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Grabbing her chin, I forced her to look at me.
Truly look at me.
And what I saw made all my fear churn thickly inside.
I’d sensed this.
As much as I didn’t understand how or why, I’d felt her needing me. I’d come for her because she’d put herself in harm’s way. All that protectiveness I felt toward her had urged me here. At least I wasn’t too late. At least I was here before she could put herself in any more danger.
But...how had I known?
How were we so linked that I’d felt her?
My pulse raced, and the depth of what I felt for her surged through me. I wanted to shake her, kiss her, scold her, embrace her.
I wanted to be gentle with her.
But...fuck, I was livid.
Beyond livid.
I was terrified.
What if I hadn’t found her in time?
What if she’d ended up in a ditch or smuggled to a different country?
What if I never saw her again?
My heart stopped, and I pinched her chin, keeping her head tipped back.
She moaned and tried to push me away, but I didn’t let her. “How much did you drink?” Her stare was overly dilated. She couldn’t stay focused on me. Her nostrils flared as if she couldn’t catch a proper breath, and her lips looked slightly swollen.
Another gush of cold fear filled me.
“Are you high?” I grabbed her cheeks with both hands, forcing her to stand still, all while she wobbled. “Fucking hell, you’re stoned, aren’t you? You mixed alcohol and drugs? Fuck’s sake, Neri.”
Curling into herself, she hugged the cardigan tighter around her body as I let her go. I scowled. Something was off about that piece of clothing... “That’s not yours. I’ve never seen that jumper before.”
Neri hunched even deeper into herself.
I dragged both hands through my hair. “Wait...I saw you grab it from a chair. Did you...did you steal that? Fucking hell, this night just keeps getting worse. Now you’re a thief as well as a drunk and stoner? What the hell is going on with you?”
“I-I’ll bwring it ba-back...tomorrwow.” Her shoulders rolled, and she swayed into the tree.
My stomach lurched to catch her. My heart begged me to be kind.
But if her parents saw her in this condition, she’d be grounded for a month. How much of this could I hide from Jack and Anna? My mind raced with damage control. “Is Zara as drunk as you? Are her parents here? Stupid question. ’Course they’re not here. Chances are both of you have alcohol poisoning and—”
“Zara didn’t do...” Her voice cracked. “Zara didn’t help—”
“Didn’t help with what? Give you more booze? More drugs? You should be ashamed, Neri. You know better than this. You—”
“Aslan...” She hiccupped and brushed at the tears falling down her face. “Please...don’t—”
“Don’t what? Tell you what you need to hear?” Fear from seeing my cousin falling in with the wrong crowd back in Turkey raged through me. She’d been so close to being raped one night. She’d been so lucky my uncle found her in time. And it was her fault my uncle was dead the next night. I loved my cousin, but because of her reckless endangerment, she’d marked my entire family for death.
I won’t let Neri fall down the same slippery slope.
