Page 41 of Shattered Saint
"Because life's never simple, princess," Easton's voice drawled from behind me, causing me to jump in surprise. He was calmly standing there, his wet hair slicked back from his forehead. He was holding his gym bag and a black duffel bag.
“Easton…" I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat. The tension between us was at an all-time high, and I wasn’t sure how to feel. What I did wonder was whether he was feeling it too. “Is Nash okay?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Then tell me what’s going on with him.”
“I don’t know much. All I know is that he sent me a list of things he wanted me to grab from here and from Raven’s and bring to an address he sent me.”
He dropped the bag, and I looked through it, not seeing anything too weird. Then an idea popped into my mind.
“What was the address he gave you?”
Easton pulled out his phone and showed me the address. I gasped and read the address over twice.
“I know where that is, and I’m going with you.”
16
BIANCA
“You shouldn’t be here. You know that right?”
I glared at Easton as he drove us away from Brentson in the rain. “I have every right to be here now that I know you’re heading up to the cabin that my grandfather gifted Nash and me.”
“Have it your way.”
Instead of trying to find a response to his comment, I stared out the window as I watched the trees go by. Nothing about this made sense, and I would only get the answers I wanted by going to the cabin. That is, until it hit me.
“Why would Raven and Nash be at the cabin together?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know much about her other than she just showed up at the start of the school year.”
“Well, their breakup was pretty tragic in a way. Do you remember the evening that you and I met?”
“I remember it well.”
I could feel his stare on me briefly, and I both hated and loved it. Reminiscing about that day wouldn’t get me anywhere. I wanted to avoid the way that his words made me feel, so I shoved them to the side. “He left my parents’ house and went to see Raven.”
“What does that have to do anything?”
“You didn’t let me finish. The next day, when he tried to talk to her, she didn’t answer her phone. So, he stopped by her house, and she wasn’t there. She had just vanished. Then, all of a sudden, she appears in Brentson two years later.” I paused as I debated telling Easton my thoughts about the current situation. “I think Nash kidnapped her.”
Easton’s gaze flickered to me in an instant. “That’s a big conclusion to jump to, Bianca.”
“There’s no way Raven would have gone anywhere with Nash willingly. Hell, if you would have asked me yesterday, I would have told you there was no way Nash would have gone anywhere with Raven either.”
“Bianca, that’s ridiculous. Why would he kidnap her?”
“I have no clue, but that’s what I’m leaning toward more than any other explanation.”
Easton shook his head and sighed. "You're grasping at straws here. There has to be another explanation."
"Okay, then what is it?" I challenged him, ready to listen to whatever theory he had in mind. I had no problem listening to what he wanted to say even though I believed I was right.
He paused for a moment before finally responding. "Maybe Nash wanted her help with something. Or maybe they were heading up to the cabin to work on a project or something else like that."
I rolled my eyes at Easton's suggestions. It sounded plausible if it was anyone else, but I still wasn't convinced. "First off, as far as I know, they don't have any classes together. Second, even if that was true, why would he go away with her in such an abrupt manner? That doesn't sound like Nash at all," I said as we continued down the road that would eventually lead us to my grandfather's cabin.
