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I catch it and take a bite.
“This is about Elsa, isn’t it?” he asks.
I lift a shoulder.
Everything is about Elsa, but neither he nor Jonathan need to know that.
Showing weakness is the easiest way to be beaten at your own battle with your own soldiers.
I throw the apple back at Levi and stand up, another plan forming in my head.
He catches the fruit and crunches a bite. “You don’t deserve her.”
“Just like you don’t deserve Astrid?”
“At least I changed for her. What did you do for Elsa?”
“I found her again.”
And no one will take her away from me.
I leave the dining room and retrieve my phone. A number called me 1001 times today. It’s an exaggerati
on, but yeah, he called me non-stop. I’m surprised he didn’t raid the school.
“Elsa, is this you?” Jaxon Quinn’s concerned voice filters through the phone. “You said you’ll come back today, but you weren’t at school. Your aunt is filing a missing person report.”
So they did raid the school.
“This is Aiden King.”
“Aiden.” He sounds taken aback, but he quickly adds. “Is Elsa with you?”
“No.”
“No?” he shouts, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear to not go deaf. “Where is she? What happened to her? Why didn’t you call and inform us?” He launches on a series of clipped questions.
“Ethan Steel took her to Birmingham.”
After telling him the details about Ethan’s reappearance, I hang up with a smile on my face.
I might not be able to bring her back, but her aunt and uncle will.
6
Elsa
For the past two days, Dad has been taking me on long tours of the property.
I remember bits and pieces from the past, but they’re barely thirty per cent of my childhood. It’s like my memories have been frozen and there’s no way to ‘unfreeze’ them.
Dad has been patient, talking about how both of us used to come to the garden after he returned from work. I was home-schooled at the time and he often helped me with my homework.
The topic of my mother has been on the tip of my tongue, but I stopped myself from mentioning her. One, I didn’t have enough courage. Two, Knox always joined us on our walks, challenging me about beating him in becoming Dad’s favourite. They’re jokes on the outside, but I can feel the rivalry deep inside him. While he appears lighthearted, Knox is in fact lethal when it comes to what he wants.
Being with him is fun, though. It reminds me of the friendships I left behind.
My chest aches at the thought. It pains me how much I miss Kim and Ronan and even Xander and Cole.
