Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High #2) - Sam Crescent Page 0,44
to talk about my sick mind, but yours, we can’t get to it?” I asked.
“We don’t have time to point fingers. If Earl didn’t betray us, he may have a way of knowing what our fathers are up to. After all, he’s the one who made a deal with them first, remember?”
“Yeah, but they didn’t exactly give him what he wanted.” I pointed out the obvious.
“Exactly.” Caleb pointed at me. “While we delivered him a virgin on a silver platter. I have a feeling we can bring Earl to us, get Ashley here, which will put Emily’s mind at ease and solve our daddy problem.”
“Yeah, I’m going to go and keep an eye on your girl. I have a feeling, after seven years of freedom, this girl is going to go stir-crazy if I’m not careful.” Drake got the number for Caleb and then left.
“Do you really think reaching out to Valentine is the right move?” I asked.
“It’s a shot, and right now, I’ll take anything we can get.” He clicked a button on his cell phone and I listened as the call started to ring. I hoped we were making the right decision.
Chapter Eleven
Vadik
A couple of hours later
I plunged the spoon into the ice cream and took a large bite. The shock of the cold hurt my teeth, but at the moment, I needed to feel something. Between River’s and Gael’s wounds, the revelation of what River and Caleb did, our dads being on the loose, along with the attackers, I was tired. I needed ice cream.
No, I needed Emily, but right now, I didn’t want her to panic, and I didn’t know if I could keep control of all the shit swirling in my head. There was a lot to process. A lot going on, and I had to get my shit together.
“You’re still awake?” Emily asked, as if my thoughts had magically made her appear.
“You should be asleep.”
“I woke up. Needed some water, but ice cream sometimes works.”
I offered the spoon and she came close to me.
“You don’t look happy,” she said.
“I’m not.” I didn’t want to lie to her, which was another reason I wanted to avoid her.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
I looked at her, waiting for the questions to start. They didn’t. All she did was dip the spoon into the tub and start to eat. Her tongue came out, licking the bottom of the spoon.
“You’re not curious?”
“You know I am,” she said. “But I also know what it’s like to just want to be alone with my thoughts. I’m guessing something big went down, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, it did.”
“You also want to protect me.”
“Always.”
“You’ll tell me if you feel I need to know.” She cupped my face, rubbing her thumb back and forth.
“You know, the last seven years were the hardest of our lives,” I said.
“I know.”
“We only did what we had to in order to protect you.”
She licked her lips and I saw the tears shining in her eyes. I didn’t want to make her cry.
“I get it, Vadik, I do.”
I stared at her. There was no judgment, no anger, no resentment. It was like she was a different person. Whatever Drake had said to her, it had given her a new perspective.
“We fucked up.”
This made her pause in eating her ice cream. “What do you mean?”
I pressed my lips together, fighting with the decision of if I should tell her or not. It wasn’t going to do either of us any good, and finally, I decided to tell her.
“Your life is in danger.” I told her everything. I told her about the dads’ escape, the attackers, and the call to Earl Valentine. “He’s coming here. He’s bringing Ashley with him. So long as we don’t take her from him, he’s going to help us. He wants to settle an old score with them. They made promises to him that they didn’t keep.”
“Wait.” Emily held her hand up. “Ashley’s coming here?”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to let him leave with her.”
I took her hands, kissing each of her knuckles. “We’re going to do everything we can to save her. I promise.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Wow, no wonder you’re eating ice cream.”
“I didn’t want to tell you.”
She chuckled. “Oops.”
“I don’t like keeping secrets from you.”
“Good. I’m glad.” This time, she kissed my hands. “I don’t like you keeping secrets from me either.” She took a deep breath. “So, Ashley is coming here and there are at least five people who want me dead.”