Nightfall (Devil's Night #4) - Penelope Douglas Page 0,132

they sent a girl,” she shot back, shrugging her shoulders.

He flashed her a look. “Oh, I know you get shit done.”

He said it with almost a reverence.

I didn’t know what I’d thought, but I didn’t think they were so chummy. I wasn’t sure why. It was like he was with one of the guys when he was with her. At ease.

She shifted on her feet, the silence stretching between them. “So, um…if you want to bring anything, I’d pack it now. I have an exit plan, but I can’t say when it’ll go down. I need you to be ready.”

He didn’t move, though. “How did you get here?” he asked. “Can you get back?”

“What do you mean?”

He wet his lips, finding the words. “I need you out of this house. Now. This minute.”

Her brow creased with confusion. “What’s the matter with you?” she whispered, but I could hear the worry in her voice. “I’m taking you home.”

“No, you’re leaving,” he said. “And you’re going to tell them I can solve my own problems. I don’t need help.”

“And Emory?”

He stopped, straightening his spine as he looked down at her. “What do you know? Did you have her brought here? Did Michael?”

“She just asked me the same thing,” Alex blurted out. “Why would we do something so dumb? I have no idea who sent her here or why, but it was probably that brother of hers.”

My brother didn’t have the funds for this place, and I wasn’t that important.

Will regarded her. “You know her?” he asked.

She nodded. “We met last spring.”

Will’s eyebrow shot up.

“Don’t give me that look,” she told him. “She was in Thunder Bay burying her grandmother. We ran into each other. I didn’t seek her out.”

“How long have you been here?” he asked.

Alex remained quiet, and a look crossed his face that said he knew the answer.

“So you arrived on the shipment with her days ago, and you, what?” he continued. “Spotted her and decided to roll the dice and stay hidden to see this play out with her and me?”

She folded her arms across her chest, a satisfied smirk on her face.

“Get her out of here,” he bit out, “and both of you fuck off.”

My breathing turned shallow. That was why she left me on my own these past days. She couldn’t get caught and risk stalling communication with their friends who were on their way, which I understood, but she wanted to see what would happen with Will and me. Maybe for her own interest or maybe for his.

He didn’t want to leave. Why?

Alex stepped toward him, staring hard into his eyes. “Damon’s second child is on the way,” she said. “Michael and Rika are getting married on Devil’s Night. They’re getting ready to tear down the Cove and move forward with the resort. We need to leave.”

“Sounds like everything is going pretty well without me, actually.”

She swatted him twice, not really hard, but I could hear her palm hitting his chest. He reared back.

“I almost prefer you wasted,” she growled in a low voice, “because I have no idea who you are right now. When we met, what did I say to you?”

He stood there—silent, contrite, and not spouting another word.

“I can take anything as long as I have enough lipstick,” she recited. “I just shove it all underneath an extra coat, like you always did with your smiles. Rika, Michael…all of them, they’re my family.” She softened her voice, nearly choking on the tears. “But you… you’re my reflection. Now snap out of it. You’re coming with me or…”

“Just trust me, okay?” he said suddenly, finally standing tall again and turning to face her. “I know what I’m doing. Just trust me this once.”

He took her face in his hands, and I dropped my eyes, backing away, because I couldn’t watch it anymore.

She was better for him. She was worlds better for him.

And even though I knew it was reckless just like all the times I did things in high school, knowing Martin would find out and knowing the consequences, I ran. The toe of my sneaker banged into a pipe, a clang piercing the air, but I didn’t care if they heard. I ran and ran with every intention of getting out of here once and for all. It was time.

I didn’t know where I was, where I was going, or how I would survive in the cold forest, but that was the thing about me—somehow I always made it through.

Climbing the ladder back