“I don’t understand what happened,” Tess says as she paces in the hospital room beside me.
“I fell down the stairs,” I tell her, which is one of the dumbest lies I’ve ever uttered in my life. It’s the only somewhat believable solution to my current problem, however. “I’ll be okay, really.”
Physically, I’m alright. Emotionally … emotionally, I’m a mess. I hold it together for Tess’ sake, for Parrish’s sake, but …
God.
Oh God.
What has happened to my life? I had one that I loved, lost that, started over, and managed to create something new. I had Danyella and Lumen, X and Maxine, Chasm and … Parrish.
A sob gets caught in my throat, but I choke it back down. I cannot let myself fall apart now. In fact, I need to be ready for the next video call or message from the Slayer so that I can bargain for more luxuries for Parrish.
No matter what the cost.
Tess doesn’t look like she believes me anymore than the school nurse or the doctor does, but they can’t force me to talk. In the end, I have two broken fingers, a possible concussion, a fractured nose that thankfully doesn’t require any medical intervention other than gauze shoved up my nostrils, and a body that’s bruised to high hell.
“This is the absolute last thing that I needed,” Tess whispers to herself on the way home, briefly turning her attention my way. I huddle against the window with a Whitehall Prep hoodie as a pillow, feeling so sick and sad and lonely that it’s hard to breathe. “I’m sorry. I … I wasn’t meaning to put this on you. This isn’t your fault. I’m just … with Parrish …” She trails off, refocusing her attention on the road.
Tess gets me settled into bed before offering a rare kiss to my forehead—coincidentally touching the same spot where Chasm’s warm lips settled—and then apologizes profusely about leaving me alone.
“We’ve decided to suspend the help until their background checks clear, so it’ll just be you and Maxx here for now.”
“Thanks.”
I swallow past the pain, relaxing into the pillows and closing my eyes as Tess disappears out my bedroom door and down the hallway.
I just … need a minute to collect myself.
I end up with my face in my hands, wincing as I bump my broken nose. I tear the bloody gauze from my nostrils and chuck it on my nightstand beside the dead sunflowers. With Delphine on temporary leave, there’s no one to clean up after the Vanguards.
A soft knock at the door precedes Maxx. He opens it and then, when he sees the state of me, his eyes go wide and he comes over to sit on the edge of the bed.
“What happened?” he asks, his eyes chasing across my face before dropping down to my fingers. The middle and ring finger of my left hand are in splints. Fun stuff.
“Lumen’s friends beat the crap out of me,” I whisper, knowing that my face is bruised and puffy and misshapen. I’m sure I look terrible right now, but what does it matter? Everything else has gone to shit.
“What?!” Maxx snarls, and when I flinch, he softens his voice. “I don’t understand. What happened? Aren’t the two of you friends?”
I stare down at my lap before looking up and pointing at my book bag on the floor.
“Would you mind grabbing my phone?” I ask, and X nods, retrieving it from the pocket of my bag and passing it over to me. I’m tempted to ask him about Maxine, but I’m not sure that I can handle whatever he might say. “You know that I set the fire in the theater,” I admit, and X nods. I told him as much last night, so he’s up to speed. “And that I told Danyella it was me.”
“So Lumen kicked your ass on behalf of Danyella?” Maxx asks with a tired sounding sigh. He turns toward me, resting the knee of one leg on the bed. “I told you they were rich assholes. Being mad at you, I can get. But having her posse kick the shit out of you? That I don’t understand.”
I shake my head.
“I feel like there’s something else going on. I need to talk to her, but I don’t know if she’ll answer when I call. Could I use your phone?”
Maxx studies me a minute and then reaches into his jeans to extract his phone, passing it over to me.
“There’s no guarantee that she’ll answer me either. We’re not exactly friends.”
I try anyway—with my phone, with Maxx’s phone. No answer. I send over a simple text—call me so we can talk—but I don’t have much hope that she’ll return my messages.
“Is there …” I start, already frustrated with myself for even asking this question. “Is there any chance that Lumen and Parrish slept together?” I’m sure it was an evil barb meant to pierce my heart. There’s no way that Parrish would lie to me like that, about being a virgin. Besides, Chasm and Maxx both thought the same thing.
