51. What did you do? – Elijah
51
WHAT DID YOU DO?
ELIJAH
S even shuts off the engine in the drive, getting out to greet Ellie, who chased us almost all the way from the front gate.
“Hey, pretty girl,” he says, going to a knee to let her attack his face with kisses.
I give her a little pat when she comes to greet me, but I’m still trapped in my own head. We stopped to rest for a few hours at a truck stop in the night, but I couldn’t sleep. It’s been a while since I’ve had to see Dad that way—talking nonsense and acting like a completely different person than the man who raised me.
I should have been there for him through the worst of it, but I was off on a fool’s errand, letting Ambrose steal time I can’t ever get back with him. He’s fucking right to blame me. I was there, right there, where Ambrose was keeping our family collection and not only did I not get it back, I came home broken and empty-handed.
He’s right about that, too. His son never came home. Not really.
Elijah Ashford died in that room. I’m just his ghost.
Sev leans against the front of the Jeep, taking a cigarette out to put it between his lips and light it. Atticus will have his head for it, but Sev doesn’t care. Every time Atticus finds his cigarette stash and trashes it, he just buys more and finds a new hiding place.
“What are you thinking?” he asks after he inhales. “You’ve hardly said two fucking words since we got in the Jeep.”
My gaze lands on the front door of the house. It’s still dark inside. Quiet.
“You really think Aurora is going to say yes?”
He nods. “I do.”
I drop my head.
“I don’t think you should fight her on it if she does.”
My teeth click as I clench them. “You would really want to send her right to him? You know what he’s capable of.”
“I wouldn’t fucking want to,” he snaps at me, ashing his cigarette. “But it isn’t about what I want.”
When I realize what he’s saying, I feel like an asshole. “Because it’s her choice.”
It’s not a question, but he answers it anyway. “It is. She’s not yours to command. She’s not mine, either. Ro belongs to herself.”
He’s right.
As much as I want to keep her as far away from Ambrose as possible, it’s not my call.
I’ve been back and forth with it in the car for hours. I made a promise to my dad that I would set things right, and Aurora might be the key to helping me finally keep that promise. It feels fucking wrong to use her like that. To use her in any way that would result in my own personal gain.
But is that what this is if she wants to do it?
Mom would throw her arms up and say it’s a moral dilemma, and then she would probably agree with Seven.
Let her decide.
I made Aurora aware of the risks. Now it’s her call.
“If she does say yes,” I have to grind the words out, “I won’t try to stop her.”
But I will do absolutely everything I can do to help her succeed and make sure nothing happens to her in the process.
Seven crushes the remains of his cigarette beneath his boot, and when I look up, he’s frowning at the house. “Let’s head in. Something’s off. It’s too quiet.”
My stomach turns. “They’re probably just still asleep.”
He gives me a dubious look. “When’s the last time Atticus slept past six in the morning?”
He has a point.
I waffle with going back to the Jeep to grab my gun, but Sev has his and he’s already halfway up the damn stairs. I rush to follow him, taking the short blade from my ankle as we step into the tepid silence of the house.
Ellie gives a little growl as she enters behind us, her nose going to the floor like she can smell whatever Seven sensed was wrong.
“I’ll check Aurora’s room,” I mutter, moving through the entryway, but a loud pounding stops me.
It’s coming from the other way. Seven and I share a look before rushing through the dining room.
Where the fuck…
“Down here!” Aurora’s voice is far away and muffled, coming from down the stairs that lead to Atticus’s room.
Seven flies down them with me and Ellie on his heels.
Atticus’s door is closed, and when Seven reaches for the handle, it doesn’t budge. “Aurora?” he calls through the door.
“Could you open the door?” she asks, and even muffled, there’s clear panic in her tone.
I jam the code into the reader and the instant it lights up green, Sev wrenches the door open.
“Ro?”
She shoves her way out, pale and frantic as she brushes by Sev and ignores my outstretched hand to rush past us both up the stairs with Ellie barking the whole way after her.
My chest goes cold.
“Aurora?” I shout after her, rushing to follow.
Where the fuck is Atticus? Did she get herself locked in down there?
“What happened?” Sev’s voice is deadly, and I feel the violence of it in my own chest. He grabs her hand to try to stop her, and she rips it free with an animalistic sound in her throat.
“Ask him !” Aurora all but screams, my angel looking more avenging than I’ve ever seen her, with true fury and pain in her watery eyes that makes me want to smash and kill .
Him ? My head whips toward the stairs as a searing sensation crawls up my spine.
What the fuck did he do ?
“He’s the one who thinks he fucking knows everything,” she spits before turning on her heel to stomp through the house.
Seven and I share a look, and I find the same rage I feel mirrored in his hard stare.
I take a step toward the stairs, but stop myself, clenching my fists. Not sure if I want to throttle Atticus or run after Aurora.
“Go,” Seven says, making my mind up for me. “Go talk to her. I’ll handle him.”
He fucking better.