Page 158 of XO Karma

A groan escapes me when I roll over. The light is painful, and I blink, eyes struggling to readjust. Where am I? The memory of my fight with Jackson flickers in my mind, and panic courses through ever fiber of my being. A shuffling noise comes beside me.

“Hey,” Jackson says, touching my arm, and I jerk away. He puts his hands up. “Lil, it’s me.”

“Don’t touch me.” I shuffle to a sitting position on the couch, blinking in my surroundings. I’m in the cabin Aster and I cased. The boots by the door are gone, as are the magazines on the table.

Did they remove the evidence?

“You killed Violet.” My voice is weak, eyes bouncing around the small space. “Why? Where is she?”

“Lily,” Jackson says. “She’s…” His gaze wanders past me.

“Look at me!” I shout, scrambling off the couch to stand. I stumble, and he reaches out but I slap him away, our eyes connecting. “Where is Violet?!”

“I can explain.” His expression is full of sympathy that’s pissing me right the hell off. “You just need to calm down.”

“Calm down?!” I’m murderous. Screaming, I rush to Jackson, grabbing his shirt and punching his chest. “Where is she?!” My fists connect with his hard body, but he doesn’t fight back. “Where’s Violet?”

“I’m right here,” a familiar feminine voice says, and I freeze. Every hair on my body stands. My heart stops in my chest. Tears prick my vision, and I turn to the figure now taking up space in the doorway to the kitchen. I release Jackson, bringing a hand to my head. Am I hallucinating? Concussed?

In the doorway, very much alive, is the person I’ve mourned for almost a year. My best friend. The platonic love of my life—Violet. Beautiful green eyes. Black-and-purple hair freshly dyed and angled around her face. My eyes drop to her feet wearing the boots that were by the door. Angel jean jacket on her shoulders. My chest cracks in two.

She looks… healthy. Normal. Not like a prisoner. And definitely, indisputably, not dead.

Violet takes a step my way, and I retreat on reflex. Her expression turns to hurt. “Lil?” she says, and the single syllable of her voice cuts straight through me.

“How are you…?” My voice trails off as I look between the two of them. Violet is alive. Violet is alive, and they kept it from me. “I don’t understand.”

“I missed you.” Her eyes well with tears. As if that should answer the atom bomb of questions running through my head.

“You’re not real,” I whisper, and she laughs. The sound is light, airy, familiar, and it wraps around my heart like a noose, restricting me until I can’t breathe.

“I promise you I am.”

I bring two fingers to my wrist and pinch it. Oww. Okay, so not dreaming.

“Someone needs to explain to me what is going on right the hell now,” I say, my hands trembling.

The two of them share a look, and it only fuels the fury inside of me. I stumble, still feeling woozy from the sedative my brother’s partner gave me. Asshole.

Violet rushes forward, catching me in her arms. Her scent surrounds me, and I slowly raise my gaze to meet hers. Soft green eyes filled with moisture meet mine. Fuck, I missed her too. And she’s here. She’s right here. She’s alive.

For a moment, I allow myself to forget the anger. The questions. The life-altering information I’ve just become privy too. And I collapse into her arms, a loud sob escaping me. She grasps me tight, her own whimpers matching mine. We sit like that for what feels like hours. Both of us afraid of what letting go would mean. Afraid she’d simply disappear as quickly as she came.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers against my hair, rubbing my back. The way she’d always comfort me after a bad breakup or when I’d had a bit too much to drink.

I nod, no words escaping, because how can I accept her apology when I still have no goddamn clue what’s happening? When I don’t know if she deserves it?

Pulling away, I say, “I need an explanation.”

Violet clears her throat. “Last year, I was doing a job…”

“Vi,” Jackson says, and she cuts him off with a look.

“I’m doing this,” she says, then returns her attention to me. “I got into a little bit of a difficult situation and ended up getting a shit deal with the Westerfords.”

“What does that even mean?” I ask.

“I got in trouble with some dangerous people.” She swallows hard.