Chapter 9 - Livy
LIVY
Sparkles nearly pulls my arm out of its socket the moment we step onto the road to walk through campus.
“Okay, okay,” I laugh under my breath, tightening my grip on the leash as the Dalmatian prances in excited circles around my legs.
She’s an old girl that from what I’m told wasn’t always treated the nicest, but she trusts me completely, and that’s why I go out of my way to make her day a little extra special. “You win. We’ll go the long way.”
Her tail whips so hard against my thigh that it stings, but I don’t even mind.
I don’t think I could ever mind anything that involves being outside with this dog.
After everything last night with Sebastian and then getting a horrible text from an anonymous number, I really need this.
Juniper calmed me down, saying it was most likely a prank.
She said she’d ask Kalen to put another deadbolt on our main door, and even one on my bedroom if I wanted one.
That did ease my worry a bit, and in the back of my mind I wonder if I’m overreacting.
If I hadn’t been through what I have, a text like that would for sure come across as a harmless prank.
Someone who has a crush on Sebastian, or me, or both.
I don’t know. For all I know, it could be Miranda thinking she’s funny.
I haven’t told her about it because I don’t really want the news spreading around and making it worse.
I look down at the pup sniffing literally anything and everything she can get her nose on. Sparkles isn’t mine. She belongs to Juniper.
Technically.
But Juniper lets me take her for walks whenever I want because I think she knows I need the companionship.
Kalen says he rescued Sparkles for Juniper, and the way he says it makes me think it was less of a ‘Hi, I’d like to adopt one dog, please’ situation and more of a ‘Give me that dog or I’ll bash your face in’ kind of a deal.
I approve if she wasn’t being treated well, and especially because right now Sparkles is living her best life knocking Miranda off her pedestal and becoming queen of everything.
The wind cuts through the collar of my sweater as we head down the narrow street just off campus.
The stone buildings of St. Killian rise behind us, and I swear I've never seen anything like this place other than in a history book. I’ll never get tired of looking at them.
I haven’t stayed in one place too long, but I wouldn’t mind calling this place home for a while.
The places I’ve seen in Ireland, which to be fair aren’t many, are all beautiful in their own way. I hope before I leave for my next journey, I’ll get to see a lot more of this place. When I first arrived here, I remember thinking it felt like the safest place in the world.
Now I’m not so sure. Last night I slept with pepper spray in my hand, and I don’t think I dozed off for more than a few minutes at a time.
Sparkles tugs me toward a patch of grass and immediately flops onto her side, rolling dramatically in the damp earth.
“Really?” I sigh. “Fine, but you’re going to need a bath before bed. You’re turning green.”
She looks up at me with the happiest expression imaginable, her spotted belly exposed like she expects applause.
I crouch down beside her and scratch behind her ears, smiling despite myself.
“You’re ridiculous,” I say, but I don’t really mean it. Sparkles pants happily, nudging her cold nose against my wrist.
I love her so much, and I don’t think I’ve felt that emotion for anyone since my parents.
“You’re lucky you’re cute,” I murmur.
Growing up the way I did, pets were never allowed. Foster homes. Safe houses. Witness protection apartments that changed every few months whenever someone decided the current address wasn’t secure enough.
Animals weren’t practical when you could disappear overnight. And that possibility has never really gone away.
Even now.
Especially now.
Sparkles is done rolling around and apparently has caught another whiff of something she must investigate.
She sniffs enthusiastically at the base of the stone archway that will lead us down to the water where the rowing team practices.
There’s a really pretty wooden overlook that I like to sit on and read sometimes, but I can tell that’s not going to be an option with how high-energy Sparkles is today.
The place is peaceful, and even when the rowing team is down here, they’re so far out on the water it’s not disruptive. Which is exactly why I come here when my mind won’t stop spinning.
I crouch beside Sparkles and scratch behind her ears.
“You know,” I tell her softly, “I think I’d be really lonely without you. I’m not glad you were in a bad situation, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”
Sparkles leans her spotted head against my knee, tail sweeping happily through the wet grass.
I smile down at her.
“I’ll take that as you’re pretty glad too.”
A sharp voice suddenly cuts across the ground and echoes.
“Livy!”
I glance up to see Ronan jogging toward us from the path that leads back toward the dorms.
His light blond hair is sticking up in about ten different directions like he ran his hands through it a hundred times already today.
“Hey,” I call back, and I try really hard to keep the disappointment out of my voice. There’s just something about him I don’t really like, and I can’t put my finger on it.
Sparkles stiffens slightly when Ronan gets closer, so I rest my hand gently on her back.
“You’re the best girl,” I reassure her quietly.
Ronan slows when he reaches us, crouching a few feet away instead of approaching right away. Smart man, I guess.
“How’s the queen of spots today?” he asks.
Sparkles eyes him suspiciously before deciding he’s acceptable enough to ignore. At least she’s not growling, so I’ll take it.
“She’s thrilled I finally got a day where I could take her for an extra long walk.
I’ve had so much homework lately,” I say with a small laugh.
I don’t add on that I’ve not been sleeping, and it’s really starting to catch up to me.
Randomly throughout the day my eyelids have been pulling like they just want to shut so bad.
Ronan grins. “Fair enough. I’m just hanging out until practice starts in like a half hour.” He starts to say something else but suddenly goes very still. His gaze shifts over my shoulder. The playful expression on his face disappears, and I know exactly why before I even turn around.
My stomach drops.
Because I can feel him.
The same way I felt him last night.
I slowly look over my shoulder toward the stone staircase that leads up toward the main path.
Sebastian Vale stands there.
Watching us again.
The morning light catches on the dark waves of his hair, and he’s wearing a heathered green crewneck with white lettering across the chest that says Knights Rugby. The fabric stretches across his broad shoulders, making him look even larger than he did last night.
His expression is hard, and not at all the same vibe I got from him in front of the pub. He doesn’t look angry exactly, but he’s intense enough that my pulse immediately picks up.
His green eyes move from me to Ronan. I glance back at Ronan just in time to see the color drain slightly from his face. I mean, I don’t blame him, Sebastian could probably snap him in half if he wanted to, and by the looks of it, he just might.
“Someone I should know about?” Ronan asks me, and I hate when people do stuff like that.
He knows who Sebastian is, clearly, but he wants me to feel like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t be.
I’m literally on a walk and these two just showed up, and as Juniper would say, red flag, that sounds like their problem.
I shake my head. “I think you know him as well as I do, Ronan.”
But even as I say it, the words feel wrong.
Because the truth is I feel like I know this man better than anyone at this school, and I don’t know why.
I planned on looking him up last night when I got home from the pub, but then I got that text and it wrecked my whole night.
I looked for him this morning, just to see if there was anything that would jog my memory of meeting him before.
He’s American, so maybe I briefly met him in one of the schools I attended, but I doubt it.
He’s kind of memorable, with the brooding eyes and the way he looks like he wants to kill every man who breathes near me.
Sebastian’s eyes find mine again, and something in his eyes changes. He’s looking at me like I want to be looked at for the rest of my life. I’m losing my damn mind over this guy who should scare me. Is he trying to scare me? I don’t even know at this point.
I should feel afraid.
Everything about him should make me uneasy.
He’s huge. Intimidating. Staring at me like he’s trying to memorize every detail of my face. But instead of fear, warmth spreads through my body.
A calm, steady warmth that feels dangerously close to comfort. No one has ever looked at me the way he does. Like he already knows me. Like he’s been looking for me, and has finally found me.
Ronan shifts beside me.
“I’m getting the distinct impression he doesn’t want me talking to you,” he mutters, and there’s not even a tiny bit of a laugh in his tone like there usually is.
He glances back toward Sebastian again, and then suddenly stands up.
“You know what,” he says quickly, brushing grass off his hands. “Coach is probably looking for me.”
I blink.
“You said practice wasn’t for another half hour.”
“Yeah,” he says, already backing away. “But… you know how coaches are.”
His eyes flick back toward Sebastian one more time, and whatever he sees there makes him swallow hard.
“Enjoy the rest of your walk,” Ronan says quickly.
Then he turns and heads back toward campus without another word.
I watch him go, confused. When I look back toward the stone steps again, Sebastian is gone also.
And for some reason that unsettles me even more than when he stares at me.
“Come on,” I murmur to Sparkles, giving the leash a gentle tug.
We keep walking along the edge of the water, the path narrowing as it curves away from campus. The grass here is longer, a little overgrown, brushing against my legs as we move. The sound of the water is soft and steady beside us, and for a moment, everything feels calm again.
Sparkles slows and her ears perk up. I feel the shift in her before I hear anything.
“What is it?” I ask quietly, glancing down at her. She doesn’t bark and doesn’t pull in any direction, she just… listens.
Then I hear what’s caught her attention. It’s a low sound, super faint, almost like a groan.
At first, I think I imagined it, but then it comes again, quieter this time, like it’s being swallowed up by the brush.
My heart starts to beat a little faster.
“Good job, Sparkles. Don’t worry, it’s probably nothing,” I whisper, though I’m already stepping off the path to check it out. Whatever it is sounds really hurt. Sparkles follows without hesitation.
The grass thickens as we move closer to the waterline, and there’s a patch of overgrown brush just ahead, tangled and wild like it hasn’t had much traffic for a while.
The sound comes again. A soft whimper and my chest tightens.
“Oh my gosh…” I breathe.
I push closer, ducking under a low branch, my shoes catching slightly in the uneven ground.
I’m expecting…I don’t even know? A hurt dog. A bird. Something small.
But then I see it, a human foot. I swear my brain doesn’t process it right away. I see a pale ankle, twisted at an odd angle and wrapped in brush. I notice a broken black high heel still clinging to it like it.
“Holy shit…” My fingers go slack.
The leash slips from my hand. “Sparkles!” I call, panicked, but she doesn’t run away like I’m anticipating. She doesn’t move at all, but instead just lowers herself to the ground, watching me like she understands what’s happening.
My hands start to shake as I push the brush aside, branches scrape against my arms, catching in my sweater as I pull them back.
And then I see her.
A girl about my age. Blonde hair matted and tangled around her face, streaked with dirt and something darker that I think might be blood. Her skin is bruised badly all over and her face is swelling along her cheekbones, her eyes completely closed, lashes stuck together.
Her hands are bound in front of her with some kind of fishing line.
My stomach drops so fast it makes me dizzy.
“Oh my God… oh my God…” My voice sounds like it’s not even my voice, like the words are far away and someone else is speaking them.
Flashbacks of my parents being slaughtered in front of me take over my mind.
It’s like I’m in two places at once. I’m seeing her and them all at the same time, and I have to blink to bring myself back to reality.
She’s breathing because her body rises in shallow, uneven pulls, and that same broken sound slips from her lips again. I drop to my knees beside her so fast it jars my bones, my hands hovering over her like I don’t know where to touch, what might hurt her more.
“Hey—hey—” My voice shakes. “Oh no… oh no…” I see the life draining out of my father and then my mother. It’s so clear in my mind, and I want to scream. I’m reaching for them, but a hand covers my mouth. It’s too late, I can’t help them, they’re already gone.
Sparkles stays where she is, head low, eyes locked on me like she’s trusting me to fix this.
I have to do better this time. I can’t let this girl down.
I fumble with my bag, nearly dropping it as I yank it open and dig for my phone. My fingers don’t feel like they’re working right, clumsy and numb as I finally grab it.
I hit the number 999 with shaking fingers and then reach for the girl, my fingers pressing gently against her neck, searching for a pulse the way I’ve seen people do in movies.
For a second, I can’t find it.
Panic spikes because I’m doing this all wrong.
Then her pulse is there.
Faint.
But there, and that’s all I need.
When a woman appears on the line, asking me where my emergency is, I rattle off every landmark I can see, trying to give her as much information to find me as I can. She stays on the line with me until I hear people approaching us, and only then does she disconnect our call.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, my voice breaking as a group of men and women approach us. “Okay… okay…”
I lean closer to this poor girl, brushing a piece of hair away from her face as carefully as I can.
“Don’t worry,” I say softly, even though my whole body is trembling. “You’re okay. I promise… you’re okay.”
And I can only pray that I’m right.