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“Madden?” the counselor calls after me as I turn and stalk toward the door.
“I’m done with this today,” I tell her. “I’m fucking over it.”
When I get back to my room, I’m dead set on packing my shit and leaving this place behind. But when I slam the door, there’s a note on the floor, and I know it’s from her.
I pick it up, glancing at the trash can. I should throw it away. Self-preservation is my only defense at this point. But I can’t. I have to know if this is her goodbye. When I open it, I find two sentences in her perfect handwriting.
Meet me at the lake tonight, please.
I miss you.
Chapter 19
Lyric
I can’t even look at Kodiak when he brings me breakfast the next morning. After I passed out in my vomit, he carried me back to the rec room and cleaned me up again. But since I soiled my only clothes, he had to give me one of his shirts and a pair of sweats to wear. Needless to say, I’m drowning in them. I’m humiliated and exhausted and just want to wake up from this nightmare.
“Got anything you’d like to say to me today?” he asks.
My eyes unconsciously drift to the bandage on his arm, and my stomach roils again. I still can’t believe I stabbed him. I didn’t even realize I was really doing it until there was blood. Maybe I’m just as deranged as he is. Or maybe I’m just trying to survive this insane situation he’s put me in.
“I’m not apologizing.” My voice wavers. “If you didn’t want to get stabbed, you shouldn’t have kidnapped me.”
“I don’t want your apologies.” He shakes his head as if the thought disgusts him.
“Then what do you want?” I croak.
“The truth.”
My hands tremble around the plate in my lap, and I gulp back emotions I can’t quite identify. This is all just too much. I’m overwhelmed and scared he’ll want to punish me at some point for the obvious hostility he feels toward me. But most of all, I’m afraid I’ll never get through to him and prove I’m not who he thinks I am.
“I am sorry about one thing, though,” I whisper.
“What?” His eyes flash with irritation.
“I’m sorry for whatever she did to hurt you.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, peaches,” he answers coldly. “You never had the power to hurt me.”
“I come bearing gifts.” The tall, gorgeous blonde they call Birdie appears in the doorway with her accomplice Ace in tow. Together, they carry in two armloads of shopping bags.
I glance at her suspiciously. “What do you mean, gifts?”
“Clothes,” she clarifies and then looks at Ace, who’s hovering over her as if he’s ready to pounce on any threat that might come her way. “You can sit on the couch. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Ace doesn’t look happy about leaving her alone with me, and if I’m being honest, I’m a little uncertain myself.
“If you think about trying anything, you’ll have to contend with me.” He issues his warning with a glower.
Birdie rolls her eyes and grabs my arm, pulling me from my seat. “Come on. We’ll go into the bathroom, and you can try a few on to see if they fit.”
“I don’t want to try anything on,” I protest, even as she forces me forward. “I just want my clothes.”
“Honey, the only place your old clothes are going is into a dumpster fire. Now, let’s go. I gotta get back to my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?” I blink at her. “With that guy out there?”
She glares at me. “Yeah, I do. You got a problem with that?”
“Of course not.” I stumble over the words. I wasn’t trying to be offensive, but they just seem like an oddly matched couple.
“He’s not as scary as he looks,” Birdie adds saltily as she pulls garments from the bags. “None of these guys are. They’re good people, Kodiak included.”
I could say a few things to that, but I’m not in the mood to argue.
“Here, try this on.” Birdie hands me a yellow dress with daisies on it.
I don’t want to try it on, but I figure the quicker I get this over with, the sooner she’ll leave. Since she’s made it clear she’s not an ally, there’s no point in trying to be friendly with her.
I turn around and take off Kodiak’s shirt, then tug the dress on over my head. It’s light and comfortable, but it’s better suited to hot weather, and it’s way shorter than I’d like.
“Yep.” Birdie nods as if she’s proving herself right. “I knew this would work.”
Whatever that means.
She hands me another dress and then repeats the process with jean shorts, tank tops, leggings, and a few skirts. It’s mostly summer stuff, and every piece shows off my body in a way she seems to be almost giddy about. I’m already questioning her motives, but when she pulls out a pack of thongs and no bras, I can’t hold my tongue any longer.
