Wings of the Wicked - By Courtney Allison Moulton Page 0,138

already accepted that I’d have to endure this until, at the very least, graduation. If I wasn’t so determined, I’d have begged Nana to homeschool me for the last couple months of school, but I wasn’t a wimp and I was determined to be normal. As normal as possible for me, anyway.

Chris laughed. “Not going to happen. I can’t believe people were saying you were in rehab while you were gone.”

“Why are there so many psychos in this school?” Kate grumbled. Then she suddenly perked up and stared directly at me. “I have to pee.”

“Uh, okay,” I said, eyeing her. “Thanks for the memo, but I’m not changing your Depends.”

She shot to her feet and grabbed my hand. “Come with me, Ellie Bean.”

She dragged me away from the table as I looked back at the rest of my friends pleadingly; they didn’t even move to save me. They knew better than to get between Kate and Kate’s mission. She shoved through the door to the girls’ restroom, let me go, and proceeded to kick open each of the stalls until she came to one that was locked.

“Get out,” she ordered as she pounded on the door. “You’ve got five seconds. The toilet’s for pissing, not for loitering.”

The girl in the stall made small, frightened noises as she finished her business and flushed. She appeared—she had to be a freshman, the poor thing—her eyes wide and terrified, and she skirted around Kate to get to the sink.

“Did you piss on your hands or something?” Kate barked sharply. “Get out of here! There are Purell dispensers in every hallway. Keep your pee fingers off the faucet.”

The girl whimpered as she darted from the restroom, letting the door slam shut behind her.

“Kate, really?” I asked, giving her a disparaging look. “That was mean.”

She shrugged. “What? We only have fifteen minutes left of lunch, and we need to talk.”

“About … ?”

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” she asked. “Or where you’ve been?”

I had strategically avoided this conversation for months because I didn’t want to lie to her anymore and I didn’t know how to be honest without dragging her into my mess of a life. “I stayed with Will and a friend of ours. That’s where I was. It was safe there.”

Safe. As soon as I said it, I realized how untrue that really was. Merodach and Kelaeno had found us and killed Nathaniel.

Kate nodded, her gaze gentle and forgiving. “I’m glad you were with him. I was so worried you were alone all that time, but your grandma kept telling me you were all right.”

I shrugged. “Sort of. I wasn’t exactly civil for a while.” She didn’t laugh. “No one can blame you for that. I can’t even imagine what you went through. I just wish you’d have let me be there for you.”

“I missed you,” I told her. “But I just couldn’t deal … I blamed myself for everything and I was so lost. I felt like my world had ended and kept dragging on like it didn’t get the memo.”

When Kate pulled me into her arms and squeezed me tight, I lost it. I wrapped my arms around her and cried into her shoulder. I had missed her so much. As she held me, I realized what a mistake it had been to shut her out. She was like my sister, and I’d just lost my parents. I needed an anchor to my humanity, and I’d practically cut the rope and allowed myself to drift away.

“I’m so sorry,” I said between sobs against her sweater.

“It’s okay,” she murmured back. “I’m glad you’re going to be all right.”

I pulled away, forcing a smile as I wiped at my face and then wiped her shoulder. “I got drool all over your sweater,” I said with a small laugh.

She smiled back and shrugged. “I’ll just get it dry-cleaned, so it’s somebody else’s problem.”

“You’re horrible,” I said with a loud sniffle. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I leaned heavily against the counter, folding my arms over my chest, and I stared at the floor. We fell into silence for some time until I spoke at last. “My dad didn’t kill my mom,” I said. “I know that for sure. Whoever killed her killed them both.”

Kate stepped closer to me, her voice hushed. “Ellie, do you know something? If you know something, then you have to go to the police.”

“I …” I trailed off and shook my head. “I don’t know anything that would