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CHAPTERELEVEN
Madelyn
“They actually brought you along?” Summer said, her thin eyebrows rising on my phone’s screen. “I thought Logan was trying to keep you out of the investigation.”
I bit into one of the cookies I’d gotten from the grocery store this morning as I considered my answer. Naturally my best friend had asked about my stolen car investigation not long after we’d started this video chat, and naturally I’d told her about last night’s excursion, but I wasn’t sure I was going to like her response to the full story.
I squirmed on my dorm-room bed and made myself look directly at the phone where it was propped on my pillow. The chewy sweetness of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie only offset my uneasiness a little. “Well… he didn’twantto bring me. I basically sat on the hood of his car until he gave in, and he swore that as soon as I messed up, which he assumes I’ll do, he’s never letting me get involved again. But he did let me come. And I didn’t mess anything up. So there.”
Summer lowered her fork from where she’d been bringing a bite of her lunch to her mouth. Her round face with its high cheekbones looked most natural when it was full of energy, either playful or determined. I didn’t like the somberness that darkened it now.
“Maddie, he argued with you about it until you forced his hand? Just to tag along to a club that regular people go to all the time? He’s stillsuchan asshole.”
I winced. “I know. I realize he’s being an asshole. But the three of them seem to know what they’re doing as far as tracking down clues. I can put up with Logan’s crap for a little while if it means I get my stuff back.”
Summer sighed and swept her long, smooth hair behind her ear. She’d dyed the dark strands with henna so they had a burgundy tint now. “Come on. I know you. You’re not just insisting on going along because it’s your car. Don’t tell me you’re not still hoping you’ll get answers out of him.”
“He didn’tuseto be an asshole,” I burst out, and flushed when I realized how I’d raised my voice. “Something’s going on with him,” I added in a more subdued tone. “Something’s been going on with him for a while. If I can find out what, then that wouldn’t be a bad thing. But I’m not, like, pining over him or something, Summer. I’mwayover that.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes people just change.” Summer grimaced. “Look, I can admit that he wasn’t a bad guy before. I remember him in high school—I know he stood up for you back in junior high. Maybe that guy is still in there underneath, but I hope you’re prepared that he could simply be an asshole all the way through. Because he’s had more than enough time to get his head out of his ass by now.”
My shoulders slumped. I had no argument against the points she’d made. “I’m not expecting anything. Mostly I just want to find my car and my dad’s box.”
Summer offered me a small but warm smile that brought more of the usual glow back to her face. “I don’t mean to get on your case about it. I just hated seeing what he did to you, and I don’t want him hurting you again. That’s all.”
“Believe me,” I said, “I’m not going to let him in enough that he could hurt me again. I know better than that.”
“Of course you do.” Summer’s smile stretched into a grin. “You’re Madelyn Silver, lady conqueror.”
I snorted. “I haven’t conquered much other than cookies and lab reports lately, but I’m working on it.”
Summer’s gaze flicked to the side. “Crap, I’ve got to get going for my next class. Talk soon?”
“Always.”
After we’d ended the call, restlessness wound through my bones. I hadn’t received any updates from the Vigil so far today. Had they gotten anywhere with the info Logan had pried out of whoever he’d talked to at the club—info he’d refused to share with me because he’d claimed he didn’t want me going off on my own to dig into it. Like he cared about my safety and not just acting like some kind of professional detective.
I could go over to the Vigil office and find out. The guys seemed to hang out there a lot—it also made a perfect study spot while they were on campus, after all. Hopefully I’d catch one of them. If not, I’d swing by again after my afternoon class.
I hopped off the bed and grabbed my backpack and a thin hoodie in case the early spring air cooled again later in the day. When I stepped out of the building, the breeze swept over me with a subtle warmth that loosened some of the tension in my shoulders. The scent of freshly mowed grass tickled my nose, a smell that always made me feel like spring had really arrived. I sucked in a deep breath and strode forward.
Maybe some of my high school crusades had been a little over the top, but Summer was right. I could conquer anything I put my mind to.
I was just coming up on the law library, about ten feet from the front door, when a tall, brawny figure ducked through the doorway and headed along the side of the building toward a different path. Logan. He looked so lost in thought I didn’t know if he’d even noticed me.
My feet stalled for a second as my pulse hiccupped. Then I pushed myself forward, hurrying after him.
Who knew when I’d have the chance to talk to him alone again? Summer was right that it was well past time that I got some answers. How ridiculous had it been when I’d been chatting with that guy Beckett this morning and I stumbled all over explaining who my stepbrother and his friends were to me?
I’d shied away from addressing the real problems between us, but that wasn’t the kind of woman I was. I wasn’t going to let him turn me into a cringing wimp just because he’d tossed me away like a dirty tissue two years ago.
“Logan!” I said as I closed the distance between us, holding on to the surge of boldness that’d propelled me after him.
I couldn’t help noticing the way he stiffened at the sound of my voice, which he’d no doubt recognized. He wasn’t happy to hear me calling after him at all. Well, tough cookies, Mr. Brooks.
I half expected him to march onward pretending he hadn’t heard me, but he spun on his heel to face me, his expression hard.
I came to a stop in front of him, tucking my thumbs around the straps of my backpack as if for leverage. “We need to talk.”
