Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,97

A knife? What knife would that be? Do any of you see a knife around here?”

I had been looking around, all this time, and she was right. There wasn’t a knife anywhere on the ground, and it wasn’t in Nell’s hands.

“Check her,” Michael instructed me. “She’s got to have it on her somewhere if it’s not on the ground.”

But Nell’s well-fit blood red gown really left little to the imagination. I could tell that she didn’t have it hidden beneath her dress. I clumsily patted her down, ignoring both her spitting-mad thoughts and her verbal noises of outrage.

I closed my eyes and listened to Nell, which should have been simple, given the volume of her thoughts. But Amber’s were nearly as loud, as her fear still screamed, and even Michael’s were interfering.

They’ll never find it, and without a weapon, they don’t have any proof. And no witnesses, so it’s their word against mine. Everyone knows that no one will go up against a Massler. It’ll backfire on them, and the whole school—the whole town—will be talking about them, laughing at them.

I was quiet, thinking. She was right. Without the knife, it was just two girls in the woods, maybe fighting, maybe not. There was no proof that Nell had lured Amber here, and we hadn’t alerted the police or teachers to what we suspected. It was, as Nell pointed out, our word against hers, and who was going to believe us? Michael might hold some clout, but Amber and I were at a distinct disadvantage. And knowing Nell, she would figure out some way to turn things around to hurt Michael. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I moved to stand in front of Amber. “Michael, let her go,” I said wearily. “As much as I hate to say it, she’s right. We don’t have any proof.”

Behind me, Amber sucked in a breath. “But she was going to kill me. She had a knife and she was going to—” she stopped, unable to continue.

“Amber, I’m sorry,” I answered. “I know what you’re saying is true. We believe you. But there’s nothing we can do.”

I saw the same realization cross Michael’s face. Grimly, reluctantly, he released Nell. She stumbled forward, surprised, and then she righted herself. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze flickered among the three of us. For the briefest moment, I could hear, she considered going ahead with her plan. But Michael’s presence had truly sullied this spot for her. Instead, she spun to face all of us, backing toward the trail.

“I’ll have to think about what I’m going to do. I might still press charges.” Her voice was smooth, but I could sense it was mostly bravado.

“Give it up, Nell,” Michael said dismissively. “You don’t have proof any more than we do. Only difference is, we all know what went down here. And we’re not going to forget it.”

Nell stood there for another silent minute. And then she turned and disappeared into the woods.

Michael shook his head, looking at Amber. “Amber, I’m sorry we had to let her go. You know you can still press charges—”

“No!” I nearly shouted. “No, Michael. If Amber pursues this, Nell is going to go after you. And I’m not going to have that. She’s not going to ruin your life.”

“So we’re just going to let her get away with all of this?” Anger and frustration tinged Michael’s voice, and I could feel the depth of it emanating from him.

I was suddenly so tired that I could barely stand. “We stopped her from hurting Amber. That was our real goal, right?”

“We stopped her for tonight. What’s going to stop her next time?”

I stifled a yawn. “Amber’s not going to put herself into a position to be hurt again by Nell, are you, Amber?”

Amber was leaning against the tree, looking from Michael to me in bewilderment. I could hear that she was struggling with the same fatigue I was—a reaction to the extreme stress, I imagined.

She shook her head slowly, in answer to me. “No. I don’t want to have anything to do with Nell, not ever again.” Her head dropped and her voice lowered. “You tried to tell me. You didn’t even really know me, but you were warning me. And I didn’t listen, and it could have cost me my life…” She shuddered, and I began to worry that she was going into shock.

“Michael, we need to get her out of here,” I said, my voice low but intense. “We all need