My gaze darted everywhere when I found myself back on the crowded streets of downtown, unable to comprehend what I was seeing—what I wasn’t hearing.
The street fair was still in full swing, but that couldn’t be right.
That night—the passionate kisses with Dare—felt like ages ago.
But even as I took in the people walking around, talking and laughing as they remained utterly clueless to the world around them, I heard nothing.
Only that deafening silence that promised death and destruction.
I clutched the wall beside me as I tried to calm my racing heart. My eyes never resting on one person for long as suspicion pricked at my spine.
They found me.
They came for me.
And I wouldn’t know if the next person who passed by was one of them too.
I shoved away from the wall once I’d caught my breath, and tried to keep my outward appearance calm as I looked for an open store . . . but most of the small town was shut down for the fair.
Digging into the bag I held close to my body, I snatched the glasses I’d dropped in there and put them back on as I walked, knowing full well the disguise could be useless to anyone who might be searching for a dead princess.
I slipped inside the first open place I came across—wanting nothing more than to get off the street that was getting louder and louder as the deafening silence faded away—and nearly groaned when I realized I’d stepped into a bar, filled wall to wall with people.
So many voices. All trying to be heard over the others and the live music coming from the stage, which was like a beacon in front of a mass of dancing bodies.
It was too loud.
I resisted the urge to go back outside, knowing the noises wouldn’t be any easier to handle out there on a night like tonight, and forced the same blank stare I maintained around the Holloway property as I made my way to the bar.
A man and two women stood behind the large wooden bar, the women dressed in tight pants and revealing shirts. Men from my side of the bar followed their every move with lust-filled eyes as the women made drinks, while girls tried eagerly to catch the man’s attention.
But his eyes found me, narrowing as he pushed away from the bar to stalk over to where I was standing.
Before my fear could take hold at the thought of being recognized, he stopped in front of me, his lips twisting into a sneer as he gave me a once-over.
“You old enough to be in here?”
I opened my mouth to tell him I was twenty-four, but paused. It wouldn’t have mattered right then if I was thirty or an eighteen-year-old trying to pass off as legal. I’d only ever driven a handful of times when the boys had snuck me out to teach me, so there’d never been a reason for a driver’s license. And my parents had so rarely let me off the property growing up that Mickey had used it as an excuse to stop me from getting an ID.
I’d been well hidden and protected even before they’d faked my death.
Instead of trying to convince the man of my age, I hurried to tell him exactly why I was here. “I just want to use the phone.”
“Sure you do. And I just need a million dollars.”
I didn’t let my emotions slip through. I didn’t scream at him, begging for the phone because it was an emergency.
There weren’t emergencies in our world.
There were tragedies that were repaid.
Despite the raw terror still pushing shards of ice through my veins. Despite the flashbacks from four years ago assaulting me again and again . . . I simply gripped my bag like it would give me the strength to continue on, and forced myself to stare blandly at him.
Lifeless eyes.
Lines and circles.
I blinked, chills skated across my skin, and I sucked in a calming breath as the bartender and bar came back into focus once again.
“Well?” he asked when I didn’t say anything or move. “Unless you’ve got ID or a million dollars on you, you might as well get on out.”
“I just want to use your phone.”
“Look, I don’t need cops in here because I served underage kids. Get on out of here.”
“All I want is to use—”
“Jesus Christ, Zeke. Let the girl use the damn phone,” a girl huffed as she stalked up beside him and slammed a phone down on the bar in front of me. She gave me a tight grin. “Keep it short, then head out unless you plan on showing some ID and buying something. ’Kay, sweetheart?”
I nodded as I murmured my thanks and reached for the phone. I eyed the man as I hurried to punch in Kieran’s number but looked away when his glare found me again.
When the call went straight to voicemail, I quickly hung up and dialed Beck, the only other number I had memorized. Then called again. But he never answered.
I started punching in his number a third time when the phone was ripped from my hands.
“All right, that’s it,” Zeke grumbled. “Whoever you’re trying to get hold of isn’t there. I don’t need you keeping my phone busy all night.”
“I—”
“Now I told you to get on out . . . so turn that underage ass around, and get the hell on out. You hear me?”
I grit my teeth to keep from saying anything more, to keep from begging to let me stay there and call the guys until someone answered, and turned to leave.
And that’s when I felt it. That weight that slowly pressed down on me, making me aware of every breath I tried to take.
Someone was watching me.
If I hadn’t spent years learning to know when Kieran was in the same room with me, I might not have noticed it.
But this wasn’t the same. My heart wasn’t slowing from the overwhelming and terrifying chill that accompanied Nightshade . . . and it wasn’t steadily increasing from being in the presence of Kieran.
I struggled to keep my face impassive as I let my eyes scan the crowded bar, and stilled when I found vaguely familiar eyes locked on me and closing in.
She didn’t pause as she neared me, just grabbed my wrist and hauled me back in the direction she’d come from.
As we got closer to the corner of the building, I found two more familiar faces waiting expectantly on a plush couch.
“Oh, oh! Knew you’d come back to me, nerd,” one of the twins called out as Libby forced me to sit.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an idiot, Diggs, she’s not for you.”
“You never know. The newbie might want a night of this,” the other said. “Fuck if we didn’t all see her dismiss Dare.”
“She’s not for you either. Both of you go. I’ll find you when I’m done.”
Libby’s eyes stayed focused on me, darting over me questioningly as she waited for the twins to grab their drinks and leave with groans of protests.
“You look like hell,” she said unapologetically as soon as they were a few feet from us.
“Thanks,” I said tightly.
“Thought I remembered you speaking.” Her tone was the same as it had been earlier that evening. Curious . . . something like awe driving everything she uttered to me. “Who are you? And why is it I’ve never seen you before this week, but suddenly you’re everywhere?”
I’d wondered the same thing when she’d grabbed me.
“I also remember you not answering much . . . kind of like now.” She sighed when I glanced around the bar. “He’s not here.”
I wasn’t looking for him.
Once I’d seen Libby, I’d focused in on every nerve ending. But the comforting buzz that meant Dare was near had been absent.
I was trying to gauge if there was anyone I didn’t recognize looking for me.
“What do you want me to say?” I licked my lips, my eyes darting across the people in the bar again. “You’re the one who keeps showing up where I am, but I haven’t asked why you’re here.”
Surprise crossed her face for only a second before the corner of her mouth lifted in amusement. “Trust me, sweetie, you don’t want to play that game with me. I’ll play all day long and I’ll win.”
“What game?”
“My mom owns Brooks Street, and I’ve been here with the twins ever since you went running off. Not to mention The Jack is my home away from home,” she said with a satisfied smile, lifting her hands to gesture to the building we were in. “Which means you keep showing up in my places. Not that I mind. Not that Dare minds. Speaking of, you never told me how you know my brother. The other day he led me to believe that you don’t, but I find that kind of funny because tonight it sure as hell looked like the two of you know each other really well, if you know what I mean.”
I shook my head and tried to ignore the rush that spread through me . . . tried to ignore the need to feel his lips on mine again. “I didn’t even know his name until you said it tonight.”
She studied me shamelessly, her head tilting as she did. “He’s intrigued by you, you know. And Dare doesn’t get intrigued by anyone.”
Excitement flared deep inside, and I fought to push it back.
“He’s smart and he’s cautious, but from what I’ve seen tonight, I’m worried he won’t be concerning you. Which means someone has to be for him.”
“There isn’t a need to be cautious when there’s nothing going on between us.”
Her smirk was back and broader than before. “I doubt that.”
I looked to the door, trying to mask my conflicting feelings. My need to find Conor was fighting with my need to hide. “Libby—”
“Why did you look so scared when you walked in here?” she suddenly asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. When I glanced at her again, her brow was furrowed.
“I wasn’t.”
“Yeah, okay . . . and my boobs aren’t fake,” she countered with a dry look. “I’ll talk to you all night to keep you distracted until you forget whatever’s happened to you . . . but I can’t help you if you keep running from everything.”
“This is your idea of helping? It comes across as borderline interrogating. And I never asked for your help.” With that I stood and walked quickly out of the bar and back onto the busy streets of downtown.
But I hadn’t even made it past the building before my wrist was grabbed and I was yanked backward.
“Answer one thing,” Libby begged.
God.
If one more member of this family grabbed me tonight, the Borellos wouldn’t have a girl left to hunt down. I’d be dead from heart failure before they could find me.
I blew out a shuddering breath as my heart painfully started back up, and pressed my hand roughly to my chest in an attempt to ease the aching. “What, Libby? Let it be enough for you to know that there is nothing going on between your brother and me. I’d never spoken to him before tonight.”
She held up her free hand, waving her fingers at me. “Totally not what I was going to ask you, or any of the dozens of questions I want to. Earlier you said you had to leave, but now you’re right back here. It’s only been about forty-five minutes. Why did you have to go?”
Forty-five minutes?
No, it felt like it’d been hours . . . lifetimes.
My head shook, the motion sluggish as I fought my exhaustion from the night. “I just needed to leave.”
One of her eyebrows ticked up. “Earlier you seemed anxious and kept looking around. When Dare came back from running after you, he told me that you’d been afraid when he’d caught up to you—that you’d thought he was someone else. But you’re still in town, asking to use a phone at a bar.”
I stared blankly at her as she spoke, trying to figure out where she was going with this, and worrying what her next question would be.
“Where are you going right now?”
“It’s none of your business.”
Eyes as dark as her brother’s dragged over me repeatedly before she insisted, “Then you’re coming home with me.”
A startled laugh escaped me. “What? No, I’m not.”
“So then you have a home? You have somewhere you can go?” she asked, challenging me. “Because I feel like if you did, you would be there instead of here trying to contact someone. I feel like you wouldn’t have so perfectly replicated what Dare described to me earlier when I just stopped you from walking away from me.” Libby glanced at her nails and gave a noncommittal shrug. “But what do I know . . . right? I’m not observant or right or anything.”
I stared at her with my mouth open, unsure how to answer her. Because I did have a home, but I couldn’t go back there now. I didn’t know if the Borellos were still there. I didn’t know if they were waiting for me.
They’d hit on the perfect night.
Mickey and Kieran were out, Beck and most of the other men were working as well. Conor had been called off for the first time. Only a few men remained on the property, and I didn’t know if any of them were alive.
Libby eyed me carefully, the haughty expression suddenly gone. “Look, I might not know a lot about everything, but I do know women. Because, well, duh. You were breathing fast when you first walked into The Jack, and your fear was enough to make everyone in there think the cops were about to come charging in.”
“That’s an exaggeration,” I whispered, but she just held her hand up again.
“You’ve refused to give me or any of my friends your name at least a thousand times now—”
“Another exaggeration . . .”
“—and while I may not be a human lie detector like Dare, you have these looks that keep flashing across your face at random that show everything you’re trying to hide. And like I said, girl-with-no-name, I know women. You’re running from someone, and if I had to guess, I’d say you’re running from a man.”
I watched her in shock, unable to say a word.
“Am I right?” When I still didn’t respond, her tone filled with compassion. “Husband?”
I quickly shook my head. “No.”
“Boyfriend? Parents?”
My head never stopped moving, and she dipped hers to try to look into my eyes. “Is your answer going to be no, no matter what I say?”
“I just . . . I can’t.” There was no explaining.
I was running from the Borellos.
And if I was being honest, the last four years I’d been running from Mickey and Kieran’s broken promises. Tonight, I’d been challenging Kieran and Beck’s deceit. While not all of those were the kind of situations she meant, not one of those would someone like Libby understand.
She offered me a sad smile and gently squeezed my wrist before releasing it. “If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that girls need to be there for each other. Especially during the hard times.” She took a step back and looked up at the bar. “Well, to be honest, this place is boring if I’m not working—especially if it’s just me and the twins because they scare off any potentials. And there’s a couch at my apartment that’s actually pretty comfortable that could easily sleep two of you on it.”
I thought of Dare, of the way he could make me feel just by looking at me, of the guilt that followed . . . “I don’t . . . I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Libby sent me a knowing smirk that slowly faded. “It’s just Einstein and me there. Look, our place is free. There’s food and a huge shower. You can borrow some clothes to sleep in while you wash what you’re wearing. It’s better than running around the town, terrified. And tomorrow, if you need anything, Einstein and I can help you with that too.”
I didn’t know how to turn down her help, but I also didn’t know how to accept it.
There was something about Libby that spoke to me, drawing me in and making me want to give in. Her strength. Her kindness. But I’d never slept anywhere away from Holloway.
I couldn’t go home. There was no point trying to find Beck. I only knew he was in Raleigh—where most of the Holloway Gang worked in order to avoid conflict with the Borellos—a thirty-minute car ride away. And Kieran . . . well, I never knew how long he would be working or when he’d come home.
“I really just need to try to get hold of someone.”
“Will they be able to pick you up?”
I hesitated, and that pause was enough for Libby.
“Then you’re coming with me for now. You can use my phone if you need to. Come on,” she said, jerking her head back toward the entrance of the bar. “Let’s go get the twins so they can drop us off.”
She turned and began walking without waiting to see if I would follow, but after a few seconds, I did.
Once I caught up with her, she said, “If you plan on running right out of town, make sure my brother knows you don’t plan on sticking around.”
My eyes shut, and in a moment of weakness, I welcomed the memory of his lips ghosting along mine. Of the current that bled from his skin to my own.
Forcing my eyes open, I said, “I don’t want him finding out about this.”
Libby lifted a shoulder. “I won’t tell him. Doesn’t mean he won’t find out. He has his ways.”
I just hoped for my heart’s sake I would be gone before he did.
Glancing at Libby, I cleared my throat and murmured, “I’m Elle.”
Her eyes drifted toward me and rested there for a second before looking straight ahead again. “You look like an Elle. It’s been . . . different meeting you.”
“I could say the same.”
A soft laugh sounded in her throat. “Yeah, well. I’m a little bit of crazy, and a whole lot of drama. Get used to it.”