Chapter 11
SOREN
“It’s time to go,” Hadrian says from the doorway. “I’ve got the address.”
Arabella and her friends seem to have gone from haunting my every waking moment to entirely gone.
We haven’t been able to find her or any of the girls she usually hangs around with.
She either turned off the number or blocked me this time.
We’re not entirely sure the text message was her, but the fact she’s suddenly gone doesn’t lend to her innocence. Where did she suddenly run off to?
“For the car?” I ask, not really knowing what I’m even asking about, just that he hasn’t shut up about it in days.
This damn pink car apparently means so much to him.
I don’t get why he thinks this is going to help us find Sable, especially given he got the information from the devil herself, but frankly, I haven’t asked either.
“Jesus, you haven’t listened to a word I’ve said, have you?”
“Not really.” The pills in my pocket weigh a thousand pounds as I fight the urge to snort another. I’ve gotten enough shit from Hadrian as it is. I don’t need more judgmental stares or, God forbid, the lecture I know he’s working up to.
“I’m looking for the owner of the car.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll meet you downstairs,” I say, still not really getting why he gives a shit or why he thinks this will get us anywhere. If I weren’t so high, I’d be sick with worry over how doomed our prospects actually are, but right now, I can observe my doomed life rather than mourning it.
He doesn’t look like he’s fooled for a second. He shakes his head. “Right now, let’s go.”
I stand, not because I give a shit about Hadrian or frankly anything, other than Sable and the drugs, but because I’m curious.
He was smart not to give me any details because now he’s got me motivated.
The walk through Bellthorn to his car is a long one, and he repeatedly throws dirty looks over his shoulder.
Once we’re inside the vehicle and rolling down the highway, I’m all out of patience.
“Where are we going?” I ask. “Why does this car matter?”
He looks at me in surprise. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Well, I’m asking.”
“You remember that bitch Liliana?”
“Yeah, obviously.”
“I think I found her, or at least the woman who claimed to be her mom for years.” That’s interesting enough, but it doesn’t seem important.
“That’s not even her real name. How can she help us?” I shoot him a disbelieving glare, but he just smiles.
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” But there’s this arrogant tone from him that I remember.
We drive for a long time, maybe close to two hours, but it’s hard to tell when I didn’t make a note of what time we left.
Hadrian doesn’t say anything to me, and honestly, I’m relieved.
Not only is there nothing to say, but I’m done thinking, done doing anything beyond existing, and as soon as I can figure out how to get out of that, I’m done with it too.
Eventually, we pull up outside of a shabby little house in a much sunnier part of the country.
The siding is faded blue, and the garden is dead with winter, but someone takes a lot of pride in it.
We pull into a parking spot to the right of a bubblegum-pink Porsche.
In the moment that Hadrian’s eyes are pointed at it, I dry swallow two pills.
It won’t hit as hard this way, but at least I’ll have something to get me through dealing with this awful girl.
Plus, I’m certain this is just going to be another goose chase.
Hadrian gets out of the car first, and I wait so long to follow him that I think he’s going to come to my door and get me like a child.
He thinks I’m too fucked up to do anything, but he’s wrong.
I’m not fucked up enough, and I’m scared shitless.
These girls have already tried to kill Sable.
Why the fuck would she help us? Does she know what Arabella did to me?
We approach the front door. It’s so damn cold out here that I start to shake, and there’s absolutely no other reason for it.
“Let me take the lead,” Hadrian says.
“Sure.”
He knocks, and we wait for a few minutes. Several people move inside the house, and while they’re soft, their voices find their way to us. They turn quiet, and no one opens the door. Hadrian sighs in irritation as he knocks again.
Finally, “Liliana” herself opens the door.
She jumps back with a nervous yelp when she sees who’s in front of her.
She’s smart to be afraid. She looks us both up and down, and then side to side, as if checking to see just how many of us showed up.
Maybe the car really does belong to her mother.
I look behind her into the house and wonder how she would feel if she lost what she loves most in the world.
“Hi, Nina,” Hadrian says, dragging me from my homicidal thoughts and back to the present.
I shoot him a confused look. Is that her name?
Why didn’t he tell me? Her mouth falls open in a kind of shock that tells us he’s right.
Hadrian pushes his way through the door, using her surprise to easily shove her out of the way.
I follow past him, and she looks both ways, making sure no one saw before closing the door behind us.
“How the fuck did you find me?” she asks.
“Wasn’t that hard. You’re not as smart as you think,” Hadrian says, looking her up and down with open disdain. This girl conspired to kill Sable. Why would she help us? Maybe killing her would make me feel better.
She smiles, which makes me slightly nervous.
“Maybe so,” Nina agrees, but she looks him up and down like he’s something to eat. “What do you guys want?” she asks.
“You don’t know?” Hadrian asks.
“I’ve been busy.” She shrugs.
“We’re looking for Sable, and we have reason to think you know where she is,” Hadrian says.
She laughs, but her eyebrows push together like she really didn’t know. “Looking for her. Is she missing or something? I haven’t been keeping up on the Bellthorn crew lately.” She rolls her eyes, but she shoots a look at the back of the house like she’s worried about whoever she was speaking to.
The pills are kicking in, and everything is a little hazy.
I’m inclined to believe her, seeing as she was beaten and tossed out of school when her con was revealed.
Just let it go. Hadrian, on the other hand, doesn’t seem convinced.
He has this nervous energy like Sable is around the corner, but I’m not stupid enough to hope and break my own heart anymore.
“Your best friend is texting us nonstop about it, and you don’t know?”
“Who’s my best friend?” she asks with a flip of her hair as she leads us inside and over to a shabby set of couches.
“Arabella,” Hadrian says.
“I think that’s Soren’s best friend.” She laughs.
“Or at least I heard he likes her more than Sable, and she certainly likes him more than she does me.” Humiliation burns me from the inside out, and I’m so ashamed of myself I can’t even open my mouth to deny it.
The urge to get revenge on Sable’s behalf falls flat because I’ve done worse.
In this lighting, I can see that she’s still slightly bruised from what happened.
“You’re a real fucking asshole,” Hadrian says, looking at him like my silence is a betrayal. I don’t blame him. I would think the same of him if he were quiet in the same situation. “Fine, then. Please just help us. We’re out of places to look, and you know Sable well.”
She looks like she’s tasted something nasty.
“I barely know that girl, and I haven’t for a long time.
She used to be normal, cool, popular, but she’s weird, and I’m done playing nice with weirdos no matter what their last names are.
” She shoots me a look. “In fact, I think I’m about done playing this game with you two. You should leave.”
This went nowhere, and I’m not sure how I’ll manage withholding my “I told you so” on the drive back.
He’ll likely kick me out of the car and leave me to walk home if I do.
While I’m planning our inevitable failure, Hadrian steps forward and snatches her by the neck.
I’ve seen him do similar to Sable when he was planning to fuck her, but the energy here is entirely different.
Hadrian wants to kill her. Hell, maybe I do too.
“We have looked everywhere for her. Where haven’t we looked?” His hand tightens, and an expression I’ve never seen before comes over him. A shiver runs through me when I realize I’m reminded of his father.
She shakes her head, lips sputtering as her face turns blue.
“She needs to be able to breathe to talk,” I tell him.
He loosens his grip just slightly. “I don’t know,” she croaks out.
He shakes her. “Where else is there? Where would you look for Sable if you actually gave a shit?”
“Her house.”
“Jesus Christ.” I roll my eyes. As if we hadn’t already checked there. The place is dark and still wrapped up in police tape, and she’s not in any of the places Parker followed her to over the years. “How genius.”
“Where else?” Hadrian demands.
“I-I don’t know,” she gasps.
“What about when you guys were younger? Give me one halfway-decent idea, or you’re going to die. I’ll enjoy it,” he promises, and fuck me, I think I might feel something. I want to kill every single person who’s ever hurt Sable, and I want to do it painfully.
“The lakehouse,” she spits finally, genuine hope lighting her expression.
“Her father never owned any lakehouse,” he argues.
“It wasn’t her father’s. Her mom’s dad passed it down to her. It was in her mom’s name. They didn’t go there a lot because they didn’t want anyone to know about it.” Tears start to roll down her cheeks as Hadrian squeezes.
“Where is it?” he asks, impressing upon her just how much her life is in danger if she doesn’t comply.
“It’s really remote. I don’t know the address exactly.”
“That’s fine. You’re going to take us there.”
I’m standing there watching, transfixed by the scene in front of me. The butt of a gun connects with the back of my head. “You boys better get the fuck out of my house before I blow his pretty brains out.”