AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I walk around to her side, press my knee to the ground, and grab the hood of her robe. I don’t even have to see her face to know exactly who it is. But I turn her head with both hands anyway, and when my guess is proven to be true, I gasp. “Melody!”
“It’s not what you think. I swear to you. I had to do it.” Words fly out of her mouth that I don’t even comprehend because I’m too shocked, though I shouldn’t be.She sputters and kicks, finally surrendering when she realizes she’s not going anywhere.
My head shakes repeatedly in disappointment—with her, with myself.“I should’ve known.”How did I not see this?
Jagger flips her over, still holding her down in the snow. He gets right in her face, jaw locked, and grits, “Fun’s over, Melody. At least for you. For us, it’s just begun.”
“I swear to you both, it’s not me. He or she or someone made me do it. I don’t know who it is.”
Jagger, believing her bullshit lies, presses for answers, “Who made you do what?”
“I don’t know who it is. I got notes. I was blackmailed. Told if I didn’t do exactly what I was instructed, my secrets would be exposed.”
It’s taking everything in me not to press my boot to this bitch’s head, but I refrain because I want to hear what she has to say.
“What secrets?” Jagger asks, steam streaming from his flared nostrils due to the cold temperature.
“Stuff that can’t get out. Like my dealings at The Academy…and other things.”
Her secrets are the least of my concerns. I just need the truth. I’m not sure if she’s giving it to me, but I humor her anyway. “Sit her up,” I tell Jagger, and when he does, he takes her hands behind her back and holds them tightly. I move directly in front of her, hoping I can sniff out her lies. “What tasks did you carry out for this person?”
“Umm.” She licks her lips then blows a piece of hair from her face, biding time.
“Out with it!” I shout. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. And I’m really fucking angry, so if you don’t answer my questions right now, I’ll have no problem dragging you into that cabin and dumping you in his lair, so he can torture the fuck out of you.”
“Okay. Okay. It was only a couple times. Mostly just leaving you notes.”
“When?” I grind out.
“Just a couple times. I was supposed to leave one in the library, but you saw me before I could, so I took off, that’s when I dropped my schedule.”
“And yesterday, when you ran off the trail?”
“I never really saw him, but I acted like I did.” She takes a moment to catch her breath, and I’m getting really fucking impatient. “I wrote the note because I needed to eliminate any suspicion that I was part of it.”
“What about Hannah? How does she fit into all this?”
Melody chokes up. Tears begin streaming down her face before she’s full-on ugly crying. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.” She sniffles and snorts, her chest shaking with each breath.“It was never supposed to happen.”
“What the hell did you do to her?”
Her head drops back and she closes her eyes, tears falling. “She shouldn’t have been down there.”
“You did it, didn’t you? You’re the one who pushed her?”
Bringing her head back down, she opens her eyes. “She was really drunk. She saw me in the mask and the robe and was trying to pull it off, so I had no choice. I had to do something before she realized it was me.”
“Your best friend!” I shout, “You knocked out your best friend, just so you could keep your stupid secrets?”
She swallows hard, nodding. “Yeah, I did.” Her expression shifts, her eyes become sinister, and she curls her lip. “And I bet you’d do the same exact thing.”
“Never! I’d never hurt my friends like that.”
“Oh yeah? Then why’d you push your best friend off a cliff?”
Her words are like a punch to the gut, but when I repeat them in my head, I lose it. “You fucking bitch!” Both hands lunge out and I grab her by the throat, squeezing with tenacity.
“Stop it!” Jagger hisses. “This isn’t the time, Scar.” I hear him, but I don’t listen as I throw my body into hers, causing us both to crash into Jagger.
