“Oh, thank God!” she sobs. “I was so worried. I didn’t know where you were—if you were still in the house or not.”
“I’m sorry,” I say as we break apart. Sirens blare in the distance, and I scan the crowd again, but I don’t see Saint or Liam.
A terrible sense of déjà vu settles over me.
“Where’s Saint and Liam?” I demand, the panic rising in my voice. “On the other side of the house?”
Loni shakes her head, her shoulders shrugging up helplessly.
“What?” I snap. “What does that mean?”
At that moment, a commotion from the crowd steals our attention from each other. I look up toward the house and release a scream.
Liam is stumbling out of the back door, coughing and covered in soot.
Gabe rushes forward to help him get further away from the burning structure, and I race over, kneeling next to him when Gabe sits him in the sand.
“Are you all right?”
“Mallory, I—”
“Where’s Saint?” I whisper, growing more and more desperate to know.
“He’s still in the fucking house,” Gabe growls before Liam can respond. “He was out here, but when he realized Liam wasn’t, he—”
“What?” I shriek, shoving to my feet. I whirl back to face the house.
“Mallory, don’t do anything stupid!” Gabe orders, but I ignore him. I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the memory of the fire back in Georgia. I couldn’t save James then, but I sure as hell can try now.
Before anyone can think to stop me, I sprint toward the house. I hear my friends screaming my name as I go, but I don’t look back.
Epilogue
Liam
“I knew we’d have to go to more of these things eventually, but I never thought we’d have one so soon.”
“Me neither.”
“Especially not his.”
I nod but don’t say anything. Gabe, Loni and I are all huddled together, away from the other Angelview alumni that have gathered here. Laurel’s here, making a show of things with her loud wailing, but I keep looking for Rosalind, even though I know she won’t be here.
She hasn’t spoken to any of us since the night the Angelle’s mansion burned to the ground, but I plan to find her.
Gabe claps me on my shoulder. “How’ve you been, man? It feels like forever since I talked to you.”
“That’s because it has.” I smirk. “I’ve been good though. The gap year was good. I’m actually looking forward to starting school in the fall.”
“That definitely means hell has frozen over,” Gabe chuckles. Suddenly, something catches his attention over my shoulder. His laughter dies, and his eyes widen. “Holy shit. Didn’t think she’d show.”
“Wait, what?” Loni gasps, looking behind me as well. Tears instantly form in her eyes. “Oh, shit.”
Slowly, I turn around and there she is. She looks different. Her hair is lighter, and she’s put on a little weight, but she’s still just as fucking gorgeous as I remember her being.
“I didn’t think Mal would come,” Gabe murmurs again. “Figured it’d be … too painful.”
I’d figured the same thing, truth be told. After all, I almost didn’t come myself.
Who would ever want to attend their best friend’s memorial service?
Mallory looks so lost, standing by herself, gazing at the large portrait of Saint next to the podium they usually use for graduation and other major school ceremonies.
My chest twists, and I turn back to Loni and Gabe. “I’m going to talk to her. Make sure she’s all right.”
Loni nods eagerly. “Tell her I’m here for her and that I’ll call her next week.”
Loni’s lucky. She’s the only one Mallory still talks to.
“Okay,” I murmur before facing Mallory again. Tentatively, I make my way over to her. She’s so absorbed in Saint’s image, she doesn’t notice my approach until I’m standing right next to her.
“Hey,” I say softly.
She nearly jumps out of her skin but offers me a small grin once she realizes it’s me.
“Liam,” she says, her voice soft. “Good to see you.”
I don’t try to hug her. I’m not sure she’d be all that receptive to that. “I’m glad you came in for this. Where’d you fly in from?”
“Oh, a little bit of everywhere,” she answers, a clear brush off.
I’m not quite ready to give up, though. After graduation last year, she almost completely disappeared. No one seems to have any idea where she went or why, but at least she calls Loni.
I guess there’s that shit.
“You don’t have a home base anywhere?”
She levels me with an annoyed look, her blue eyes flashing me a warning to back the fuck off. “Does it matter?”
Damn. Not much I can do when she says it so directly.
“Sorry,” I say with a curt nod. “How’s your family? Is that a safe topic?”
The corner of her mouth twitches. “I suppose. For the most part, everyone’s good. I plan to meet up with Carley and Titus while I’m in California, and to visit Jenn as well.”
“Oh, that’s … good.” I don’t dare ask about her birth mother. Just like Jenn, she’s in prison for killing Jon Eric and the Angelview fire, but I don’t think Mallory gives a fuck about Nora.
After the fire last year, we’d all gotten to know the real Jameson Angelle. Not only had he killed off most of Mallory’s family, but there was so much more blood on his hands, I was still reeling.
I don’t bring any of that up to Mallory now. She’s been through enough as it is, and I’m sure today is really hard for her. Though she inherited a massive fortune from her late father—and from Saint, the only eighteen year old on the goddamn planet with the foresight to make a will—all the money in the world wouldn’t bring what she probably wanted back.
“I should get going,” she mumbles suddenly, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from me slightly.
“What?” I breathe. “You just got here.”
She scoops one hand through her long hair and closes her eyes. “I know, but I just … I want to leave it in the past, you know?”
It’s cold. So fucking cold-hearted, and I’d never expect that from her, so I give her a stiff smile. “Yeah. It was good seeing you.” Before I leave, I shoot her a pointed look and grind my teeth. “Loni says she’ll call you next week.”
Her mouth turns up into an actual smile at that. “Tell her I’ll have my pizza and tequila ready.”
We stare at each other for a long moment before she murmurs, “Goodbye, Liam.”
“Mallory.”
As she turns to go, I watch her, my curiosity overwhelming me. Where has she been all this time? Why is she here now?
What the fuck is she hiding?
I figure there’s only one way to answer all my questions, and that’s why I follow her. I’m careful to keep a distance as we drive away from campus. My phone is buzzing like crazy, no doubt messages from Gabe asking where the hell I went, but I ignore them for now. I keep my focus solely on Mallory and where she’s going.