“You aren’t coming with me, are you?”
“I can’t. I’m not a runner, and I have to put some things right.”
“I need to know you will be okay, beautiful.” He looks pained.
“I’m a survivor, rock star.” I kiss him.
“Call me if you need anything. Call me even if you don’t need anything. If you’re lonely, scared, bored. Call me, okay?”
“One more time?” I won’t drag him into this. I don’t want to lose his friendship, but this is my world, not his.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He smiles sadly, laying me back.
“Thank you, Jonah.”
“For what?” He pauses, gazing into my eyes.
“For water balloons, for laughter, for take-out, for vodka straight from the bottle, for singing, for Truth or Dare. For normal. For free. Thank you for being my safe place to land, Jonah.”
“It was my pleasure, beautiful.” He kisses away my tear. “And our time isn’t up yet.”
“Well then, let’s make the most of it.”
Hours later, I wake to harsh whispers but keep my breathing even, listening.
“I won’t let you hurt her. Take whatever you want, but you’ll have to kill me to get to her,” Jonah hisses.
“Well now, I didn’t expect all this. You actually care about her?” Abel found me.
“Of course I do, and she’s been through enough. So like I said. Get. Out.”
“Not happenin’, man. She can’t stay here.”
“Abel, leave him alone.” I sit up and stretch, remembering too late that I’m not dressed and yanking the blanket back up. “Oops.”
“Well Darlin’, seems you’ve been having a pretty good time.” Abel stares down Jonah as he tugs one of his t-shirts over my head.
“Save it, Abel. You’re lucky I didn’t knife all of you before I left. Fuck you very much, by the way.” I pull on a pair of Jonah’s sweats, glancing to my ripped dress in the corner, and Jonah smirks.
“Wear them. Gives me an excuse to see you when I come back.” He kisses me. “Are you safe with him? You don’t have to go.”
“Oh, for fuck sake,” Abel growls.
“Valid question, Abel! Everything else aside, how the hell did you get in here?”
“I have my ways.” He chuckles.
I turn back to Jonah. “Thank you for everything. I left something for you in your bag. You’ll know when to open it.”
“Promise me you’ll be okay-” He hugs me closely. “-and stop hiding, Eliana. You are far too spectacular to spend your life locked away.”
“I’m done hiding. Now, quit worrying about me, and go shine. You, sir, are going to do amazing things.”
I hug him tightly and turn to leave, but he spins me back and kisses me deeply.
“Don’t forget me, beautiful.”
“Impossible.” I smile, touching a finger to his dimple. “Goodbye, Jonah.” I walk to the door, pausing when he calls out.
“Abel, if anything happens to her, I’m coming for you.”
“Anything happens to her, you won’t have to.” Abel places a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“I’m pretty sure I was the winner there.” He smiles at me, and we turn to head home.
Climbing onto the back of Abel’s bike, I can feel Jonah watching from the patio, so I yell up.
“Make LA your bitch, Jonah.” I blow him a kiss, and he grins, catching it. “And sing for me.”
Thirty minutes later, Abel and I are pulling off the road by the clearing.
“Why are we here, Abel?”
“Come on. We’re doing what I should have done for you two months ago.”
“I can’t,” I whisper, my whole body trembling and pulling away. “Abel, I can’t do this, please.”
“You can, and you will. You want to move on? You want to heal? You have to start here. We are going back into the pit, but you have to face this first.” He takes my hand. “You don’t have to do it alone. I messed up before, but let me help you now.”
I nod, walking the path in silence. Letting go of his hand, I step over the fallen tree with a sob. A few more steps, and I’m standing in the spot where Joshua proposed to me, where we lost our virginities together, and where he died. My knees buckle as a scream rips from my very soul, but instead of hitting the ground, I’m in Abel’s arms.
“Let it all out, Darlin’.” He holds me until I am all out of tears and my sobs have gone quiet.
“I have so much hate inside me, Abel.”
“Use it.” He lifts me to my feet. “You have to leave the tears here though, Darlin’, and cut out the partying. You had your fun, but I need you clear headed for this. You know the world we live in, and those things will make you vulnerable. You want your justice, Eliana?”
“More than anything.” I suck in a breath, standing taller.
“Then fucking take it. This is it. I’m with you.” He kneels in front of me, taking my hand. “I will never fail you again. I have found my voice. Now the question is will you find your sword?”
“Abel, I never lost my sword.” I help him stand. “I just didn’t realize I still needed it. My eyes are open; let’s head home.”
Chapter Five
Costin
‘’He has her.” Jaxx stands from his bike, walking to me. “Kick off your lights.”
“Say where?” I turn off my bike, leaving us in the dark.
I want to, but it’s probably best I not know where to find Jonah. I saw the video. Hell, Jaxx said there were four hundred-thousand views within the first three hours and thousands of comments asking about Jonah’s new love. Just what we needed, more eyes on her.
“Safe and close,” Jaxx huffs, turning toward the sound of Abel’s bike as it slows to a stop.
“The hell, big guy? Why are we out here? You know that Joey Ramone is in for the night, and I’m not wearing that pendant. Plus, bugs, man…”
“We need to talk.” Jaxx steps into Abel’s headlight, and she immediately looks pissed. I have never seen her look at him with so much disgust.
“Great, come on out, Costin. I know you have to be here, too.” She jumps off the bike and marches our direction.
“Munchkin, let us explain.” Jaxx reaches for her hand, but she quickly yanks it away, causing him to flinch.
“Oh, no. Nope, this wasn’t a little mistake, Jaxxson. You all left me. I trusted you, all of you, and you failed me completely. I would never have done that to any of you. Ever,” she shouts.
She’s right. She would have killed herself fighting for any one of us.
“Princess, we were wrong. We just didn’t know how to help. Your pain was-” She raises a hand, halting me.
“Mine, Costin. My pain. For me to deal with however I needed to in order to make it out the other side. You all took that away from me.” She stands taller, shoulders back, eyes blazing. “I’m taking it all back. Now. I’ll fight whoever I need to in order to set this right. Does that fight include the two of you?” She looks from me to Jaxx.