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I have to save myself.
I’ll get out of this. I have to.
Be brave.
Thirty-Six
Connor
After cooling off by beating shit up with my bat at the abandoned quarry for a couple hours to give Thea space and get my thoughts off my major failure, I’m worn out but feeling less like I’m about to split apart.
The late afternoon sun dips low, creeping behind the ridgeline as dusk falls, casting long shadows across the weed-choked gravel lot. Thea asked me not to do anything stupid
, so I came out here to work out my frustration rather than put more holes in the pool house wall.
With my head refocused, I’m ready to try talking to her again. I told her I’d let her come to me, but we don’t have the time. Two hours to calm down is long enough.
It was a mistake to ambush her with all the information at once, especially after she told me what Mom did to her. I should’ve come at it from a different angle, starting with Coleman. Keeping everything from her was killing me, so it poured out all at once.
Worse, I hated the panicked look on her face and the tears in her eyes as she left. I hate making her cry.
I sit in my Lexus GX with the door open and call her to find out what part of the holiday market she’s at. It goes to voicemail.
“Hi! You’ve reached Thea. I’m unavailable at the moment, probably because I’m up to my elbows in cake batter. Leave a message and I’ll call you back soon!”
I lift the phone away from my ear, scowling at it. I almost never get her voicemail when I call.
A bad feeling slices through me.
When my phone pings with a message, I relax. She’s fine, it must be loud at the market. Missed the call. That’s all.
But it’s not Thea when I open it. The text is from a contact in my phone I don’t remember putting in—the name blank except for a skull and crown emoji.
“Those crow bastards,” I grumble, opening the video clip.
As the CCTV footage plays, my heart stutters to a stop. Fuck.
It shows Thea following Coleman at the holiday market, then talking to him. He’s standing way too close to her for comfort. The last angle isn’t clear, but there’s a girl getting in Coleman’s car with him, driving off. She’s wearing the same wool jacket as Thea’s. My mind jumps to the worst.
Nothing else matters but getting her back.
“Goddamn it!” I pound my fist against the wheel, flying into motion. “This can not be happening right now.”
How can Thea be in the exact danger I was trying to protect her from? How could she get in a car and go anywhere with Coleman after what I tried to show her?
I should’ve followed her instead of cooling my head. My heart beats in double time as I fight off the sick sensation of failing her.
I can’t lose the girl I love.
We have so much ahead of us still, our entire future together.
I pull out of the quarry in a spray of dust and gravel. The tires skip over the road in a high-pitched squeal, and the lingering scent of burnt rubber tickles my nostrils. I push the gas harder, speeding toward my house. I need a weapon before I go save her from him.
And I will save her. She’s the most important person to me.
If I’m the storm tearing through everything, Thea is the sunlight that breaks through in my wake. A sun captured by the moon, eclipsed by love. She pierces through my darkness with her light.
Thea is it for me. She’s the girl I plan to marry. The only queen I want by my side. I’ll spend the rest of my life groveling for every mistake I’ve made if it means we make it out of this.
