“Anni…”
“Forget it. I’m going to speak with Papa myself when he gets back.”
“Don’t, Anni,” Mom says in a soft voice. “You’ll only anger him and get yourself hurt. This is for the best.”
“Whose best? Yours? Papa’s? Jeremy’s? It’s certainly not for mine.” Frustration bubbles in my veins. It keeps mounting until it’s bursting at the seams.
And the worst part is that I have no clue how to placate it.
Make it better.
I’m so disappointed in Mom and angry at myself for being so trusting. For getting trapped in a situation where the only way out is to lose.
All doors are closing in my face and Creighton still isn’t answering my texts.
Will he say it’s for my sake, too?
Jeremy’s phone vibrates on the table and when he checks it out, a crease appears between his brows.
“We’re leaving,” he announces, abruptly standing up.
“But you just got here,” Mom protests.
“There’s an emergency back at the island.”
“What type of emergency?” I ask in a haunted voice.
“The bad type.”
He storms in the direction of the house and I jog to keep up with him. “What happened?”
“Nikolai was kidnapped and the kidnapper is asking for me.”
26
CREIGHTON
“Are you sure this plan will work?”
Eli’s body remains completely still while he tilts his head to the side, biding his time.
Waiting.
We’ve been hiding behind the bushes in the corner of the Heathens’ back entrance for an hour now and there’s still no sign of the ‘prey’ my brother said we’re hunting tonight.
“Patience, baby bro. We have to let the prey come out of its own accord.”
“Why can’t we just weed it out?”
He gives me a sideways glance, one full of sadism. “Now, where’s the fun in that?”
We’re both dressed in jeans and hoodies and probably look like serial creeps with depraved tendencies. Which is true, to an extent.
It doesn’t help that it’s late, about two in the morning late, and the streets are practically empty.
Ever since I saw the text Annika sent me, the one where she announced going back to the States, I’ve been restless. Those black shadows lined my vision and I couldn’t stay still.
The first thought that came to mind was that her father wouldn’t allow her to come back here. She was always proud of how she convinced him to let her attend REU, but the fact remains that he was opposed to the idea.