Eden

And I definitely don’t mention the bullying I’ve endured. Really, what would be the point? It’s not like she can do anything about it. I don’t have the luxury other kids I go to school with do to be able to run to mommy or daddy when something doesn’t go my way and have them immediately fix it.

Because if I did, my tormenters would probably end up dead with a hot, tattooed guy gri

By the time I finish my somewhat odd report, Je

“I’m glad you’re doing so well, baby.”

That wouldn’t be exactly how’d I’d put it, but okay.

“What have you been doing?” I ask, trying to keep the conversation light in the hopes of relaxing her. “Has … has Nora been treating you okay?”

She immediately nods, but her eyes shift around.

“Sure, I’m fine,” she assures me a little too aggressively. “My sister takes excellent care of me. She’s trying to help me stay sober, you know?”

I don’t believe her. I’m certain that’s what Nora wants her to tell me. It’s frustrating, the hold Nora appears to have over her sister. I want to break it, but I don’t really know how.

I decide a more direct approach might have a more desired outcome.

“Je

She looks startled, and then cautious.

“What about?”

I hold her gaze steadily as I ask, “Why did you blackmail Dylan to get him to write me a recommendation for my scholarship to come here?”

Even in the dimming twilight, I can see all the color leave her face in an instant.

“What are you talking about?” she gasps, but I hear the lie easily enough. Je

“No bull, Momma,” I whisper. “Tell me. I’m pretty damn confident it wasn’t your idea to do so and you were just following Nora’s orders. Is that true? Had you already co

She looks so torn that I almost feel sorry for her. I quickly squash that sympathy, however, and remind myself of all the shit she’s put me through, not just by manipulating me into coming to Angelview, but throughout my life.

“Does how you got here really matter?” she whines.

I fold my arms and level her with a hard stare.

She throws up her hands in frustration. “You needed a reference that would guarantee you got in. We had leverage over him. End of story.”

“Did you know what I was doing with him?” I demand. “Did you know and never try to step in?”

“That’s … that’s not really how it was…”

I have my answer, even if she won’t own up to it in her own words. She knew about my relationship with Dylan and didn’t do anything to stop it. Only when it benefited her, or rather, Nora, did she approach him. Yet, it wasn’t even to call him out for what we did.

It was to blackmail him.

A familiar rage simmers in my blood. It’s the same thing I used to feel every time Je

Now they just piss me off.

Hardening my tone, I ask, “What about Jon Eric?”

“What about him?”

God, she’s so infuriating. “Don’t you feel anything that another boy is dead?”

She seems hesitant again, which I expect. I also expect her to tell me what a terrible person Ghost is for doing it. To my horror, it’s not Ghost’s name she finally utters.

“It was Nora,” she whispers, her gaze falling to the sand between us. “She killed him herself.”

My jaw drops, and Je

I stare at her in silent disbelief. All other responses have flown from my head in the wake of Je

I’d have never guessed Nora had pulled the trigger.

Without thinking, I reach forward and grab Je

“Let’s just go,” I whisper.

Her bony cheeks hollow in even further. “What are you talking about?”

“We could go someplace Nora will never find us,” I tell her, squeezing her fingers. “There’s nothing that says we have to stay here and suffer because she’s so obsessed with her revenge.”

I see the tiniest spark of hope in her eyes, but it’s there and gone within seconds. It’s replaced by total fear, and I know I’ve lost any chance of convincing her before I’d really begun to try. After all, this is the woman who’d escaped after witnessing murders and made a new life for herself instead of going straight to the police. “She’ll find us.”

“Not if we go to the police but I can’t do that unless you come with me.”

Je

“It’s no use,” she says, enunciating each word.

“Je

She shakes her hands from mine and lays them on my shoulders.

Staring into my eyes, she murmurs, “I just … can’t, Mallory.”

Why does this feel like a good-bye? What does Je

“You need to go now,” she tells me, dropping her hands and standing up to dust the sand off her baggy jeans. “Let Ghost drive you back to school and do whatever it is you have to do.”

Oh, shit, this is definitely a good-bye. My mind races and panic surges through me as I scramble to think of something to say to her to convince her to run or fight or to do something other than return to Nora.

In the end, though, all I can come up with is, “Thanks, Je

She looks surprised, and I can’t blame her. I haven’t really had anything nice to say to her in a while.

“Yo-you’re welcome,” she murmurs. Then, she momentarily gathers her wits to say, “Now go, please. Don’t keep him waiting, okay?”

I nod and turn from her to walk back to the parking lot. With each step I take, I feel more and more weighed down by grief and regret. I wish she’d been a better mother. I wish Nora had never found us. I wish I could turn back around and hug her good-bye, but that wasn’t really our style when things were normal. It would just be weird and forced now.

So, I keep moving forward.

“You shouldn’t worry. So long as she’s helpful, Nora will find a reason to keep her around.”

I’m startled both by Ghost’s words and his voice. Up until this point, the car ride has been totally silent. He didn’t ask me any questions when I opened the door and slipped into my seat. I’d expected an interrogation of what Je

“Did I look worried or something?” I murmur.

He chuckles. “You look like you could piss your pants at any moment. Just relax. If everyone does exactly as they’re told, there will be no reason for Nora to overreact.”

I stare at him in disbelief. His words are so callous, it’s as if he doesn’t have a heart at all.

“Ghost, do you have family?”

He glances toward me with a raised brow. “What? That’s a dumb question.”

“Not really,” I assure him. “But I am curious if you have any kind of heart at all.”

He laughs. “Damn, you do have some balls on you, don’t you? Fine. I do have a family. I got a little sister. Our mom died when we were kids.”