Page 49 of Winter’s Teeth

I loved my friends, but Everly was my world. My family. She was the only one who knew my darkest secrets, my rawest traumas, and every facet of me. She knew me better than I did.

It stung to find out I hadn’t known her as well as I thought I did, but it didn’t matter.

We needed each other.

She’d always been there for me, so now I had to be there for her. No matter the risks.

“Fox...” I whispered his name, for he was my last hope.

His lips pressed into a grim line just before he caved to my will, face relaxing in my grip. “Alright. I’ll help you look. I’ll...take you where she might be.”

“Halle-freaking-lujah,” Riss huffed.

Then he added, “But I’m only taking you.”

Chapter 23

My friends were not pleased, to say the least.

While Fox made his escape, promising to come and collect me the next morning, Riss, Angie, and Ben protested loudly from behind. Even Maple got in on it, barking excitedly at our heels.

I ignored them, seeing Fox out and nodding my agreement while I held the storm at bay at my back. When at last the door slammed shut, Riss screeched, “He could be trying to lure you into the same trap! You’ll be the next kidnapped bride forced to have all their freaky inbred babies.”

“We need to call more law enforcement to retrieve the bodies in the woods,” Ben added.

“Will the bodies still be there by the time help comes?” Angie asked while rubbing her arms up and down, trying to self soothe.

“Rae.” Riss grabbed me by my arms and whirled me around, giving me a firm shake. “Don’t do this. Be rational.”

My shoulders sagged. “There’s nothing rational about my sister getting kidnapped and forced to be a monster’s bride. If we act rational, we’ll lose. We have to fight fire with fire, and my gut is saying to go with Fox tomorrow.”

“My gut is saying we need to run,” Ben countered. “Why are we only listening to yours?”

“Because this is about my sister. Not yours,” I said cooly as I wriggled away from Riss. “Look, I appreciate all you guys have done for me, but it ends here. You need to get out while you still can.”

“What I need is a drink to knock me out...” Ben groaned as he turned away to stalk back to the living room.

Angie followed, but Riss stayed put, hands on her hips as she glared at me offensively. I knew exactly what my roommate was thinking. I knew she was hurt and deflecting that hurt by acting cross with me. I knew she had a million logical arguments about why I needed to do what she said.

It was because I knew I couldn’t beat her with reason that I said, “White tulips.”

She blinked, the anger blurring for a heartbeat. “What?”

“White tulips,” I said again with a heavy sigh. “Remember? Freshman orientation. We were playing obscure trivia to win gift cards to the cafe. The question was what flower signifies respect, and you were so certain the answer was—”

“Daffodils.” She blinked again as her memory came back with perfect clarity. “And they do signify respect. I looked it up afterward.”

The corner of my mouth curled upwards. “I remember. But there were two right answers, and the one they were looking for was...”

“White tulips.”

I nodded. “I went with my gut. I had a feeling. I knew you were probably right, but I just felt like I was right, too. Not every right choice is based on sound logic, Riss.”

She scowled and huffed. “You were nice enough to share the gift card with me. And I argued with the student helper who hosted trivia that night.”

A wry laugh escaped me. “I know. And you can argue all you want about this, but I need you to trust my gut. It hasn’t steered me wrong yet.”

“It’s your nose I trust. Your gut...” She wobbled her head. “Jury’s still out on that.”