AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why blame you, though?” Celeste asks, her voice small but genuinely concerned.
“Fuck if I know. I know he doesn’t like the Knights and enlisted some really bad guys to—and I quote—‘take the Knights down a notch’. But I don’t know why he shot Micah or how he even knew we were there. Hell, I didn’t know we were going to be there. Micah randomly showed up at our door and took me for coffee.”
“Shit, Evie. This is bad. If Micah doesn’t make it, the entire school is going to blame you. Maybe we shouldn’t go back.”
What the hell? My jaw drops at the thought of not going back to school. That idea never once crossed my mind. No way am I going to break a promise and change my life for some low life asshole.
“That’s ridiculous, Cele. I didn’t do anything. Why should I pay the consequences for something I didn’t do?”Well, if that doesn’t sound familiar...I swear, this is some cosmic joke. My life is stuck on a sick rerun.
She audibly sighs and shakes her head. “Because, Evelyn, perception matters more than the truth at Stratham.”
The waitress brings us our food, but neither of us has an appetite anymore. I’m stuck in a clusterfuck of thoughts with no real way out. I mean, seriously, why should I give a damn about what the kids at school think?
There are bigger things for me to worry about. The burden of knowing that there are worse things out there than Micah getting shot and the feeling that I have yet to scratch the surface of what hell has for me makes my stomach churn. There’s still the mess of dealing with Alik and the Bianchi family on top of knowing that Elijah’s dad is one of my rapists.
Fuck a bunch of rich fuckers who don’t have the first clue on what the real world is like or what actually happened at the cafe.
I order four shots of whiskey, hand one to Celeste, and down the other three in quick succession. One thing is for sure, I don’t care what she says. I’m not going to let Ryan’s dumbass choices—or anyone else’s—derail my life.
I’m going to Stratham University, and whoever has a problem with that can piss right the fuck off. I may not be the best person who’s ever graced this earth, but I sure as hell deserve to at least attempt to live out my dreams.
Don’t I?
“Taylor is on his way, so we’ll ask him what we should do.” Celeste breaks the silence.
The fact that Taylor is our voice of reason should really concern me, but I don’t argue and continue to eat my food.
As if summoned, Taylor walks through the doors of Joe’s bar with a bag over his shoulder, like he’s a man on a mission. He reaches our booth, tosses the duffel bag on the floor, and slides in next to Celeste.
He scans my appearance. “You look okay. So, what the hell happened at the cafe? I need to know everything, and I need to know it now.” His tone brokers no argument.
I turn to look at Celeste. She’s looking at Taylor like she’s never seen him before and he’s just hung the moon.Well, that’s new.
I can feel an unintentional grin spread across my face while I turn back to Taylor.
“This isn’t funny, Evelyn. Micah isn’t just some random guy and we’re not in some random town. He’s a fucking Knight. As far as everyone else is concerned, you are the reason he’s fighting for his life right now.”
The punch to my gut sobers me and knocks the pleasantness of a few seconds ago right out of my system.
“Is he okay?” My voice is small and full of unspoken fear. “I didn’t shoot him, Taylor, and I’m not responsible for him being shot.” My eyes blaze into his, praying that he gives me the answers my soul needs to hear.
He sighs instead.
“Right now, I don’t know. I know you wouldn’t do anything to get him shot, Eves. I just need to know what happened. I need to figure out how I’m going to fix all of this.”
I tilt my head to the side and examine him more closely. He’s changed since I met him. When did that happen?
“Where do you want me to start?”
“Tell me what happened at Sugar & Spice, and we can work backwards from there.”
I close my eyes and replay the last thirty-six hours for them to hear. I tell them about Micah sleeping in the hallway, me kicking him awake, and us walking into the cafe. I don’t share the details of our conversation, but when I absently mention seeing the Reaper and the Ferryman, Taylor nearly jumps out of his seat.
“First problem,” he says. “Sugar & Spice is never empty. Second, the Reaper and the Ferryman belong in New York. Why would they come to New Hampshire? Third, how the hell do YOU know them?”
I take a quick glance at Celeste, who is staring at the both of us in confusion. She clearly doesn’t know who they are. But how does he?
“I know who they are because everyone who lives in New York City for any amount of time knows who they are. How do you know them?”
