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Tears sting my eyes.
“Don’t do this, Hadley,” I demand, clenching my teeth. “Don’t you dare fucking cry over anything that has to do with him.”
I close my eyes and will the images away. Instead they shift, flashing back.
I’m standing near the street where a river flows on one side, car engines rumbling across the air. Then I hear tires skidding, followed by a loud splash.
“No!” my dad shouts as he rushes toward the river, leaving me behind with the bystanders.
I move to run after him, but then my stomach clenches as a scream pierces the air.
A heartbeat later, I realize it’s me who is screaming, and that someone has grabbed my arms and is dragging me back, away from my dad, away from the accident, away from my mom.
I scream again but a hand clamps down over my mouth.
“Quiet,” a man whispers. “Everything will be fine as long as your dad pays his debt.”
As I’m hauled backward, I dig my heels into the ground, trying to stop him, but he only scoops me up. I open my mouth to bite his hand, but he simply smashes his palm harder against my lips.
“Will you calm the hell down?” he growls. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
Nothing’s going to happen to me? Does he think I’m stupid?
I let out a scream, but his hand muffles the noise. I kick my legs, slamming my feet into his knees, but the dude is freakishly strong and doesn’t even seem fazed as he picks me up and tosses me into the back of a car—
I gasp for air as the images fade, my legs shaking so badly I can barely stand. I grip the edge of the sink for support and breathe in and out, attempting to settle down my racing pulse. But I can’t seem to calm the fuck down.
“What happened to me?” I whisper while staring at my reflection in the mirror.
My bloodshot eyes stare back at me. They’re eyes I’ve seen countless times, yet they somehow look different now. More haunted.
What exactly happened to me during those blank days following my mother’s death?
I need to figure that out. Figure out the truth. But the only person who may have the answers is the very person who put these bruises all over my face. And I have a feeling that finding my dad may not only be dangerous but also very difficult. Because if there’s one thing my dad’s good at, it’s hiding from his problems.
26
BLAISE
“You should go up thereand check on her,” Rhyland says as he grabs a box of granola bars from the cupboard.
I tear my eyes off the stairway and shovel up the last spoonful of cereal into my mouth. “Go up and talk to who?” I play dumb. I don’t even know why. It’s not like we have more than one her in the house.
He rolls his eyes as he digs out a couple of granola bars from the box. “You know who I’m talking about.”
“Hadley?” I question.
He rolls his eyes again. “Yes, Hadley. And don’t try to pretend you don’t want to go up there and see if she’s okay. You’ve been staring at the damn stairs for the last fifteen minutes.”
“I’m just wondering what’s taking Jaxon and Alex so long,” I lie, flipping on the faucet to rinse out my bowl.
“Sure you were.” He tears open a wrapper on a granola bar.
I sigh. “Fine, I was thinking about going up there, but only to see if she wants some painkillers or an ice pack for her face.” I shut the water off and set the bowl in the sink. “She may have said it didn’t hurt, but I doubt she was telling the truth.”
“I know.” He takes a bite of the granola bar. “It looks painful as hell. Almost as bad as that time Dad…” He trails off, smashing his lips together, his worried gaze traveling to me.
“I know.” I sound like a fucking emotionless zombie, but I usually do whenever I talk about our dad or our past.
