Return to the Darkness - Ripley Proserpina Page 0,44
I was in the right place.
With that in mind, I jogged out of the neighborhood. The first convenience store I came across, I went inside and begged use of their phone. The guy at the counter was nice enough, though I could tell from the way he raised his eyebrows, he didn’t understand how someone in this day and age didn’t have a cell phone.
My fingers shook when I dialed Aaron’s number. Ironic that it was his was the number I could remember.
It rang.
And rang.
Disappointment made my stomach clench and tears burn the back of my eyes, but just as I was about to give up, I heard his voice. “Hello?”
My throat closed, and I swallowed hard.
“Aaron?” My voice cracked when I said his name. “It’s…”
“Lacey,” he practically shouted. “Guys, it’s Lacey. What number is this? Where are you?”
I described the location, and fortunately, he seemed to know it. At least I wasn’t dead in this reality. I thanked the man who gave me the phone and pretended not to notice when he ogled my boobs. All right, asshole, take a gander. Have at it. I supposed it was worth the use of the phone. I rolled my eyes and left the store to head outside.
Had I ever been so tired? My whole body hurt, even my ankles felt ancient. I sunk down onto the ground as a car screeched to a stop. I knew that car. It was Thorn’s. In my reality. He was out of the car in a second, followed by all three of the other guys. I’d never been so excited to see any people, ever.
“Hi,” I managed to say as Colton picked me up in his strong arms.
“Hi, yourself.” He kissed both my cheeks. “Where have you been? It’s been three days. Three very long days.”
Funny. It hadn’t been that long for me. “I’ve been here. Well, not here. But yes here. In another version of this reality. One I didn’t care for quite as much. One where I was supposed to be dead and you are all living very different lives.”
Oliver narrowed his eyes. “What did he change to create such a mess?”
“I died. He killed Erdirg. And other bad things happened.”
How much should I tell them? Was there some kind of handbook for this? How to Tell Your Boyfriends What They Were Like in Another Reality 101.
“Let’s get her home,” Aaron said quickly. “She has to be wrecked. Then we’ll get details.”
“We have to stop your father,” I managed to say to the Chee boys as I placed my head down on Colton’s shoulder. “He can’t do that again. You have to find him and stop him. Or if he’s already done it, stop him from progressing.”
“On it,” Oliver said. “I promise.”
It was so nice to have this version of him back.
I closed my eyes. I’d just let them handle things for a minute. Time travel just really, really sucked.
I woke in the darkness and stretched. The bed where I lay was comfortable, and next to me, Thorn ran a hand gently through my hair. I could smell his soap—the sandalwood scent of it—and knew instantly it was him.
“Hi.” I smiled at him. “How are you?”
He flipped on the light by the bed, and I winced, but eventually adjusted to see him.
“Sorry.” He winced. “I just wanted to see that you were okay. You scared us. Three days, and we had no idea where you were.”
“Well… I was with you, actually. All of you. Just not the you, you.”
“You’re okay?” he asked again, and I nodded. He took a deep breath and rolled, coming up to his knees. “Jesus fucking Christ, Lacey, you scared the ever-loving shit out of me.” His voice got louder. “If you ever fucking take off like that again, I’m going to take you over my knee. I swear to god. Do you know how frantic I was?” His shoulders lifted and lowered like he’d run a race.
I put my hand over his heart and found it was racing. “Thorn.”
“Ray is driving us fucking crazy, making decisions for everyone without discussing it, and then you go off and do the same goddamned thing!”
Oh my god. I’d terrified him. And he was right. He was a thousand percent right. I’d done the exact same thing Mr. Chee had done. I told them what I was going to do, then I did it. They’d argued with me, and I hadn’t listened.
“I had to.”
Someone knocked on the door. Aaron came in, took