Page 163 of A Dead Man's B-Side
“I think, maybe one day, we’ll go back to how things were. A part of him still feels betrayed, I know.”
“You did the right thing, Atty. You were a child too, you know? No one, least of all him, expects you to bear that burden alone. To keep his secrets and take care of him after a high.”
Rain let out a soft squeak. “Would you hate me if it were you? If they hadn’t pulled you out of that American school, and you went down a path you couldn’t tear yourself away from, and I told Alistair?”
Kay thought about it for a moment. “Mmm, I don’t think you would have told him. Barthalow may be… on the foul side, but he isn’t like Alistair. He only sent him to a rehab center. And besides, I am not the heir. Wolf has a certain level of protection around him because of it.”
Rain considered this and nodded; she wouldn’t have told Alistair.
“So…” She prompts when it looks like Kay isn’t going to divulge on his own. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”
He let out a harsh breath, not at her, she knew. “The Founder’s Society is huge, Rain. You’ve done well for yourself. Top scores, student body president, you remain an important player in the board’s eyes. I think that’s why Alistair and Emmeliana have decided to let me join you at Castle Hill next term.”
Rain jolted at his words. “I–...”
Kay nodded and looked at her with a wide smile. “We’ll get into all sorts of trouble, won’t we?”
She let out a watery laugh. “Kay, that’s amazing.” Her hand engulfed his big one and squeezed, an intense sense of giddy joy filling her. “Finally.”
He hummed.
Figuring it was finally time, he let his shoulders sag. “When you left for winter term last year… There were people who came. Alistair and Emmeliana must have planned it so that you wouldn’t be here. These men, built like tanks, came into my room at night and just… took me. I should have known at the time. I didn’t understand how I could be screaming the house down, and no one came to check. For weeks, I waited forsomeoneto show up, for someone to come and get me.”
Rain’s heart began to pound harder. “What–... Where were you?”
Kay looked down at his tightly clasped hands. “Back in America, somewhere so far from civilization, there weren’t even streets, for hundreds of miles. They were making us live like animals.”
“Us?”
“Yeah, there were about twelve of us–troubled kids. One of them–she’s from Florida–told me that parents send their children to these programs when all hope is lost. A final attempt at fixing what might just be a lost cause. And that kidnapping is a transport service they offer parents who know their kids won’t go willingly.”
Rain felt bile rise up her throat before she swallowed hard and opened her mouth to speak, “What did they make you do?”
Kay let slip a soft grunt. “Eh, it was stupid, really. We’d hike all day, up and down mountains, and then we would build our tents and sleep. We did this every day, on repeat. They have group sessions and offer therapy in forms of journaling or writing letters to our parents so that they could advertise it as a therapeutic wilderness program. But everyone knows it’s…” He paused, his gaze going somewhere deep and far away. “If we were… difficult, we had to carry the group leader’s bag and wouldn’t get anything to eat until they felt we learned our lesson.”
Rain let out a rush of breath. “Did they ever target you?”
Kay sent her a conspicuous look. “What do you think?”
She winced and ran her hand over his hair. “What did they… do?”
Kay let out what he attempted to be an amused sigh. “God, this is all such depressing talk.”
Rain didn’t look like she was going to budge, and so he let slip a sharp exhale. “It was mostly small stuff. They’d make fun of my ‘posh’ accent, push me around, and add rocks to my bag.”
“That isn’t small, Kay.”
“I’ve had worse, Rain.”
She hated that. She hated the way they grew up, but most of all, she hated what Kay was forced to endure. He was so full of life, and every time they tried snuffing out that light in his eyes, her heart would break.
“I’m sorry. We don’t have to keep talking about it if you don’t want to.”
“Please. Tell me something else from Castle Hill. Something I can look forward to.”
Rain remembered that she never did talk much about school. Maybe because she didn’t want Kay to ever envy howgoodhe might think she had it there.
“Well, the food is mouth-watering–oh, you can sit with me during lunch. And we can walk to class every morning, and-and study together.”
