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But my mouth was already forming the word.
“Okay.”
SEVEN
The house was packed. Music pumped through every single room, and people filled every corner of available space, spilling outside into the garden. I could take it or leave it. Crowds weren’t my thing, but I was in the mood to get fucked up tonight, so a party was just what I needed.
Sprawled out on one of the wooden chairs on our deck, I absent-mindedly flicked my knife blade in and out of the handle with one hand, the other lifting the joint to my lips. I inhaled deeply, smoke curling in the air as the weed worked its magic. Fuck, yeah.
“Hey, Z.”
I eyed the girl who’d spoken from beneath my lashes. What was her name again? Amber?
“Yeah?”
Whatever she said in reply turned to white noise as my gaze slid past her to the person standing in the open doorway.
My mouth might’ve fallen open. I wasn’t even aware.
What. The. Fuck.
Our eyes connected. Her expression was haunted but hostile, brimming with so much fucking agony, and she made no effort to hide it from me. On my part, I called on all my experience and locked everything down, even though it took everything I had. Even though I wanted to fucking shout, to scream, to rage. My past was colliding with my present, and I hadno fucking ideawhat to do.
My breath caught in my throat as I raked my gaze over her, drinking her in. She looked so fucking good standing there, the same but different. Long, platinum hair cascading halfway down her back, her skin so smooth and pale, and her eyes so blue, piercing right through me. She was even more beautiful than I remembered. Even with hate radiating from every part of her, directed at me.
My angel.
Except she wasn’tmyangel anymore, was she? And I was her demon. The monster who’d destroyed her life in one night.
“Zayde? Zayde!”
“Fuck off,” I muttered to the girl who was trying to get my attention. I ignored her sharp intake of breath and the mumbled “Rude” as she stormed off, my gaze never leaving Fallon’s. Before I knew what I was doing, I was climbing to my feet and taking a step towards her.
She took a step back. A single tear slipped down her cheek, and it was like a knife through me.
“Fallon?” Jessa appeared at her side, her eyes wide with concern as she noticed that Fallon was crying. What the fuck? Since when did Jessa speak to Fallon?And why was Fallon here?
Jessa’s gaze shot to mine, her eyes narrowing, and I spun away from them both, stalking across the deck and down the steps into the garden. When I hit the deep shadows of the tree line, I breathed out, trying to make sense of what I’d just seen. I dug around in my pocket for my phone, my hand shaking as I dialled Creed via the secure line we used for communication.
“Z.” Amusement sounded in his low, smooth voice. “Are you psychic? I was just about to call you. Had my phone in my hand and everything.”
I wasted no time. “What did you find out?”
His amusement disappeared, his tone turning businesslike. “According to my sources, Joseph Hyde collected Fallon Hyde from the facility in Switzerland earlier this week. She’d been sent there after the incident with her brother.”
I clenched my jaw at the sudden gentleness I could hear in his voice, completely unaccustomed to it coming from Creed. He never handled me with kid gloves.
“Yeah. I know she was sent away.” She’d disappeared from the face of the earth, and the last memory I had of her was of that night, when she’d completely broken right in front of me, right next to the body of the boy that had died way too young.
“Okay. She was an inpatient for the first six or so months of her stay; then she was treated as an outpatient. Lived in a place close to the facility, with minimal supervision other than mandated therapy sessions. While she was there, she finished studying for her A levels via remote learning and managed to achieve top grades.” Pausing, he cleared his throat, and I could hear the sound of a mouse clicking. “What else…she passed her driving test. Driving on the right-hand side, so she’ll need to exchange her licence eventually—”
“That’s not what I’m concerned about,” I interrupted, my voice hoarse. Even though I wanted to know every single fucking detail about what had happened to her in the time she’d been away, what I wanted to know the most was what she was doing back in Alstone. “Why did she come back?”
There was silence for a moment, and then I heard him sigh. “Honestly, I can only take an educated guess, but the fact that the arrangements for her to return were made right after Roland Hyde’s sentencing, and we know what a piece of scum he is, then I would assume that has everything to do with the timing of her return to Alstone.”
I thought back over the things Fallon had confided in me in the past, whispered confessions when I was holding her in my arms, of how her father would punish Joseph and Tim every time he thoughtshe’ddone something wrong and make her watch.
My fist clenched around my phone. That fucking bastard deserved to fucking die. Even prison was too good for him. I’d never forgive him for any of it. Not only for Fallon but for plotting against us, putting our lives at risk, being a completely reprehensible human being. Christine and the Belarusian syndicate members were gone, and he was the only one left who needed to pay. If he got out, I’d make sure he’d fucking regret it.
