We both stare out of the windshield for a long, silent moment.
“Well then,” Vivian says, swinging one leg over to knock mine off the break petal. The car squeals as I scramble to gain control for a moment. “It’s just you and me, so we better get going.”
At long last, I jam my foot down on the gas.
The car springs to life, building speed unti
l we’re once again racing down the tree-lined road under Vivian’s guidance.
Beside me, Vivian grows quiet and when I glance over at her, looks like she’s deep in thought. After a few minutes she looks at me with a renewed determination.
“Okay,” she says. “I know where Remus’ pack has set up camp in a portion of their territory. It’s some distance off. If we drive fast, we might still be able to intercept Rory before he reaches the camp and gets himself dismembered.”
I nod. It’s the best chance we have.
The only chance.
I slam my foot back onto the gas pedal, and this time I manage to shove it even closer down to the floorboard as the car lurches forward again and knocks us both back against our seats. This time I’m not running away from something, I’m running toward something.
“We still might not get there in time,” Vivian says, a weight in her voice that sends a chill up my spine and churns my stomach.
“Why did you come to get me?” I ask. “Why didn’t you just head straight toward Rory to try to stop him yourself?”
“Because he wouldn’t have listened to me. He will only listen to you. Besides, I know that you can’t live without him either.”
I stare over at her across the seat.
“How could you possibly know that?” I ask.
“Because I’m not blind,” she says, suddenly forcing a smile despite everything else that’s going on. It’s surprisingly gentle. “You, on the other hand, seem to be. And not just about Rory either. You were so jealous of me when you first met me, I could smell the jealousy coming off you like rising steam.”
I wonder if she means that literally or figuratively.
“Of course, I was,” I say, and I don’t stop there. If we’re being honest with each other, then we might as well be brutally so. “I was afraid that one of them, or even all of them, would want you instead of me.”
Vivian laughs so loud, it nearly makes me swerve off the road again.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
“The thought of you thinking that I would steal one of the boys from you.”
She covers her mouth with one hand to stifle a second laugh.
“I don’t see why I wouldn’t,” I say. “You’re beautiful, and fierce, and—”
“And gay,” Vivian says, interrupting me. “So very, very gay.”
23
Sabrina
Vivian was never a threat at all, because Vivian is gay.
That little bit of information might have come in handy sooner.
All this … all of this … probably could have been avoided if someone had ever bothered to tell me.
I know it’s private, that part of her is her own business. But then when she showed up, she made it mine. She saw how jealous I was becoming, they all did. And yet not one of them thought to tell me before now.