AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, hell,really?” Keene complained with a wince. “With that again? Shut that damn thing off. They didn’t mention meat all.”
As Alec stood to turn the television off, Foster threw up his hands in defeat. “Hey, I don’t know where they got the idea that I single-handedly saved the day. I never even talked to a single reporter.”
“You know, I’m the one who called the whole thing in,” Keene said, jabbing a finger into his own chest. “The paramedics arrived in time because ofmyquick thinking.”
“Ihopeit was in time, anyway,” I mumbled as I drew in a shaky breath. “God. Why are they taking so long?”
“Hey, hey,” Hudson kissed my temple. “He’s going to be okay. Archer’s tough. He’s got this.”
“He better,” I sobbed and started to cry again, not sure what to do without Damien in my world.
“Darlin’, don’t lose hope yet,” Thane said softly as he reentered the waiting room to come and kneel in front of me. “If they’re still back there with him, that means he’s still alive. He’s still fighting.”
“But it also means he has to be seriouslyhurt,” I argued.
Thane’s expression welled with worry, and I buried my face in my hands until a familiar voice I wasn’t expecting called, “O? Oh my God, Oaklynn! You’re okay.”
I glanced up to see a frantic Jaylani plowing her way into the waiting room. Thane moved aside so my best friend could jerk me from my chair and to my feet in order to wrap me in a big hug.
“Girl, you gave me a fucking heart attack.”
“I… I’m sorry.” It felt so good to have her here, though, that I pulled her close and hugged her back. “I didn’t think—today’s just been so crazy.”
“I almost lost my mind when I saw you on the news, all bloody and being carried toward the back of an ambulance. And when you didn’t answer your phone…”
I blinked. My phone. Glancing around, I admitted, “I don’t even know where it is.”
“I, uh, think the police might’ve taken it as evidence,” Foster admitted with a cringe.
I shook my head, wondering whythatof all things would be evidence, but Jaylani jerked me back to the present, demanding, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, sis. Namely the fact that all the news reports claim that this roommate of yours—Thalia—was murdered ten fuckingyearsago.”
Shit. I winced. “Oh, yeah… That.”
Lordy, but how was I even going to begin to tell Jay about Thalia?
Reading my expression, she released a breath and cringed right along with me. “Ah, jeez. Please don’t tell me you’re seeing ghosts again.”
My mouth fell open. “Excuse me?”
With a heavy sigh, my best friend took my hand and led me toward a chair. “We should probably sit for this.”
“Jay?” I asked, blinking at her in astonishment before I pointed in warning. “Don’t you dare…”
But she dared.
“Remember that girl, Lizzy Maine, that we met when we were, like, nine or ten?”
“Oh God,” I grimaced, already shaking my head. “No. Please don’t say it.”
“I thought she was just an imaginary friend you made up, and you had a really vivid imagination with that whole story about her being a runaway and hiding from her abusive dad so we couldn’t tell any adults about her.”
“Jay…” I breathed in utter astonishment. “Why the hell didn’t yousaysomething?”
Jaylani only shrugged. “I don’t know. It was exciting. I just wanted to play along. I thought it was fun to sneak her food and try to hide her from everyone. I mean… I usually ate the food myself when you weren’t looking. But then, a few months after you stopped seeing her and said she must’ve gotten away and found somewhere nice to live, I heard my parents say the name Lizzy Maine, so I asked them who she was.”
Sucking in a breath, I shook my head and covered my mouth with my hands before rasping, “Her dad killed her after all, didn’t he?”
Jay winced apologetically and nodded. “About five years before we ever met her.”
