Page 41 of Hell House
I wrench myself off of him and place a hand on my chest to catch my breath like I didn’t almost consider letting him guide me on his lap like that. I stomp off snatching the blanket I’d discarded, and head for the kitchen. I yank open the refrigerator door grabbing a water more forcefully than I need to. I’m a mix of emotions as I sling back the water to cool me off.
Lukas walks in quietly, hands pushed deep into his pockets. He pulls out one of his hands and holds out my phone to me. “You know I was just messing with you right?” He looks down at me with an unreadable expression. I can’t quite seem to make him out. “Service is down for the whole island right now.”
“Oh.” I frown down at my phone noting the icon in the corner that I didn’t notice before.
“I’m sure Salem is alright.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” I mumble back.
He assesses me for a moment. “You’ve lost someone.” He says it like a statement and not a question, his words hitting me like a ton of bricks.
“Am I that obvious?” I sneer, building up my defense mechanisms ready to retreat from this conversation.
“Maybe not to the average person.”
“What does that mean? That super special Lukas Ledger is able to read people?” I scoff. I know I’m being nasty, but he’s picking at an old scab that I thought was long healed.
He works his bottom lip into his mouth, making him look as vulnerable as I feel. “No.” He answers softly. “But maybe I recognize my own pain in you.” I can’t help it-my mouth drops open in surprise.
“You...” I clear my throat. “You’ve lost someone?”
He nods his head sharply. All playfulness from earlier is gone, instead he looks moments away from crying- and something about that makes me want to hug him.I recognize my own pain in you.
I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it before, but it’s so clear in the way he carries himself wearing his pain like armor, whereas I tended to stuff mine down- pretending it didn’t exist.
“My Mom.” His voice cracks on the wordMomlike it breaks him to even utter the word. That’s all it takes for me to latch onto him. I pull him against me, feeling his shoulders shudder against me. I burry my face against his neck, and he does the same to me.
“I lost my mom too.” I whisper, ripping open the scar I’d buried for him to see.
His hand rests on my lower back, and this moment that passes between us feels like we’re communicating our pain, our trauma into this one hug. He stands up and wipes a stray tear from my cheek, one that I didn’t even realize I’d shed.
“Skye?” His green eyes blaze down at me as he cups my cheek, his thumb rubbing against my skin gently.
“Oh, my fucking God, Skye, please tell me the heat is working in here.” Salem says bursting in through the back door, her hair and clothes are drenched. I break away from Lukas, going to the mud room to grab a bunch of towels to throw at Salem. I notice she’s missing the poncho Javelynn had given to each of us.
“What happened? I’ve been trying to call you, but the service is knocked out.” I say dumping the towels in Salem’s arms. I catch Lukas’ amused look before he leaves the two of us, I assume he’s heading to our shared room. Fuck. I’ll have to deal with that later.
Salem wraps a towel around her shoulders and uses another one to wring out the moisture in her hair.
“We need alcohol for this conversation.”
“Tequila or Whiskey?”
“Both. Trust me.”
I grab two bottles and two cups, trailing Salem up to her tower room. “Okay, what happened?” I ask plopping down on her bed. It’s suspiciously warmer than I remember it being before.
“Drinks first.” I pour us each a drink. I picked the whiskey because it feels like she’s about to spill something serious. I hand her the cup and she tilts it into her mouth in one quick shot.
“Goddamn.” She coughs. “Another.” I diligently pour her another one and watch as she downs that one too.
“Okay, spill Salem.” I feel a sense of unease. I’ve never seen her so worked up before. We haven’t been friends long, but still she wasn’t even this worked up after our room burned down.
“This is going to sound crazy. I mean maybe I am crazy. Maybe I’m just imagining things.” She lets out a laugh that sounds devoid of any humor. “Okay, have you ever had like this… sixth sense before? Like you knew what was going to happen before it happened?”
“Um… not that I can really think of off hand.” Her shoulders crumple a bit at my response. “I mean, maybe? I’m not sure.” She covers her face in her hands and lets out a groan.
“Wait. Why is it so warm in here?” She stands up letting the towels fall off of her as she looks around the cramped room. When she crouches down, she shrieks. “A space heater? Who the hell…? Skye?”
