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“I’m sure she was fucking terrified, Lakyn, and sitting here wallowing in pity isn’t going to make it any better. Where is the fighter? Where the fuck did the girl go who wouldn’t take any type of bullshit in life?”
I shake my head. “It died when guilt began to overweigh strength.”
Guilt over murdering Zane.
Guilt over keeping my conversation with the masked man a secret.
Guilt over my friends being swept up in my mess.
“Shut the hell up, Lake,” Archer snaps. “You have nothing to feel guilty over. We’re all to blame, and none of us feel guilty over this. Shit, Eloise was just as much a part of this as the rest of us were.”
I turn onto my side, my fingers wrapping around my neck, feeling like my lungs are being constricted, like I can’t get in a breath of air. “It is. It’s my fault,” I cough, gasping in a breath. “I feel like I can’t breathe.”
“Take a breath, Lakyn.” Archer stands up, hovering over me.
My eyes fall to Reign. He watches me with narrowed eyes, and in a second, his fingers go to mine, which are wrapped around my neck, pulling them down to my side. My eyes zero in on his, and the power he holds over me is so natural. The moment he touches me, grasps me, commands me with his gaze, he anchors me back to earth.
Reign’s hand falls to my chest, his fingers curling into my shirt, feeling my erratic heart. “Breathe, Lakyn. You’re having a panic attack.”
I take in a shaky breath, wondering if I even deserve to.
It’s all my fault. This is all my fault.
“I should just go turn myself in. Before anyone else gets hurt.”
Reign glares at me, rage in his eyes. “Fuck that. What the hell will that do?”
“Your parents already covered it up, Lakyn. Doing that would be absolutely pointless. Fucking foolish,” Archer mumbles.
My breaths come back slowly, and Reign brings his fingers down my cheek, watching me as he clenches his jaw, and my eyes follow the path of their sharpness.
I can’t keep this from them. I have to say something.
“It was the masked man. I know it was,” I whisper to him.
He cocks his head to the side. “How do you know?”
“He called me.”
Reign’s eyes flare. “What the fuck? When?”
“Last night,” I whisper.
His eyes darken. “And you didn’t think to fucking tell me last night at the dock?”
Archer steps forward. “Wait, you met her at the dock?”
My gaze flicks to Archer, and I see a hint of irritation. “What the fuck were you doing with him at the dock, Lakyn?”
Reign whips his head to Archer. “I suggest you chill the fuck out, Archer. What I do with Lakyn is my fucking business.”
“Lakynis my business,” Archer growls.
“You guys need to shut the fuck up. Right now is not the time!” Posie screams from beside Kyler.
Kyler shakes his head at us, looking disappointed in every single one of us.
“You guys, are we going, or what?” My eyes lift to the door, and I see Creed standing there, a wrecked-looking Vienna beside him. He looks as if he’s holding her up, like she doesn’t even have the strength to move on her own.
