“I’ve no idea,” she snaps. “He left without explanation. As far as I’m concerned, he can rot in hell.”
I give her a bitter smile. “That’s harsh.”
“That’s life,” she retorts.
My first instinct is to call the police. Ghost isn’t around to protect her anymore. She’s vulnerable, and this may be my only opportunity to bring her down.
Yet, I know I can’t call anyone. Nora still has Jenn, and I’ve no idea where she’s keeping her, or if Jenn’s even okay. I can’t risk pushing Nora too far until I’m sure Jenn will be safe.
“Who’s watching Jenn?” I ask, stepping closer to her.
She looks at me like I’ve got IDIOT written in Sharpie on my forehead. “What do you mean? Why would someone need to watch her?”
To keep her from overdosing, for one. I can only imagine how hard Jenn’s been hitting her substances lately. Stress is one of her biggest triggers. She always would rather get high and temporary escape her worries than deal with anything.
“Can I talk to her?”
Instead of answering me, she wanders toward my bed. I follow her, stopping when she sinks onto the mattress, making herself right at home.
“Nora…”
She reaches out and touches the skirt of my dress with the tips of her fingers.
“You know, Jameson and Benjamin both asked me to prom when we were in school,” she murmurs, her gaze suddenly far away.
“Nora, what about Jenn?”
She ignores me and continues, “It was before Benjamin and I started dating. The three of us had been friends our whole lives, and I knew they both wanted me. I hadn’t decided who I wanted, though. I was weighing the pros and cons of both of them, but I made up my mind that prom would be the perfect opportunity to choose once and for all.”
Why is she telling me this? Honestly, I can’t tell if she even remembers I’m in the room with her. She seems like she’s a million miles away as she continues stroking the skirt of my dress.
I try to ask about Jenn again. “Nora, please. Can I see Jenn?”
“Benjamin and Jameson both did everything they could to convince me to go with them.”
“Nora, why are you telling me this?”
She continues to disregard me as she proceeds with her strange story. “In the end, I chose Ben. It was really a no brainer at that point because he had … more.”
This. Dirty. Skank.
I stare at her in disbelief. “Did you love my father at all?”
She blinks up at me, and she’s actually seeing me now. “At times.”
At this point, I feel like I shouldn’t be surprised by how cold-hearted she is, but she keeps stunning me with her particular level of hatefulness.
“Have you ever loved anyone?” I murmur. “Jenn? Your parents?”
She doesn’t answer that, but grips my skirt and yanks on it, startling me.
“I thought you were more like me,” she says. “I thought you were smarter, but I was wrong. I told you to stay away from Saint Angelle, but you just couldn’t help it, could you?”
Her words are sharp, lashing over me like a whip.
“I know what you did,” I hiss, my anger boiling my blood. “I know what you did to him. He was a child.”
“And I was a captive.” She shrugs, as if neither horrible truth is that big of a deal. “Like I said, Jameson promised me my freedom. Clearly, he’s a lying piece of shit and didn’t let me go, but I was willing to do just about anything at that point to get a taste of freedom.”
I’ve never felt such disgust for another human being before, and now I’m overwhelmed by it not only for her, but Mr. Angelle as well. How Saint was able to survive them, I’ll never fully know.
Nora drops her hand from my dress and pushes to her feet.
“This was good, Eden. Cleansing.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“I’ll call you whatever I please,” she grinds out, starting for the door.
What the hell? She can’t say all this bullshit and just leave. She hasn’t even told me if Jenn is okay.
“You can’t leave,” I snap.
The corners of her lips curl and she cups my face. I flinch at her touch, but she doesn’t let me go. “I’ll check on you again before graduation,” she says. “I’ve lost interest in the Sunday dinners.”
I jerk my head away and blurt, “Mr. Angelle said he’d give you money if you let this all go. A hundred million. Maybe … maybe you should take his offer?”
To my surprise, Nora snorts. “He’s lying again.”
She saunters past me to walk to the door, and I’m seized with panic, thinking of Jenn and her safety. “I want a way to contact you and Jenn.” The words are out of my mouth before I fully comprehend what I’m saying.
She stops and slowly twists back around to face me. “What in the world are you talking about?”
I clench my jaw. “I’m sick of this being a one-way street. I want to be able to contact you both whenever I need to. Angelle knows we’re in contact, and if he approaches me, I need to be able to reach you.”
She shifts her weight. “You’re overstepping again. I thought you knew better by now.”
I should’ve known basic logic wouldn’t work with her. Taking a page out of her own playbook, I decide to try threatening. “Give me a way to contact you freely, or I swear to God, I won’t go through with graduation.”
She’s frozen for a long time, then her neck cords and an animalistic sound scratches from her throat. “You realize you’ll suffer some major consequences if you don’t, right? You think these little Angelview bitches have made your life terrible? You have no idea, Eden.”
That’s always refreshing. Finding out your psycho mother is an OG mean girl.
I throw my shoulders back and lift my chin. “I don’t care.”
She studies me for several moments. I expect her to shoot me down and pile me with threats of her own, but then she releases a deep, exasperated breath and flaps her hand dismissively.
“I’m not sure whether to be furious or proud—or both,” she admits. “Fine then, I’ll give you a number you can call. Get a piece of paper to write it down because I’m only saying it once.”
I hurry to grab a notepad and pen from my desk and she rattles off a phone number that I quickly scribble down.
“I don’t want you calling me with bullshit little girl problems, do you understand?” she snaps.
I don’t know what all she means by little girl problems, but I’ve no intention of calling her on any kind of regular basis. Having a direct line to her, though, could prove useful as I figure out a way to stop her.
“Thanks,” I say in a tight voice. “I’ll only reach out if it’s an emergency.”
She scowls. “Perfect.”
Without another word, she turns and opens the door to disappear into the hallway. I quickly shut the door with a shaky breath.
I feel like I just dodged a bullet. Creeping away from the door, I quickly strip out of my dress and hang it up in my closet, then change into my regular clothes. Once I’m dressed, I go to my desk and run my fingers over the paper with Nora’s number written on it.