bluntness sends fear spiking through my body.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, straightening.
“It’s...” She releases a stressed exhale. “I saw another vision, Kings... I saw more of Beth’s death... I saw who pushed her underneath the water.”
“Was it... Was it Foster?” I whisper, not really shocked, but worried the truth is going to shatter a lot of things.
I’d had my suspicions that Foster may have been involved with Beth’s death . Just like I know he’s involved in the drug situation in Hallows Grove. Honestly, I think the two things are connected. I just don’t know how. I’m working on figuring it out, though.
“No... Although, he was here a few minutes ago... In my room,” she tells me. I’m about to freak out, when she quickly adds, “It’s okay. He left. He said some weird stuff and there was this feather and I...” She’s panic rambling.
“Har, calm down,” I say, trying to keep calm myself. “You’re barely making any sense.”
“Sorry,” she mutters. “I just...” She blows out a breath. “You’re not going to be around your parents anytime soon, right?”
“No... They kicked me out, remember?” I’m so confused why she’s asking me this, though.
“I know, but I just want to make sure you’re not like gonna go to your house to get more of your stuff or something.”
“I’m not going to today, but I was planning on going to grab some of my stuff that my mom tossed out onto the porch.” I actually just got the call from her on my way home. The conversation lasted only about one minute, but I could hear her hatred for me burning in her voice. “If I don’t pick it up tomorrow, the garbage man is going to.”
“Can you not go alone when you pick up?”
My confusion magnifies. “I can have Porter go with me maybe.”
“Good.” Relief seeps through the worry in her tone, which only makes me grow more perplexed.
“There’s something wrong.” It’s not a question. I can feel it—the wrongness—flowing through my body and her’s.
“There is,” she tells me. “It’s about the vision I saw... And the person who was holding Beth underneath the water.” I’m about to ask her who it was when she says, “Kings, I think it was your dad.”
While I’ve never been a huge fan of my father, shock whips through me. I sink to the floor, breathing in and out as an awareness circles me.
My father may have killed Beth.
My father may be a killer.
And I may have to turn him for murder f I want to save mine and Harlynn’s intertwined souls.
And what about Foster? If I bust him for selling night kiss, he’ll go to jail too. Then it’ll be just my mom and me out in the world. No one left in my life.
But did I ever have anyone to begin with?
“You’re not alone in this,” Harlynn tells me, as if reading my mind. And at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if she did. “We’re going to figure this out, Kings. And I’ll be there for you. No matter what happens, we’re going to get through this.”
Her words spill over me and seep into my skin.
I am not alone in this.
I am not alone.
It’s enough that I’m able to pick myself up off the floor. It’s a good thing too since Porter knocks on the door.
“Times up,” he says. “We need to go.”
Sighing, I tell Harlynn, “I have to go.”
“I know. I heard loudmouth banging on the door.” She gives a short pause. “Please be careful.”
It’s weird to hear someone worry about me, and even weirder to say that I will be careful. But I manage to promise I will, but only after having her promise the same thing.
Then we hang up.
When I open the door, Porter is standing on the other side. I expect him to crack a joke about me talking to Harlynn, or something like that. But he has an ominous look on his face, which is way out of character for him.
“What the hell is that look for?” I ask.
“I just got off the phone with Oliver,” he tells me, referring to our connection in the drug world. “We have a meeting tonight. And while I’m not exactly sure what it’s about, he made it sound like we might finally be getting somewhere.”
“You think we finally got our in to the leader of this drug ring?” I ask, unsure if I’m happy about that or terrified.
On the one hand, it means we’re that much closer to finding out where these bizarre drugs are coming from, and that means we’ll be closer to being done with this informant stuff. But on the other hand, I promised Harlynn I’d be safe. And this is far from safe.
“I’m hoping so,” he says. “We’re required to wear some sort of outfit, though.” His brows crease at that.
My own brows crease. “What?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, it’s really fucking weird... Oliver’s supposed to be dropping them off soon.”
It’s beyond strange, but I shove the weirdness aside and hurry and get dressed, trying not to stress about it or what I’m going to do tonight. Only when Oliver drops off the outfits does the severity of the situation become evident. Because it’s not really an outfit. No, it’s a mask.
The same masks I saw in the vision that Harlynn had. The one right before Beth died.
About the Author
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
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