“You don’t have to define yourself by your family, Maddox, you’re allowed to be happy. I know it’s easier said than done, but if he’s the right guy then he’ll stick around. He’ll know how awesome you are, and that you are worth any and all drama that may come your way.” I stop his hand from moving with my own, and I don’t know if my words are reassuring or not, but I can’t exactly take them back.
“It’s not as easy as that, but I have been thinking about what I will do once we leave the Academy. It won’t be easy, but I think it’s something I need to do.” He doesn’t elaborate and D and I just sit here, watching him.
“You know, I’ll work for my dad.” He stares at us and his eyes say it all. Whatever he has planned, he doesn’t want Sir to find out.
The door opens and we look up to see Tom standing in the doorway, staring at us. I lift my hand up in a lackluster wave, and he steps into the room and closes the door.
“I’m looking for Emmet, is he hiding in the bedroom?”
“No, he went to see Sir a little while ago actually. He hasn’t come back yet, is everything okay?” I ask. I’m trying not to use his name or nickname. Really, I just don’t know where we stand.
“Aeron got up early this morning and he’s gone AWOL. I was hoping he could come and help me track him down. No one else is willing to help, so it looks like I’m doing this solo.” He rests his head against the doorframe and the three of us share a look.
“Can we help?” Maddox asks, and Tom slides his hand down his face before he shakes his head.
“Honestly, it would be better if Luna stayed in here for now. The less chance she has of running into the others, the better. We’ll have no control over it in a couple of days. It’s probably just easier if you guys stay here, at least that way she won’t be alone,” he replies, before he yanks the door open and walks out.
“What is going on with Aeron?” D asks, and Maddox gives us a sad smile.
“His birthday is coming up, and usually you’ll be back at the Academy and he’ll find a way to disappear for a few days. It’s not really a cause of celebration for him. Seeing as his mother uses it as another way to show him how she owns his ass and plans to until the day she dies. She wants him to take over her job, and she doesn’t care what he wants. Plus, she always says that he was the worst decision she ever made, so that never helps. It’s no wonder he gets high all the time.” He sounds so somber, and I think we’re all feeling it now.
We all go quiet after that and I wish I could go out there and find him, but I have got to learn my lesson eventually, why shouldn’t it be now?
“He’ll be okay, he’s a big boy.” D pats my back and I shrug my shoulders.
“He’s feeling guilty because he thinks that he’s the reason I wandered off, and I don’t know how to make him believe that he isn’t.”
“Why would he think that? Other than the guys saying it?” Maddox asks, and the thing is, I trust him.
“I said something stupid about not being made to do something I didn’t want to do. He called me out on it and then said that I’m surrounded by hypocrites. That it isn’t fair how I have to be honest when basically, they don’t have to be. He stormed off after that, and I was sitting down and wondering what I was going to do now when…”
“When what? What happened, Luna?” Maddox shifts forward and leans closer to me.
“Oh, fish sticks. I was sitting on the sofa, and then the next minute, I’m waking up in the raft. I remember what happened. I didn’t wander off, I was taken.”
Maddox stands up and pulls out his phone, before putting it against his ear. D and I stare at him, but we don’t say anything. He groans as he moves it away and throws it down onto the sofa.
“Emmet isn’t answering, and it isn’t worth my life to tell anyone else before we tell him. Can you tell me everything that you remember?” He sits back down and takes one of my hands in his as I let out a breath and think over my words.
“I woke up in the raft, and I was confused. I didn’t know where I was or how I got there. It wasn’t until I realised I was moving that I sat up and it dawned on me. I knew I had two options, try to jump and risk falling into the river, or tackle the rapids without a life jacket or even any knowledge of how to do it.” My hands are shaking again, and I hate it. I need to find a way to make myself stronger, or to, at least, seem less weak. “I decided to jump, so I went for it, but I was pulled backwards. Someone had tied the laces of my boots, or boot, to the ropes in the raft, and it stopped me. I managed to get them off and I got out in time but my leap failed. I landed on my knees and fell and I guess I hit my head. The next thing I know, I’m waking up in the hospital to see Emmet next to me. I don’t know who it was but someone put me there. Someone tried to kill me.”
My stomach roils and I sit for a moment before I run for the bathroom and my knees hit the floor as I vomit into the toilet bowl. Daria is with me in moments, and she holds my hair back as I retch and continue to hug the bowl until I empty my stomach of everything it had. Which wasn’t much.
“I think Maddox is going to try and get you something to eat to help settle your stomach, but you don’t have to eat it,” she says, as she strokes soothing circles onto my back.
“I don’t know if I can, I don’t even know if I can do this anymore. I know I can’t ask for the pass, but surely the risk of asking isn’t as serious as the one against me staying.” I peer up at her and her eyebrows draw in.
“I get it, but think this through, Homegirl. I know you’re scared, and you should be, but don’t make any decisions right now.” She drops a kiss onto the back of my head before she ties my hair up into a messy bun and continues the soothing circles.
It feels like we’re in a vicious cycle and our conversations always come back to this. Me wanting to leave and D telling me to think it through. The thing is, this all happened on the retreat. So does that mean it was the strangler? Or was it someone else? Because if it was the former, why did they deviate?
11
Forming A Plan
Emmet
“Can I go now? This is pointless.” I’m not wrong, I regret coming to him now and he won’t even let me check my fucking phone.
“No, you called this impromptu meeting, so you will stay until I dismiss you. Now, tell me again why you care that Tucker has been forced to leave.” He’s the epitome of calm and composed, at least to anyone who didn’t grow up with him, but I know my father better than most. He’s angry, and I’m not sure what is going to tip him over the edge this time. Oh wait, it’s going to be me.
“Because you’re not replacing him. When you removed Shane, you brought Thallon in, but not with Tucker. That isn’t how the Academy works.” I fold my arms across my chest as I lean against his desk, just to rile him a little more.
“We’re also supposed to have fifty girls but I didn’t replace them. I think we can do without one boy. Do not try to tell me how the Academy works, Emmet. I am in charge, not you. Don’t forget, you’re not the only one in line for the heir position.” And there it is, the unveiled threat. Step in-line, or be replaced.