ice sludges in my veins. “I won’t let you do this. I can’t.”
Aria releases a lilting laugh. “You say that now, but I already know you’ll dance when I say dance. You won’t have a choice. Not if you want to keep your little boy toys alive.” She bites down on her lower lip as she cuts off another tiny sliver of pancake. “How are your friends, by the way? Piper, Jane, and Victoria? Have you talked to them recently? I’m aware they tried to call you after they heard about Landon, but you avoided their calls.”
“They’re not my friends,” I say curtly, my heart hammering against my breastbone. It’s a lie, but I’m hoping she doesn’t know that.
The truth is, those three girls may just be the only friends I have—excluding the guys, of course. I miss them terribly, but with everything happening in my life, it would be idiotic and selfish to let them in. I sent them one text before graduation, congratulating them and promising I’m okay, then promptly blocked their numbers. Though I’m not sure if they’ll ever forgive me for cutting them off like that, I pray they will. It’s the only thing I could do to keep them alive and safe. I already lost Blair to the fucked-up games POP likes to play. I won’t lose them too.
“I heard Victoria moved back to France to be with her boyfriend,” Aria continues conversationally, as if each word she says isn’t a knife to my heart.
I didn’t know that.
At all.
“Piper has been seeing this one woman. Winter, I believe her name is. Or maybe Summer. Or is it Autumn?” She taps her fork against her lips in contemplation. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I heard she got into an amazing tattoo apprenticeship in New York. Aren’t you proud of her?”
I work to keep my expression perfectly blank.
“And Jane—sweet little Jane—has moved to Boston to be closer to her parents. I don’t think she’s seeing anyone. Though, just between us…” She leans in close, like she’s trying to share a secret, though she keeps her volume at its normal level. “I think she always had a little crush on Landon. Poor thing was probably crushed when she heard he died. Did you ever tell her you were fucking him? Hmm.” She pretends to contemplate that question before shrugging. “No matter.”
“I told you. They’re not my friends,” I repeat, curling my hand into a fist on my lap. “I haven’t talked to them in months. They were just…acquaintances. And, honestly, it was a little annoying watching Jane fawn over Landon all the time. She never got the hint.” The last part wasn’t true at all. I know for a fact that Jane wasn’t into any of my guys the way Aria implied. For one, she was loyal to a fault and believed in girl code. And for two, she never showed any signs of being attracted to them. Aria is simply trying to stir the pot, to make me doubt my relationship with my friends and my guys, but it won’t work.
I’m not the weak, timid girl I once was. I’ve endured unspeakable tragedies but have emerged stronger than I ever thought possible. I have scars all across my skin, but they tell thestory of who I am, what I’ve been through. I’m proud of each and every one of them.
Fuck Aria.
Seriously,fuck her.
An uncomfortable silence permeates the air as Aria finishes her breakfast. It’s only as she’s taking her final sip of coffee that she seems to realize we haven’t eaten.
One of her eyebrows arches. “You’re not going to have breakfast?”
None of us answer.
“I suppose that’s your choice.” She giggles, the noise strangely childlike, then moves to stand. “But you all are going to need your energy today.”
“Why is that?” Dom drawls.
“Fischer has some meetings to attend today on my behalf.” She flicks her gaze toward my brother, who burrows farther into his seat, as if wishing he could disappear. If he feels my eyes drilling holes into his head, he doesn’t show it, keeping his eyes glued to the table. Aria redirects her focus on me. “The rest of us have a party to attend.” Her smile widens. “You will be making your first official debut as a goddess.”
15
ZANE
The silence in Aria’s house is a predatory thing.
It isn’t a peaceful quiet; it’s a watchful, suffocating hush that presses in from the walls and the sloped ceilings. Every whisper of silk, every footstep on the wooden floors, is swallowed by the vast, opulent emptiness. It’s a cage, albeit a beautiful one, and its gilded bars are slowly crushing the life out of Ellie.
I can see it in the way she moves. She used to have a dancer’s grace, a lightness that was all her own. Now, her shoulders are perpetually hunched, as if bracing for a blow. She stares out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, her reflection a ghost against the manicured grounds, but her eyes are vacant. The fire, the glorious, chaotic spark that makes herEllieis dimming. And that’s unacceptable.
“You will be making your first official debut as a goddess.”
Aria wants a puppet. A broken, obedient thing she can parade around. I refuse to let her have it. I will burn this entire world to the ground before I let her extinguish that light.
