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HIM
Iblew out a breath when Alex’s Jeep was absent from the driveway. This wouldn’t have worked if he’d gotten home before us. After parking the car, I rested my head against the steering wheel. Geo’s face hadn’t left my mind since I’d seen him lying on the floor. It didn’t feel real.
I waited for Geo’s phone to power on as I glanced at Sage. She had slept nearly the whole way home. Her face was free from blood, but the bruises were beginning to grow darker. I nearly lost my shit when I saw what his hands had done to her throat. He had almost succeeded in killing her.
Once Geo’s phone was on, I found my dad’s number quickly. They were tracking his phone, and odds were someone already knew it was on. My gut twisted as I hit the call button.
“Geoffrey? Where are you?” my dad screamed into the phone. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” Apology saturated my voice. Geo and I sounded as identical as we looked. Even my parents wouldn’t be able to tell my voice from his, especially over a phone. “I made a mistake. I hurt her. I wasn’t thinking—”
“Come home. Right now. We can fix this,” my dad begged. “I’ll talk to the elders—”
“It’s too late,” I cut him off. “I know going against their word is unforgivable. I brought Sage back.”
“Good. That’s good, son. Alex will be there soon. We’ve all been looking for you.”
“I won’t be here.”
Silence. I waited for him to process that before continuing.
“I can’t show my face to the group. Not after this. I’m leaving.” I took a deep breath. “And I’m not coming back.”
“You can’t do that,” he hissed, anger mixing with concern. “The group won’t allow you to do that. You know too much.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated before hanging up.
Tapping the phone against my forehead, I almost jumped when Sage spoke up.
“What did you just do, Niko?” she asked quietly.
“Alex will be here soon,” I told her. “I’m sure he’s bringing the doctor to check you out—”
“Wait. Where are you going?” Her voice rose with each word.
“I need to go back and clean everything up.” And bury my brother. I didn’t want to go back up there. If I had gotten there earlier, I would have killed Geo. I had no doubts about that. Guilt weighed me down, knowing I wouldn’t have hesitated. He wouldn’t have let her go. It had to be done.
“Let’s run.” Her eyes were wide with panic. “Please. We can leave now.”
“We can’t. Everyone is on edge with what happened. They’ll be on high alert looking for him. There’s no way you’d get out of Michigan.” I reached over and grabbed her hand. “Everything will be fine. Alex has no idea. Things will go back to how they were. You’ll still be safe.”
“After what I just did, I can’t pretend anymore.”
“You can,” I said sharply, seeing her begin to spiral. “You’re going to go into the house and tell Alex that Geo made a move on you and when you denied him, he went into a rage. Tell him Geo nearly killed you but couldn’t finish it and brought you back. That’s it. Do not mention the house you were at. Or what happened there. Nothing else.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “You’re coming back, right?”
“I’ll be back sometime tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Niko.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You saved yourself, Sage.”
Getting out of the car, I carried her into the house and laid her on the couch. I ran to my room and grabbed a change of clothes before going back to tell her goodbye. Leaving her was hard as hell, but I needed to finish this. Giving her a soft kiss on the forehead, I went back to her car and headed back to Traverse City.
* * *
Smoke filled the morning sky as I sat on the dew-covered grass. My arms were resting on my knees, and I swung the bottle of tequila back and forth. The house was as clean as I could get it. Dad had called, telling me to stay at his house tonight because Alex needed time with Sage after what happened.
I had no logical argument against his reasoning, so here I was. Drinking my fucking sorrows away. After everything she’d gone through, I wasn’t able to reassure her that I didn’t hate her. I’d seen it on her face before I left, but I needed to make sure I was long gone before Alex showed up. He wouldn’t have let me leave if he had seen me. I was the last person they wanted looking for Geo, seeing as it would be too emotional for me. They were worried I wouldn’t be able to think straight since he was my twin.
I wonder what they’d think if they knew I had just buried my brother.
My gaze stayed on the bright flames as I took another swig of the liquor. I built the fire to hide the fresh dirt. Now I just needed to wait for it to die out. The closest neighbors were a half mile down the road. Even if Geo hadn’t told the group about this place, it was obvious he liked the seclusion like they did.
I groaned when my phone rang. I was nowhere close enough to sober to talk to anyone right now. But this was the fifth call from him. They’d start searching for me if I didn’t answer.
“Yeah?”
“Niko?” Alex questioned. “Where are you?”
“Don’t worry about me, baby brother.” I let myself fall back until I was staring at the rising sun. “I’m not off looking for him. I’m holed up somewhere, drinking.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Alex snapped. “I told you to go see Dad.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“The group is pissed,” Alex stated. “First everything that happened with Sage last year, and now this. Dad is not happy that our family is in the spotlight again.”
“I figured.”
“You need to come home and help. Go see Dad.”
“I will. Later. I’m too fucked up to drive right now. How is she?”
“She’s okay.” He lowered his voice. “The doctor checked her out, and she went right to bed. Other than telling me what happened, she hasn’t said a word.”
I nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see me through the phone. “It’s been a long night for her.”
“How’d you get her car key?” Alex asked. “I thought it was on your truck key ring.”
“I took it off a few weeks ago,” I muttered, surprised he had paid enough attention to realize that. I changed the subject before he could question it more. “Have you gotten any sleep? It’s nearly eight in the morning.”
“No. It’s going to be a long week,” Alex grumbled. “Let’s hope we find him soon.”
Sitting up, I looked back at the dying fire. The search for him would be long. The group didn’t want rogue people running around with secrets at stake. Getting Sage out of town was out of the question now.
“Get some sleep,” I told him. “I’ll be home as soon as I’m sober enough to drive. I can watch her while you go talk to Dad. I’m sure you want to be involved with everything.”
“No. I’ll be staying with her,” he answered sharply, making my blood run cold. “I haven’t been home nearly enough. And Dad made it clear that after everything, I need to make sure my relationship with her is everything it’s supposed to be. She needs to accept our life. The faster, the better.”
He made it sound like a damn business transaction. Lifting the bottle, I drank the last few drops. If Alex was going to be at the house, that meant I’d have absolutely no time with Sage. I probably wouldn’t even be at the house. Dad would want one of us helping with the group.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” I mumbled, not waiting for him to respond before I hung up.
Standing up, I whipped the tequila bottle into the fire. I stumbled back a few steps as my head spun. My clothes were covered in dirt and blood. Ripping my shirt off, I tossed it in the fire before doing the same with the rest of my clothes. If someone was walking into the woods right now, they were getting a show.
Grabbing the hose, I rinsed myself off. The alcohol was successful at numbing my body against the cold water. Childhood memories took me hostage, like they had all night. That was the Geo I missed. The version of him I’d known for the last few years—especially after seeing what he’d done to Sage—I fucking hated.
I stayed under the hose until I was confident that I was as clean as I could get. The fire wasn’t as large anymore, and I aimed the water at the flames. The sun dried me as I waited for the fire to die out. After a while, all that remained were wet ashes. I stared at the ground for another few minutes before turning the hose off.
I headed back to the house, planning to sleep until the alcohol worked its way out of my system. Then I was going to see Sage. My dad could wait. The strings that once tethered me to the group were gone. The pressure of the never-ending loyalty to them had disappeared. She came before them. Before anyone.
And I was tired of fighting it.
