AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But still, despite the factuality, I just couldn’t shake it. The deceit. This whole game she’d been playing with us. Yeah, Samara might’ve been a victim, but she’s far from fucking innocent.
She had to pay for all the trouble she caused, and I said as much to Cindy.
“I understand why you feel that way, and you’re right, but it’s like you just said, Phantom, sheisa victim. Take a moment and put yourself in her shoes. The girl didn’tchooseto be under Damien’s command. She wasforcedinto it. Imagine all the shit she must’ve gone through, the horrors she endured being under his control.”
Little did she know I already had. “All of that has been considered. But still, I just…” I blew out a breath, not even sure what it was I was trying to say. “She should’ve just taken the fucking money and ran.”
Cindy slightly rolled her eyes and scooted back over to the canvas on my back, returning to work. “You don’t have to trust her, Phantom, but youaregoing to be around her whether you like it or not. Same goes for your brothers. I can’t tell you what to do, but if I were you three, I’d sit down and have a long, serious talk with her about this shit. Forget about what Jace told you. Get all the facts from her mouth and hers alone and then act logically from there. With as long as she’s been under, there’s no telling how much leverage Damien has against you now. Youneedthat info, Phantom. The sooner you get it done, the better.”
I ground my teeth, hating that unmistakable truth. That’d also been another big worry of mine.
How much did Damien know? How deep has he sunk his claws into her? If Samara made it through all three trials and joined the Ravagers, then when the clock struck zero, whose side would she really be on? Would she keep her word and fight alongside us, or would she betray us and help Damien kill us off one by one?
Or would she aim to slaughter us all and then run away into the night with Jace?
It was the fear of the unknown that pestered me the most, therefore making it impossible for me to spare her any slight notion of trust.
Twenty-One
Samara
Iwokeupthenext morning feeling like straight shit. I hardly slept. Sky was in shambles after the police left last night. I laid in bed with her and held her while she cried, trying to say anything and everything I could think of to calm her down, but it was no use. It wasn’t until midnight struck when her soft cries and sniffles had finally drifted into silence, and she’d fallen asleep in my arms.
Brian was missing, and if my gut feeling was right, it was far worse than that. The only person who could’ve done this, unless he’d involved his brothers too, was Rhett. I’d contemplated sneaking out last night and paying the Ravagers a visit, but now, after being compromised and after what they did to me and Jace, I knew it wouldn’t have been a pleasant encounter. If I wanted answers, I had to go to Rhett directly. It was a horrible idea, but what other choice did I have? I’d be a clown to believe he’d think twice about answering any of my calls or texts.
I knew Sky wasn’t going to school today, so after throwing on this disgusting uniform and applying some light makeup, I taped a note to her door telling her to text me if she needed me, and then I was off.
Guilt washed over me when I stepped inside the elevator.
This was all my fault. If Rhett hadn’t caught me sneaking out… If I’d just lied about what I was doing, none of this would’ve happened.
This was on me. I was a horrible fucking friend.
I managed to get myself together just as the elevator opened. I stepped out and trekked down to the first place I could think of. The dining hall. I was expecting, or more like hoping, to find Rhett there. But as I stepped inside, disappointment settled in. He wasn’t there. Matter of fact…
Noneof the Ravagers were.
Accepting defeat for now, I internally sighed and walked inside to grab a bite to eat, hating how their absence did unexpected, fathomless things to my heart.
HOURS HAD PASSED AND there were still no signs of them anywhere. In fact, the Ravagers weren’t here at all. When lunchtime rolled around, I’d made a pit stop to the boys’ parking lot on the other side of campus and scoped around for their vehicles. They weren’t there. My desperation had gotten the best of me, so when classes were over and I was on my way back to the dorm, I pulled out my phone and dialed Finn.
“Hey,” he surprisingly answered after the third ring. “You’ll have to make it fast. Jace and I can barely get away long enough to take a shit thanks to Damien breathing down our necks all hours of the fucking day.”
“Oh, God. Is-is it because of Ginger and the girls?”
Finn and Jace filled me in on the hit Damien put on them. I’d been silently freaking the fuck out over it for days now, but Finn told me not to worry. According to him and Jace, Damien had zilch on them evidence wise. That it would be better for me to focus more on my problems here at the academy while they handled the turmoil with Damien. And to make matters worse, I was due to deliver an update to him soon. It frustrated me to admit it, but I was scared. I had no idea how the fuck we could dig out of the hole we’d buried ourselves in.
Given the drastic turn of events, my faith in our survival was skating on a thin patch of ice, right along with my sanity.
It was only a matter of time before the ice broke. I could feel it.
“No,” he replied. “Believe it or not, all is still good in that department. The Outlaws have been swarming the streets for days now trying to narrow down leads, but there’s nothing to find. We would’ve heard something by now if that weren’t the case.”
Although his words were meant to be comforting, they weren’t. “Don’t underestimate him, Finn. You, of all people, should know that Damien is a hell of a lot smarter than he looks. Does Ginger know what’s going on?”
“Yeah. She knows.”
“Is she okay?”
