AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fucking shame that can’t be tonight,” I mutter,but it’s too messy. Too many variables. Too many witnesses.
As we stride away from the house, I don’t look back. There’s nothing for us there, not anymore, only forward, where I can keep her safe. Where I can make sure the darkness of this night never touches Ever again.
16
BENEDICT
Brushing back the tangled strands of Ever’s golden hair from her pale face, I shudder as I think about what could have happened. She’s out cold, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm that is reassuring but no less infuriating.
“Damn it, Alex! What were you thinking?” Alistair’s shout from the hallway snaps my attention from Ever’s peaceful slumber. “You are fucking done, do you hear me? Fucking done.”
I step into the hallway just in time to see Alistair’s fist connect with Alex’s jaw, a sickening crack that echoes off the walls. Driven by rage, he towers over Alex, his muscles coiled for another strike.
“Wait!” Alex exclaims, holding his hands up. “Wait!” Blood trickles from his split lip as he scrambles backwards, his hands up as if to shield himself from the relentless storm that is Alistair’s wrath. “Please, Alistair, you have to listen.” But the wordsare lost under the weight of Alistair’s next punch, a blow that sends Alex sprawling to the ground.
He kicks Alex, who curls into a ball on the plush carpet of the hallway.
Ever’s safety, our shared obsession, has become the fuse that ignited this explosion of rage, and there’s no telling how far the fire will spread.
“Listen, Alistair, I wasn’t even there!” Alex pleads, his voice cracking under the strain. “I arrived at the same time you did!”
“Fucking liar!” Alistair snarls and leans down to grip Alex’s shirt to lunch him again. “You took her from this house and then abandoned her, you absolute cunt!” He kicks Alex in the ribs, then he pauses, nostrils flaring, as he glares down at Alex. The silence is heavy, thick with the tension of a storm yet to pass.
Damien hovers near the doorway, filling up the space with an intensity that’s almost tangible. He doesn’t move, doesn’t speak, but his eyes are locked on Alex. They’re like chips of ice, yet there’s a fire behind them, a fierce protectiveness that blazes silently. His jaw is set, lips a thin line, betraying nothing of what must be raging inside him.
“Damien,” I start as he takes a step towards Alex, but he holds up a hand, silencing me without a word.
“Your clothes,” Charlie murmurs, glaring down at Alex, still curled up on the floor. “That isn’t what you were wearing when I saw you earlier.”
“What?” Alex spits out, wiping blood from his mouth. “I didn’t see you earlier.”
Charlie grunts and hauls the kid to his feet.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, arms folded, gaze raking over his black jeans and black tee.
Charlie, his face contorted with rage, grabs Alex by the collar with the kind of force that has ‘reckoning’ written all over it. “Start explaining what the fuck this is before I let Alistair kill you.”
Alex sneers. He knows no one lets Alistair do anything, but then it fades as he remembers that Alistairwillkill him if this doesn’t get explained in two seconds flat.
“Ever texted me a bit ago asking where I was. I was at home. So, I texted her back, asking where she was. I didn’t get a reply, so I checked her location on the Find My Friends app and saw she was at that party. I knew there was going to be drugs and the less kosher crowd there, so I moved my ass as fast as I could to get to her. I couldn’t find her, and the next thing I knew, there was a massive fight going upstairs. What the fuck is going on? Why the fuck didyoulet her go there?” He rushes it all out, stumbling over his sentences and glancing at Ever in fear.
“Us?” Alistair booms, practically deafening us.
“So, you’re saying you didn’t invite Ever to a party, and you didn’t take her from his house? I ask steadily, the words sounding unbelievable to my own ears.
“No!” he spits out. “This is your baby now. My work is done.”
“So, who was it?” Alistair’s tone is deathly quiet, sending an icy chill skittering down my spine.
“Good fucking question.”
“That’s why he looked a bit confused when I ran into him at the party,” Charlie mutters. “Like it took him a second to recognise me.”
“What?” I turn on him with a questioning glare.
“Alex, or whoever, was with this girl, had his tongue stuck down her throat and his hand up her skirt.”
“Who?” Alex baulks as if this news makesanydifference to anyone.
