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“He’s a psychopath, Ayla.”
My spine stiffens. Before, when I was normal, I would’ve let her say what she wanted and just move on from it, but the criticism in her tone fires me up.
“You slept with that lunatic in the parking lot,” I remind her. “He abducted you along with three others.”
“He took me and the guys didn’t like it. They practically volunteered to come along.”
“Everyone was tied to a fucking chair, Alani. Do you—”
I snap my jaw closed when she jerks her head back.
“Colorful language,” she mutters.
“Nothing you haven’t heard before,” I remind her.
“Never from you,” she says as she crosses her arms and glares at me.
“What happened with that man?”
She shakes her head. “Don’t ever ask me about him. Why are you so quick to spit curse words?”
My cheek twitches in irritation. I love my sister. I think I’ve proven that time and time again, but she just doesn’t get it. I told her in greater detail than I ever thought I would about what happened to me.
“I’m different,” I tell her, pressing the final key on the keyboard and getting the confirmation number for ordering my birth certificate.
“Do you think it’s trauma making you want to spend time with the man who hurt you?”
“Helped me,” I correct, as I stand and start walking toward the door.
I feel out of place here, in this pristine dorm room. It’s very girly and frankly, a little too young adult. After what I’ve been through, I feel like I need something less fresh, something tainted with time and use.
“You’re leaving already?”
“He’s waiting,” I remind her. “I’ll be back.”
“For your birth certificate,” she says with a deep frown.
“I can’t stay in your dorm room.”
“Where will you stay when you get back?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”
Alani walks with me out of her room. The compression I felt in my chest starts to lift the closer I make it to the front door. By the time I’m in the sun, I’m feeling what I consider my new normal.
Donavan is still in his truck, but Alani doesn’t acknowledge him as she turns to face me.
“Let me know you made it safely,” she says, her throat clogged with emotion.
The girl goes from one end of the spectrum to the other so quickly, it gives me whiplash.
“I will.”
“No more lies.”
“I’ll do anything to protect you,” I vow, unable to make the promise she wants because certain circumstances require certain action. “Please be vigilant. Don’t go anywhere alone. Don’t go out at night.”
She nods, taking me seriously instead of saying yes, mother like she normally would.
“I still think it would be best if you came with us,” I say, diving back into the conversation we had earlier in her dorm room.
“I can’t. The semester starts tomorrow. Tuition and fees have already been paid, and not wasting any money is more important now than ever before.”
“I can get more money. It’s not safe. The threat—”
“I’ll be fine. I’m an adult, Ayla. Let me make my own decisions.”
She has a point, so all I can do is nod and open my arms for a hug.
We embrace, and for the first time that I can recall, I’m the first to pull away.
“I love you,” she whispers.
I cup her face, using my thumb to swipe away a tear. “I love you, too.”
I don’t look back as I walk toward Nash’s truck because I might never leave if I did. I glare at Donavan, hoping he catches the threat in my eyes. He must because his lips form a flat line as he gives me the slightest dip of his head.
He doesn’t look like he plans to go anywhere, and I don’t know if it’s because he’s staying because Angel has asked him to, or if he’s formed some sort of obsession with my sister. He didn’t yell back at her despite her screaming in his face. He didn’t strike her or retaliate in any way when she hit him. There’s a voice inside of me saying that he’d never hurt her, despite him tying her to a chair, which I think he did for her own good. I do feel like I’m leaving her with a hungry wolf, but with the way he’s watching her, I get the impression he might be good for her on some level.
My eyes rove over the parking lot, and I feel a little more relief when I see the dark SUV parked a few spots over. The Cerberus member lifts two fingers from the steering wheel in a tiny wave, nodding his head as if to tell me that she’ll be fine. I nod back, wondering why they’re still here in the first place, but not at all upset that they are.
My steps stumble a little as I consider that getting help from Cerberus would probably be better than riding to Plano with Nash, but I don’t feel the sympathy I sense from Cerberus when I’m with him. I don’t think he’s judging every choice I make and struggling against voicing his own opinion.
