“You don’t know that! No one is talking about it. No one even knows it’s happening.”
“I know.”
I paused, eyebrows furrowed.
“So it’s true then? He wasn’t just cracked out?”
“It’s true. I’m working on it. Which is why I’m telling you, it won’t happen. And if it does, I’ll find you.”
“Why do you even care?”
“They may call me a villain and my methods may be more stereotypically villain than hero, but I do what I do because someone has to. So that nothing likethe incidenthappens again. So that people aren’t stolen. This place is my home, and I don’t want its people suffering because the idiots in charge don’t care.”
“That’s not what I meant. Why do you care what happensto me?”
He dropped his eyes, opting to take a large sip of his drink instead of meeting my gaze.
“I got you into this mess, it wouldn’t be right to?—”
“No.Igot myself into this mess. I knew there was a really good chance you’d kill me in that alley but I went because Scarlett asked.Ichoose to meet The Weaver;Ichoose to let the other villains reach out. None of them meet me outside the hospital to walk me home. None of them call to check in every night—or more nights than not. So why doyou? Why doyoucare?”
He took another large sip of his drink. “We all care. You’ve done so much for us and?—”
“You,Avalanche. Why doyoucare?”
“Violet… I think maybe you’re reading too much into it and?—”
“Un-fucking-believable,” I muttered.
I slid out of my chair and grabbed my jacket from the back. The guy was practically glued to my hip every single time I was alone, but I was reading too much into it?
“How much was my drink?”
“What?”
“My drink,” I said slower. “How much was it?”
“Why—”
“You know what? Doesn’t matter.” I grabbed my wallet out of my coat pocket, pulled out a green bill, and threw it on the table in front of him. “That should cover it, yeah?”
“That’s too much and not necessary?—”
“Keep the change.”
I pushed my way through the crowd, enjoying the blast of cold air as I stepped outside. Maybe I was reading too much into it. Maybe I was being delusional because my books really had rotted my brain. Maybe I was just a stupid girl that let herself fall in love with a supervillain.
But he made it so fucking easy.
12
THE VOLUNTEER
My apartment was packedwith a bunch of my friends. Amber insisted that I was walking around like a zombie and needed to have some girl time. I tried to disagree, but she was a menace when she got something into her head. So I was sitting on my recliner with a glass of red-wine sangria that my friend Maddy brought. Ashley, Alex, and Abby sat on the couch next to me while the rest of the girls were mixing drinks in the kitchen.
Once a year the three hospitals in the district did a huge get-together so the nurses, doctors, and everyone in-between could get to know each other better. Amber managed to pick the one night everyone in our circle had the night off. I was trying not to be grumpy because of all the effort she put in to making this happen, but I was drained.
Avalanche had been calling me every day since I went to visit Eva—sometimes multiple times. I’d ignored every single one. I’d gone down this road with tons of guys. They were nice, made me feel special, then walked away as soon as I showed interest. I fell for it every time. But not this time. I wasn’t letting myself fall any farther for a guy who couldn’t possibly be interested. I just had to keep telling myself that the feelings weren’t mutual, to keep repeating his words:you’re reading too much into it.
