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Blinking dazedly, I peer around, attempting to get my bearings. I can’t see a damn thing, other than a bit of moonlight trickling through the windows. That’s when I realize the storm toned down during my nap, but that’s not too uncommon. Night has also fallen while I was out, leaving me to wonder what time it is.
Rolling over, I dig my phone out of my pocket, and a drop of light trickles through the darkness as I swipe my finger across the screen. Shit, it’s ten thirty, which means I’ve been asleep for over six hours and missed dinner. With how quiet the house is, I’m betting everyone’s gone to bed already.
&nbs
p; What doesn’t make sense, though, is why my bedroom light is off. Did someone come up here when I was asleep? I’m not sure how I feel about that … No, actually I do. I feel really, really uncomfortable. In fact, this entire day has been nothing but a series of uncomfortable occurrences.
Maybe I should just go back to sleep and pretend I’m someplace else until tomorrow morning …
My stomach grumbles in protest, reminding me that I’ve barely eaten all day.
“Fuck, I need to eat something,” I mutter, rolling out of bed.
Turning on my flashlight app, I make my way across the room and down the stairs. Then I try to turn on the light, but it doesn’t come on. Great, the power’s out.
Beaming my phone around, I glance around at the cobwebs covering everything. Thankfully, I can’t see any spiders or else I’d be running out of here screaming.
Sucking in a shaky breath, I reach for the doorknob, crossing my fingers I’ll be able to find the kitchen on my own so I can at least grab a snack and some water. But I freeze right before I pull the door open as voices flow in from the other side.
“Sky, are you sure you don’t want anything for dinner?” Emaline asks over the sound of a knock.
The strange thing is, the knock isn’t on my door.
I start to open my mouth to reply to her when I hear Easton say, “She was acting really weird when we showed her to her room.”
“She would barely talk to us,” Foster chimes in. “I think she might just want to be left alone.”
“She’s probably so terrified,” Emaline mutters. “I can only imagine what the poor girl is going through.”
“I bet she wants some time to herself,” Easton tells her. “I know I would if I was in her situation.”
“I agree with East,” Foster says.
A beat of silence trickles between them.
“What did you guys do?” Emaline asks suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Easton and Foster say simultaneously.
Emaline heaves an exhausted sigh. “I’m going to try to find your father. Maybe he can talk Skylin into coming out of her room, if nothing else, at least to eat something.”
Silence lingers in the air for a moment, and then an unfamiliar deep voice asks, “All right, what did you two assholes do?”
“Nothing,” Easton says. “We did nothing at all.”
I hear a whack and then an, “Ow, fuck, that hurt.”
“Yeah, well, it’s going to hurt a lot worse if you don’t fess up and tell me what you did to Skylin,” the deep voice says.
“Whatever, Max,” Easton grumbles. “We didn’t do anything to her, other than make sure she stays out of everyone’s way.”
“Which needs to happen,” Foster emphasizes. “You know it does.”
“Maybe,” the stranger—Max—mutters in agreement. A long pause passes between them, and then he sighs. “Look, I know this situation is complicated but, for whatever reason, Mom and Dad seem pretty set on taking this girl in. And we need to respect that and trust they’ll keep our secrets protected.”
I slant back from the door. Secrets? What secrets?
“Mom and Dad aren’t thinking clearly,” Easton points out. “All they care about is that they owe Skylin’s parents. They’re not considering what it’s going to be like for all of us having her live under the same roof.” He spits out the word her as if it’s vile—as if I’m vile.
