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I twist, struggling to get up, go after her, but for some reason I can’t move. I’m tied to the bed, tied and gagged, and I’m not in my room anymore, not in a house, but at one of the group homes. I recognize the bare hanging bulbs and stained concrete floor. I know the faces crowding around the bed, and I see the baseball bats in their hands.
I know what’s coming next, but it still doesn’t prepare me for the first blow. When it falls, I jerk and shout for help. Blow after blow falls on me, and I shout and curse, all in vain.
“Micah. Snap out of it, man.” A male voice. A strong hand shaking me. “Hey. Enough. You’ll wake up the whole building. You don’t want the bitch from next door coming over to complain again.”
Another cry is caught in my throat, and I can’t breathe. A fit of coughing overtakes me, and I curl on my side, hacking and trying to breathe.
“I’ll bring you some water,” Seth says. He knows the drill.
But I sit up with a groan. “I’m okay.”
“Ew, man, cover up.” Seth makes a face. “I don’t need to see your fucking dick.”
I pull the sheet over my lap, and he turns to go.
He stops. The only light comes through the door, and I squint, trying to see what has him frozen.
A girl is standing there, wearing an oversized T-shirt, her hair hanging over her shoulders like sheets of beaten metal. My overtaxed brain keeps superimposing a dark shadow over her, and I know she’s leaving me.
“No.” I shake my head. “Don’t go.”
“Micah?” Ev, it’s Ev, her wide eyes flicking from me to Seth and back. “I’m not going anywhere. Just… What is Seth doing here?”
“What?” I scrape a hand over my face, hoping to restart my brain. “Seth lives here.”
“He lives with you?
“Got a problem with that?” Seth mutters irritably.
Ev rubs her temples. The T-shirt she’s wearing is mine. Why the hell do I feel warm at the thought of her wearing my clothes?
“It’s not… Not a problem,” she whispers.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Seth grumbles. “And try to keep it quiet, will ya? Trying to get some downtime here.”
He pushes past Ev, who flinches.
The hell?
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“It’s complicated.” She pads over to me but stays standing by the bed. “Are you okay? I heard a shout and then voices… And then you were coughing.”
“I’m all right.” I sigh. “Ev, you have to tell me what’s wrong. This doesn’t have to do with that asshole, Blake, does it?”
“I told you. It’s complicated.”
Okay, this is driving me nuts. “Maybe I’m not as stupid as you seem to think. Try to explain. Use simple words, if you like.”
She turns away, her face crumbling. “Please, Micah. Not now.”
I shake my head, both mystified and angry. “Why won’t you talk to me, Ev? What’s the story with Seth?”
“Micah...”
Fuck this. “Why do you run away whenever he’s around? And don’t give me again the bullshit about being concerned with his safety. Did he do something to you?” I’d give my right arm for Seth, but if he did something to her... The nightmare still lingers in the back of my mind, making me jittery.
“No.” She shakes her head vehemently. “Seth did nothing wrong.”
