She didn’t turn. Her head was tilted up, as if she was reading the Vitiosis tomb.
I reached for her, slowly, my hands around her arm.
She spun around so quickly her hair whipped the sides of her face. Her mouth dropped open as a piercing scream erupted around us.
I dropped to the ground, covering my ears. Mud splashed around my knees as I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her down with me, her stark white now filthy. She stopped screaming, her soft whimpers clinging to my shoulder. Wrapping her arms around my waist, her crying instantly dissolved into the dark of the night. She pulled away from me gently, searching my eyes while sinking her teeth into her bottom lip.
“Brantley? Is that you?”
“Goddammit, Saint!” I yelled, my anger fueling a tone I wouldn’t normally use with her.
“I’m sorry—I’m. I don’t know.” She paused, her head tilting from left to right. “What am I doing out here?”
I grabbed her by the hand and helped her to her feet. “Inside. Now.”
She took my hand, just like she did all those years ago. So small and delicate against mine. It was like seeing an angel trust a devil. So naïve and pure. When we’re back inside the warmth of the house, I locked the patio door behind us and shook the water from my hair. She stood in the middle of the lounge room, the fabric sticking to her frail body. To her nipples like a second skin. So pink and perfect.
“Fuck.” I stormed toward the liquor cabinet, ripping it open and reaching for the oldest scotch I could find.
“Brantley, I’m—I don’t know what happened.”
Wrapping my lips around the tip, I took a few shots before placing it onto the coffee table.
“It’s fine. Just a nightmare.” The lie was easy. Too easy.
“No, I don’t think it was.”
Too easy if you’re not Saint, who was far too observant to lie to.
I nudged my head up the stairs. “Go run yourself a bath and get to sleep.”
She did, without a fight. Once she was up the stairs and out of earshot, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Hector.
“We’ve got a problem,” I said, grinding my teeth. “It has started.”
“What makes you think that’s the same girl I told people was dead?” I say, snapping myself out of my memory lapse.
“Simple.” Lena brushes me off, standing to her feet with her bag in her hand. “Your heart is only capable of loving one.”
“No one said shit about love, Len. The fuck.”
She glares at me like I grew another head. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.” Her eyes turn to slits. “Fine.” She drops back onto her chair, gesturing to the whiskey in my hand. “Tell me about her.”
Laughter bubbles from my chest and my head cocks back before meeting her eyes again. “What the fuck you think this is? A fucking episode of Gossip Girl?” Lena flips me off, and I sigh, reaching for the bottle again while my eyes remain focused on the table. “That was Saint.”
“Why’d you say she was dead?” Lena says, her brows knitting.
“Because then my brothers would leave me the fuck alone about finding a girl.”
“You’re solid on never wanting a girlfriend?”
It’s my turn to glare at her now. “I’m going to pretend you don’t need clarification on that.”
Lena chuckles, rubbing her cheek with the palm of her hand. “Look, man. I get it. But that girl there, I don’t know. She’s doomed with you and doomed without you. So, I guess that’s a fate you’re going to have to choose.”
“Saint will never be my girlfriend.”
“Why?” Her arms fly up.
I bring my eyes to hers. “Because nothing good comes from these hands, Len. Nothing. Ever. They end lives. They’re not soft enough to have her beneath them.”
Her eyes widen. “Deep, man. The fuck? You just got real deep.”
“Lena, I’m not fucking shallow.” I take a swig of the whiskey, baring my teeth and hissing when I realize I swallowed too much at once.
“I know, but my man, that girl doesn’t seem to be either.” Lena kicks out her foot. “There’s shit you’re not telling me, too, right?”
“Always.” The corner of my mouth kicks up in a smirk.
She laughs, getting to her feet. She flicks the lid of the whiskey at my chest. “Then maybe start by being honest with her.”
She flips me off, turning to make her way outside. I stay seated for a while longer, thinking over all the bullshit that happened tonight. From the setup, to getting shot at, to everything Lena just said. I can go around in circles with everything, but it only makes me angrier. When I finally make my way down to the tent, the adults have left, and the party has swung into a teen hormone fest. I personally think that everyone is taking the absolute piss now. Not everyone here is in TEKC now, but they sure as fuck would have heard about us.