Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,115

pacing, but with much more vigor. I piled my anxiety about my and Huxley’s kiss on top of the other worries that plagued me and stomped my feet loudly. Huxley couldn’t have picked a worse time to mess with my head.

I spied my tablet on one of the recliners, and in a moment of weakness and determination, picked it up and called Josiah. I knew the guys would be furious at my actions, but I couldn't care less. I wanted answers. I wanted to feel like I was doing something that would aid in bringing back Cyler and Patrick.

Josiah answered it almost immediately, and I was greeted with a pained expression. It seemed to be what he wore daily now.

“Where are they, Josiah? I know you know.” I was foregoing pleasantries and jumping right into the situation at hand.

“Ash—" Josiah began, but I saw his bullshit excuse a mile away and cut him off.

“Don’t even start with me right now, Josiah!” I roared in a tone that momentarily shocked us both. “You know where Cyler and Patrick are. You know what Lackley is planning. Tell me. Right. Now.”

Josiah’s shocked eyes, which were the size of disks, fueled my anger. It felt ridiculously good to let loose the repressed frustrations I’ve been feeling.

“I can’t help you, Ashleigh. He’ll punish me,” Josiah said in a defeated voice.

“So help me, Josiah— "

“Who are you–?”

He cut me off and his face grew red with frustration. "The Ash I know would trust that I’m doing what I can! It’s not that easy!”

“The Ash you know is gone, Josiah,” I replied almost instantly. “I’m done worshiping every move you make. Tell me where they are. Please. If you ever loved me—ever felt a sliver of what I felt for you—you’ll help me,” I pleaded as tears streamed down my face.

“I can’t, Ashleigh.”

The silence between us stretched into a large black hole that ate up whatever lingering love I felt for Josiah. I straightened my spine and peered at him with a newfound resolve that charged my hatred for him.

“Josiah, I want you to look at me,” I said in an eerily calm voice. His eyes flashed to mine. “I want you to remember everything about this moment. Catalogue it in the deepest parts of your heart, in the deepest recesses of your memories of me, each and every little detail. Because years from now, when you wonder what happened to the girl that you once knew, the girl that worshiped you. The girl that was your best friend. The girl that loved you. You’ll be able to vividly remember that it was right here, right now, when you completely lost her.”

I clicked the tablet off and threw it across the room. It shattered against the wall, and I crumbled to the floor in a heap of sadness and relief. It was over. It was really over.

A hot hand rested on my shoulder as I sobbed, and I turned my head to see who was trying to comfort me. Jacob.

“Ash, sweetie. Tallis and Mia are downstairs,” he said in a tentative voice. I looked around and saw Huxley looking at me with profound—guilt? And Kemper looked almost happy. They must have seen and heard everything.

“He wouldn’t help me,” I murmured. “He wouldn’t tell me where they are.”

Jacob’s fingers drifted to my face and he placed a warm, lingering kiss on my forehead before looking deep into my eyes. “We’ll find them, Ash. I promise. Let’s go get them back.”

I wrapped my arm around his, and together we made our way downstairs, followed by Kemper and Huxley. My heart thudded both clumsily and joyfully at the sudden freedom that Josiah’s betrayal left behind.

Chapter Twenty

Josiah, 18 Months Ago

Josiah!” a loud voice echoed throughout Stonewell Manor.

I was working at my desk when Father came bounding through my bedroom door with a ridiculous grin on his face. His cheeks were flushed, his breath reeked of whiskey. I set my tablet down as his pudgy body swayed from side to side, the ripples of his movements jiggling his flesh.

“I’ve got good news, my boy,” he said with an exhale while plopping onto my bed and shuffling off his boots. “I figured it out—right oh, I did! I figured out a sooooo-loution,” he slurred.

I faced him with a bored expression, I was quite used to his drunk excursions and rambling. “And what sooooo-loution have you figured out?” I asked, my tone mocking. I adjusted my glasses and sent a message to Ash. When