Chapter 38
CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT
SUMMER
“ S ummer, are you in there?”
A knock sounds on Saturday morning, and Dani walks in; her eyes are still puffy, and she’s carrying a cup of tea and flowers. Her hair is down for once, rolling over her slender shoulders. She looks gorgeous as always in high-waisted jeans and a belly shirt. I understand why Xander would be into her. She looks stunning in a more natural manner compared to Bianca, whose appearance is more jarring. Dani, as hard as she pretends to be, is all innocence.
“The police won’t listen to me,” Dani says in tears. “I told them she wasn’t in any of her normal places and that a lunatic has her. They won’t put her in for a missing person case, because they say she’s not missing.”
I know why the police won’t do anything about it. They won’t interfere with anything that has to do with the Order.
“It’s like no one cares,” Dani says, shaken. “Just like no one cared about my father.”
Is this what it will be like when I go missing? Is this how it was for the other victims who sacrificed their lives?
No one notices or cares when they are gone.
She looks at me and sighs, placing my cup of tea on my nightstand and the flowers on my bed. “These came for you.”
I frown as she lays a bouquet of roses on my bed. At least I think they are roses. They are wilted, with the inside of the petals an inky black.
“They’re dead,” I point out.
Dani shrugs. “Yeah, they sure are.”
My heart skips a beat. “Fuck, Mikael,” I whisper. What kind of message is that?
I grab the card and read it.
I miss you, pretty girl. Please meet me tonight.
My insides tremble because I have no idea which one of them is speaking to me.
The pretty girl is all Mikael, but the pleasantries are all Lincoln. I don’t know who’s behind these words anymore.
I’m tempted—more than tempted—to meet him, at the very least, to right my wrongs with Misty. Then I remember those fragmented texts from the voice I didn’t recognize. Whoever he is, he’s drawing me out, and it’s working…
Dani squishes her brows together. “Summer, who is Mikael?”
My eyes shoot up to her. “Huh?”
“Mikael. You just said the name Mikael.”
Shit. Did I? Tears well up in my eyes.
I did say Mikael, not Lincoln. Mikael .
“So, is it this Mikael who has you looking like your dog died? Was Mikael the one sending you those creepy messages earlier this semester?”
I take a sip of my tea, the water scorching my tongue, which jolts me awake. “I didn’t mean to say that name.”
She blinks and stares at me. “But you did say that name.”
I frown at her and stop playing with one of the dead rose leaves that crumbles in my fingers when I touch it.
“Summer… Does he…does this Mikael have something to do with all of this?”
I shake my head a little too quickly. I need to be real careful with what I say next to not implicate him. Why I’m keeping his secrets is beyond me—and a testament to the darkness he sees in me.
“No. It’s just…complicated. He’s very complicated.” I must sound crazy to her right now. I sound crazy to myself.
She squeezes my hand, and it trembles. “You’d tell me if something was going on, right? I know your family has roots here; are you one of them?”
I try to take deep breaths and shake my head. “I’m not one of them, Dani, I promise.” I stare at my phone, shutting it, trying to avoid the conversation.
She shakes her head. “Here’s the thing…I don’t think I believe a fucking word you say anymore. If Misty dies and you know something, that makes you guilty. That makes you one of them .”
I know where Misty is.
I part my lips, but my words are heavy in my throat. It’s the right thing to do, the moral thing to do. Why the fuck can’t I do it?
My head hangs heavy, and she rises and heads to the door. “Alright, I was just checking on you. I’m heading out tonight. I know we’re not supposed to, but a few people are going to put some flyers up around town to find Misty. I figure we will be safe enough if we stay together. Want to come?”
She obviously senses my foul mood, and luckily, is not peppering me with questions, even though she knows me well enough to know I’m lying.
I shake my head. “No. I’m good. I’m going to stay in.” Although I know I’m not staying in. I need to end this.
Dani quietly shuts the door, leaving me alone again and reeling with my thoughts and my lack of a conscience. I’m coming to terms with who I am. Because I don’t care that Grant died, or that Mikael likely ripped him to shreds. I don’t overly care about Misty, either.
Secretly, I want Mikael more than I want Misty to live. And I know there is something deeply disturbing about that, but at least I can recognize it. I know it’s wrong. The deep remorse blooms within me, and it’s tearing me up inside…just not enough to actually do something about it.
I open my blinds, knowing I’m on full display for whoever may or may not be watching out there. The late autumn moon shines brightly, casting a luminous glow down the tree-lined street beneath the dusky pink sky and frost.
My phone pings, and I see it’s a message from my mom, asking me if I’m okay about what happened to Grant. I guess this has turned into national news. I’m sure the university administration hates that—they’ve spent a lot of time denying the fucked-up generational shit in this town.
People dying every twenty years or so and others are noticing the pattern.
I send her a note to let her know I’m fine, letting her know I’m thinking of going out West sooner than I thought.
I think back on my mother’s marriage. She met my father after the killings. Did she know what he was? Was she brainwashed herself? Did she protect him the way I’m protecting Mikael?
I stare out at the dark tree-lined road, thinking about the small town beyond. For hundreds of years, this town has harbored an evil secret.
I pick up my phone and call him. It rings three times before he answers. His darkness radiates on the other line like it flows through the phone and drifts inside me. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to.
“Misty…really? Of all the girls, you had to take her?” I say dryly, but so much emotion is built into my voice.
He pauses for a moment, then says, “I needed to get your attention, since you seem to want to hide from me. She’s obviously not the one I want, baby. But I am happy to know you still care.”
The tightness gripping my head begins to ease as soon as I hear him. His voice is medicinal.
“Did you have to kill Grant?” I choke out.
His voice comes out sharp. “He put his hands on you too many times, Summer. He had to fucking go. I’d do it again, too. I’ll kill anyone who puts their hands on you. I told you I would protect you, and I meant it. I also warned you what would happen if you let him touch you. Did you think I’m one to make idle threats?”
I suck in a breath, then a coil of rage springs inside me. Lincoln is the one who protects me.
“Don’t you dare pretend to be Lincoln,” I spit. “Don’t do that, Mikael.”
He’s quiet for a moment and doesn’t respond. I know he’s seething, unraveling and transforming on the other side of this line.
Finally, he says, “Did you get my flowers?”
I let out an exasperated breath as my eyes find the dying roses. Such beauty in those stems…such beauty in death. “I got them,” I breathe out, if you can call it breathing. My lungs start to collapse.
I play with the hem of my dress as heat builds up between my legs, and my nipples tighten as my body responds the way it always does, thinking about him killing me.
If I go see him, I may not come back breathing. Mikael’s losing control, and Lincoln might be gone. And I don’t know who exactly I’ll be meeting. The thought shoots insane pressure right to my clit. My hand moves between my legs, and I relieve the pressure. Although, I’m beginning to worry nothing will ever relieve this pressure.
“Where do you want me to meet you?” I ask him, breathless.
“The warehouse, baby.”
I keep rubbing harder. “If I come see you, will you let Misty go? That’s my only condition.”
A pause. “You’re not in a position to give me conditions, pretty girl. See you soon, baby.”
He kills the line and my orgasm explodes.