49. Tess
TESS
Holy shit. It’s them.
Backing away from Rubin, my arms crossed over my stomach — instinctively protecting my softest spots.
“Until we meet again, Tess!” Rubin called after me.
I ignored him, too wrapped in realizing that the three people following behind me weren’t strangers at all.
Walking back to the coffee shop, I shook my head.
I knew it. They felt too familiar.
And they weren’t pleasant memories.
Heavy footsteps pounding pavement behind me, Cyrus, Nash, and Blade hot on my tail. Even still, The Messenger’s eyes stayed peeled on me, his gaze so intense that I could feel him trying to burrow into my brain.
Steps away from the black Cadillac, Nash grabbed my arm. “Tess, stop. Please.”
Whipping around to meet her gray gaze, I shook my head. “You fucking lied to me. Blue eyes my ass.”
I knew I had recognized those eyes. Unique, I’d never seen a single other human with eyes like hers. And she tried damn hard these past few weeks to stop me from looking closer.
But what were the odds? How could they have possibly ended up haunting an abandoned amusement park.
“I—” Nash tried to find the words.
But my fury found a new target as Blade’s pierced face came into sight. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell me?”
I ripped my arm from Nash’s grip, suddenly very aware of the prying eyes of Valemont’s bustling town center.
Blade and Nash stumbled for an answer.
I hadn’t seen them since the night they tried to escape Heirs of Promise, the last group home I’d actually been okay in. Just weeks before the home was shut down, I’d caught them trying to leave. More specifically caught Dana — Cyrus — packing up her supplies.
Their escape set off a chain of events that landed me on couches and bouncing from trailer parks to libraries for years.
And these three had pretended I was nobody to them.
They never came looking for me.
Feeling my eyes growing wet, I turned to leave.
But Cyrus had blocked me in, her muscular frame removing nearly all of my escape options. Her voice was a deep growl as her near-black eyes bored into me. “Get the fuck in the car. We are not discussing this here.”
Prying eyes were around every corner.
Surrounded, I couldn’t bolt. I could scream for help, hope that these bystanders would intervene.
I’d have nothing again, all my shit still in their apartment buried deep in Feverpoint.
Looking back at Blade, I saw the pain in her eyes.
Besides, I still owed them a few more weeks. One more Fright Night.
And I knew they would make me hold up my end of the bargain.
Even if I managed to hide from them, I’d wasted my first $20k on those stupid betting markets.
And most importantly, I wasn’t going to let them get away without answers. Not again.
Without another word, I grabbed the passenger door handle and threw it open — nearly smacking Blade in the face.
Climbing into the Cadillac, I took my seat and tried to control the boiling rage in my chest. It was time for my Freaks to come clean.