Return to the Darkness - Ripley Proserpina Page 0,5

had shiny glass displays. Where the strip mall used to be, there was a park, complete with play structure and a fountain.

“What the hell happened here?” I asked. If I hadn’t seen the sign, I never would have recognized this place.

“We think it had something to do with Erdirg,” Oliver answered. “His evil permeated everywhere. Once you put him to sleep, it cleared. People changed. This was the result.” He sat in the front seat while Colton drove, but he turned to see me. “This is because of you, Lacey.”

I was at a loss for words. I stared out the window. The pavement was fresh and road lined by sidewalks. Everything about it had small town charm. There was a store that sold crystals, and another one advertising a local artist collective. “This is crazy.”

But it was also surface. Oliver said the people had changed, but could that really be possible? There was so much negativity. So much hate directed to me. Where did all of that go? All my old teachers, the principal, the cops, would they still look back on me as a trouble-making, no-good Madison?

Colton turned off the main street onto a dirt road leading into the desert. I noticed the manicured drive, complete with cacti and stone arranged artfully. This wasn’t a street I was familiar with. I didn’t recognize the sign, or the regal stucco ranches that were built with enough space between each other as to be tastefully isolated.

At the end of the road was another driveway, this one lined with cobblestones. Colton slowed, driving carefully as he leaned forward to peer out the windshield. He whistled low. “You sure know how to pick ’em,” he said as the two-story hacienda-style home came into view.

“There’s a pool in back,” Thorn said. “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

It was insane. When he said a six-bedroom house, I’d pictured a split-level with a finished basement or something. I hadn’t pictured this estate. How much money did these guys make that Thorn could rent a place like this without even blinking?

Suddenly, I was the poor kid all over again, open-mouthed and gaping. “This is too much, Thorn.”

He stroked his finger down the side of my cheek. “Shut up. It’s not enough.”

Next to me, Aaron gripped my knee and squeezed. I had the impression that he understood my struggle.

Colton came to a stop and put the car in park. “I call dibs on whatever room has a balcony.”

Shit. There was a balcony?

“Lace?” Thorn’s voice was uncertain, and I realized that he was waiting to see what I thought. My opinion mattered to him. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to find a place he wanted me to like, and I wasn’t such an asshole that I’d throw all his consideration back in his face.

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Thorn, it’s fucking incredible.” I opened the door, preparing to race. “Last one in the pool is a rotten egg!”

With a laugh, Oliver shook his head. “Too cold, Lacey. I mean… I know you’re used to Alaska, but I personally don’t want to get in the pool when it’s forty-five degrees outside.”

Thorn leaned forward. “How about the hot tub?”

Oliver grinned. “That, I can get behind.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn a bathing suit. I was lucky I even had one. Clad in my black bikini, I sat in the hot tub. The jets loosened my back as we all sat around like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Do you guys do this a lot?” I looked at each of them as I asked the question.

Oliver sat with his eyes closed across from me. Thorn was next to him, a bottle of water in one hand. Aaron was next to me on my right. He stared off in the distance, maybe admiring the view. I didn’t let myself look. The last thing I wanted was to start to think things around here were pretty. I couldn’t start to like it. No matter how nice it had become.

Colton wrapped his foot around my own. He had a bead of sweat on his face that I watched, transfixed, as it ran down his cheek.

“First time. We don’t hang around in hot tubs. I swear.”

Oliver lifted his head. “I think we’re only doing this because you have that bikini on. I mean… please don’t wear that in public. I don’t mind sharing with all of them, but I will have to gouge out the eyes of anyone else