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“Maybe I’ll just stay in this time,” I muttered, remembering last night.
Kat shoved her hand on her hip. “You’re here to meet other people, right?”
“You’re right,” I nodded, and she just smiled. I was here to meet the contact and I couldn’t do that sitting here alone. “But I’m not dressing up tonight. It’s casual for me.”
She just gave a shrug, but her smile was beaming as she grabbed me in a massive hug. “We’re going to have a kickass night. You wait and see. Finley Salvatore won’t dare show his face at Evan’s.”
For a second, I was swept away in her fever, smiling and laughing once more as she pulled away and skipped to her room. The happy Kat was back and for a second, everything was okay. Music spilled out of her room, something lively and fun. They were always lively and fun. There was always singing, always the bright, blinding sun…
Until there wasn’t.
My smile died as I glanced at the half empty bottle in front of the sofa. Kat had demons, alright. A shiver coursed through me as I moved my focus to the open door of her bedroom. She didn’t want to talk about it, that was for sure. That storm I felt bearing down wasn’t just confined to my world. Now it spilled out, dark and seething, searching for a crack into this world.
My phone let out abeep.
I clenched my jaw.
“You just can’t leave me alone, can you, Finley?” I muttered, and yanked my phone up.
Unknown number: You need to be careful, Miss Shaw.
Shaw.
Shaw…
My heart hammered as I stared at the message. I jerked my gaze to the windows, then around the room. It was the contact…it had to be.I swallowed hard.
“Are you getting ready or are you going in today’s clothes?” Kat called out. “At least change your shirt. You don’t know how picky those bitches can be. You’ll be judged even if they love you.”
I just gave a slow nod as a tingling raced through my body. The walls were closing in, narrowing and pushing, brick by brick I was being confined. Still, I moved automatically, making my way to my room and stripped in the closet.
I didn’t know what I pulled out, a top, jeans, nice boots. I strode into the bathroom and took my time showering and drying.
You need to be careful, Miss Shaw.
They were watching. Were they watching me now? My hands froze, hovering over my breasts, fear making me shiver under the warm spray. I hit the faucets and stepped out, hurried to the towel, and wrapped it tightly around my body.
First Finley spied on me, and now this…I felt naked,exposed.That tingling found me, growing cold and cruel. I hurried from the bathroom, tugging on my panties under the towel and stepped into the walk-in closet, shrugging into my bra before I slid on the jeans and my top.
I brushed my hair then slid on lip gloss and a light brush of shadow as Kat poked her head around my doorway. “For someone who doesn’t try, you sure look like a knockout.”
I smiled and stepped backwards, pushing that chill aside. A knockout. That was one word I'd never associated with my looks, but standing there, my gaze sliding down the black top that hugged my curves and the dark blue jeans, I felt…different.Powerful.
You need to be careful, Miss Shaw.
“I do, don’t I?” I agreed.
Whoever the contact was…they were watching. I gave a small smile and turned, striding from the bathroom and through my bedroom, sliding the key card for the building into my back pocket. I'd come to the island to make contact…and I had.
One box ticked and one step closer to getting out of here and far away from this world.
“You and I are going to have so much fun tonight.” Kat hooked her arm into mine.
But to leave this world meant I’d be leaving Kat behind.
That ache moved deeper, tainting my happiness. The truth was, she was pulling me into her world. Her claws went deep, even as she purred. I met her gaze as we strode into the elevator. She was laughing, chatting about Evan and her power trips. She was happy, and in that moment, I didn’t care what she said. All that mattered in that moment was that I was there. “I’m going to really miss you.” The words out there before I knew it.
Kat just froze, her mouth open, her words forgotten as her gaze narrowed in on me. “Anna, you missed a very important lesson on Kat somewhere, a mandatory lesson. One that would’ve told you that when I love, I love hard and fast. And honey, I love you. You’re not going to miss me at all. I’m in your life now…for good.”
