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Trin heaves a sigh and tilts her head back. “It’s not going well, if you must know.”
My stomach jolts. I had a feeling, but I wasn’t sure for certain.
“What’s wrong?”
“It's Elise. She’s not coming home from school until late. I saw her with a hickey last week. She’s just belligerent, moody, pissed off. I don’t know what to do, Missy. Mum and Dad don’t even notice.”
I swallow hard, fear washing through me. What is she up to? Is she in trouble, danger? I should never have left. But this doesn’t sound like Elise. She knows how bad the streets are. She’s terrified of them more than any of us.
“Right. Where does she hang out?” I bark out and glance at Kandi. She taps away on her phone and moves closer to me, showing me a map.
“There’s a group of hangout spots in the old parklands.” Trin says and points out the spots.
I feel a sick tremor go through me. Those huge sprawling parks are hives of activity for drugs, alcohol, and violence. Elise would never, ever go there.
“Why would she go there?” I ask and can’t hide my skepticism.
Trin walks, and I fall into step with her. Kandi parks the car and then trots behind us. I pull out my phone to message Seb.
“It's like you don’t exist. We can’t say your name. We can’t talk about you. Mum and Dad are happier than we’ve ever seen them, and the cost was you. But I’m not happy, and Elise isn’t happy.”
Guilt again. I hate it and love it. So familiar. I slip my phone into my pocket.
“Mum and Dad told me not to come back. I’m trying not to make things worse.”
Trin trips ,and I catch her arm, hoisting her back up. She looks at my face as if trying to read the truth from my very eyes.
“Fuck,” she breathes. “I can’t with them. I just…what is their malfunction?”
I huff a laugh.
“I don’t know.” I pause for a long moment and then give Trin another long look. “About the pack. I know I said it was fake-”
“I’m happy for you. I can see how much they care. How much Darion cares about you. I was surprised, but I’m not upset.”
“You weren’t in love with him?” I ask hesitantly.
“Gods, no. He was always just a friend.” She looks ahead of us, and her eyes get far away. “I did lots of things when I was a kid to escape. Talking to strangers was better than being at home.” She kicks an empty can, sending it spinning out onto the road.
The relief and dismay that comes with her statement feels like a weight I didn’t even know was there, lifting off my shoulders and simultaneously plunging me into an ice bath.
Trin looks back and smiles. “We’ll find her.” She turns into the parklands, and I get a good look at a place I’ve made sure to avoid for years. The dried grass and weeds are knee high, the trees are thin and sparse but grow in tight clumps that attract people trying to avoid the cops.
The parks draw people. I’ve always known that. It brings the desperate, the angry, the hopeless. I’ve avoided it mostly, but I can hear the sounds in them. Shouting arguments, full of aggression, that escalates into drunken screams. I can see the orange burn of the bins already well lit. The smell of weed and cigarettes hangs in the air with the throb of danger and the silent command to turn back.
I can’t. My sister might be there. I swallow the lump in my throat and think of the guys. Again, I reach for my phone, but I can’t bring myself to pull the plug on their years of work.
My heart is in my throat as we step into the deep, dead grass, making our way towards the violent, drunken screaming.
I crouch down, hugging my knees, and try to quiet the shrieking in my head. It’s taken us hours to scour the parklands. Hours. It’s close to midnight, or maybe even after that. The pockets of people are everywhere, the despair, the sullen hostility.
We went from there to the malls, checking with all the kids who hang outside its perimeters before we returned to the parkland to do another loop.
Theoretically, we could have missed her. But Trin called our dad three hours ago, and he said Elise wasn’t home yet. So if we are missing her, there’s a chance she’s still out here. That thought makes me quake with terror. Because there’s now a growing chance that she isn’t.
I’ve been missing my alphas like crazy, but I know they’re working so hard today. Kandi was supposed to drop me home and stay with me. That was the plan. They need to work through the night tonight and would be staying at the office. I should call them…
Trin leans against a tree. Not even the moonlight penetrates enough to illuminate her features. But her fear can be felt in the air and the way her scent has soured.
