Chapter 6
SIX
JESSICA
The young girl behind the cash register pops her pink gum, hoop earrings glinting in the fluorescent light overhead.
Please, no. Not now.
Humiliation slowly crawls up my neck as I lay out the crumpled bills on the counter, a stray coin rolling on its side when I tip my wallet upside down. I’m a few bucks short, and a quick search of my pockets comes up empty.
In hindsight, I should have totaled up my shopping beforehand to avoid the embarrassment. Granted, it wouldn’t have made a difference because I can’t afford to buy everything we need anyway. The cashier waits, chewing her strawberry-scented gum like she has all day.
“Sorry,” I mumble, quickly calculating what to put back and what to keep.
Maybe the milk or eggs could go? No, we need both. And definitely the condiments.
Fuck.
Before I can make a decision, a voice speaks up behind me. “I’ll pay for her shopping.”
I spin around, and my eyes widen when I see a tall blonde. What’s a woman from the Heights doing here, and why is she paying for my shopping?
The young cashier pops her gum as she runs the sale through, glancing between us with mild curiosity.
“Jessica, right?” the girl says, handing the cashier her black card.
“Who are you?” I ask suspiciously. It’s a fair question, if you ask me.
How does she know my name? Actually, come to think of it, I take it back.
There’s only one way she knows my name, and that’s because of he-who-shall-not-be-named.
Her eyes scan my body, then her gaze lifts, and she tilts her head.
“I’m Ava, Kane’s friend.”
Friend? Yeah, right. Even though I’ve told myself it’s over between us, an ache settles behind my ribs at the thought of them together. The truth cuts deep. It’s too soon, and I’m still too raw.
Jealousy is an ugly thing that drags out the worst in us.
The fact is, I hate her a little for being so damn pretty.
Let’s be honest, it would hurt less if she didn’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model.
Reaching past me, she picks up my shopping bag and holds it out to me. I’m not sure how long I stare at her, trying to figure out her angle, before the next person in line tells us to get out of the way. All I’m sure of is that the backs of my eyes prickle, and I don’t want to cry in front of her.
I snatch the bag and rush past, exiting the store.
“Jessica,” she calls out behind me, but I don’t look back, hurrying to Chris’s car.
A part of me thought I was stronger than this. And although I told myself countless times I don’t want him back, my heart isn’t quite as willing to accept that.
The silver car is parked across the street again, and I briefly glance at it before placing the shopping bag on the passenger seat.
At first glance, it looks innocent, parked between an old Volvo with a bike rack on the roof and a white Kia. If anything, it wouldn’t draw attention if I hadn’t seen it around everywhere I go.
Here, college, the Hospice.
I go to close the passenger door, but a hand shoots out to stop me, and I lock eyes with Kane’s new fling.
If that’s what she is.
One glance at her perfectly symmetrical face and full lips, and I decide that, yes, she’s my replacement.
“What do you want?” I snap, steeling myself. “Here to gloat?”
“Would it hurt your feelings if I did?” Her expression reveals little, but her amusement is obvious.
My mind keeps circling back to the same thought. He’s fucked her. He’s fucked her.
He’s fucked her.
I forget to breathe and blink properly, but I can’t summon the anger I need to fight off the hurt. I’m just... tired.
“Why are you here?” I ask, noticing the golden bracelet on her wrist.
Her perfectly manicured coffin nails.
“Does a certain dagger ring a bell?”
My stomach drops. “Sorry?”
Ava doesn’t seem surprised at all about the tremor in my voice or the fact that I can feel the blood draining from my face.
She leans in. “You heard me.” Her voice is low and almost soothing, but with an edge of something more nefarious woven through every syllable.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No?” Her head tilts, and she examines me in the twilight sun.
“No.” The words slip past my lips like a hushed confession despite my denial.
“I see why Kane likes you,” she observes, and I step aside when she shifts closer and shuts the door with a knowing smile that’s barely there. “At first glance, you have this innocence about you, but it’s deceptive, isn’t it?”
I don’t know what to say. She observes me with a mild curiosity, which I can’t quite understand. When she unzips her purse and pulls out a phone with a glittery case, I almost forget to breathe.
“A little birdie sent me this.” With a few quick clicks, she presses play on a file and turns the screen toward me. The moment I lower my eyes from her face to watch the clip of myself sneaking through Kane’s mansion, my heart races in my chest.
And just like the first time Kane cornered me in the bathroom to confront me with the mask, my initial instinct now is to lie. Hell, my face isn’t actually visible in the video, so it could be anyone. But if she’s here, waving the evidence in my face, she already knows. And if she knows...
“Don’t look so worried,” she says, reading the emotions on my face. “Your boyfriend doesn’t know… yet.”
Her emphasis on the last word lingers long after she darkens the screen and looks over her shoulder at the silver car, as if she knew it was there all along.
When she turns back to me, her tense expression shifts to something that makes me pause.
She looks… worried. Maybe even upset.
But that flicker of emotion doesn’t last long before she adjusts the strap on her shoulder and stands taller. “You need to return the dagger before his father finds out, and I’m gonna help you.”
What? My mouth drops open. “Why would you help me?”
If she was trying to trick me into confessing, well, she succeeded. I can’t even worry about that now because I’m so shocked. What’s she up to?
She ignores my question and says, “I’ve talked Kane into hosting a party this weekend at his house.”
“A party?” I’m not really asking. The question slips out automatically. My mind is still fixed on her previous statement. She has the surveillance footage on her phone. Who sent it to her?
“Yes, a party. And you’re going to do what you did the first time.”
“Which is?”
“Use the party as a distraction to get into his father’s office and then return the dagger.”
“Why? What’s in it for you?”
She leans against the car next to me, her eyes flicking briefly toward the parked vehicle. “Let’s just say I’m tired of living in a gilded cage, and I want to do what’s right for once.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, ignoring the way she turns her head to look at me.
“You don’t believe me.”
“Why should I? It’s obvious you’re sleeping with Kane, and you want me gone. Don’t worry, I’m not a threat. He’s all yours.”
Her lips twitch. “You think I’m sleeping with your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
A gentle breeze brushes through the parking lot, cool against my skin. I need to get home before the ice cream melts.
“Bring the dagger on Friday,” she says, lowering the sunglasses on her head.
“What about his dad?”
“He’s out of town.”
I narrow my eyes. “Why do you care about the dagger?”
“I already told you—”
“No, you gave me some bullshit excuse. I’ve been alive long enough to know that people from the Heights don’t do things just out of kindness. What game are you really playing?”
Her oversized shades hide her eyes as she smiles at me. “Who says I’m doing you a favor?”
“What?” Of course she’s not. That’s not what I said. Whatever she’s up to only benefits her.
She laughs softly at the confusion on my face. “Don’t overthink it, Jessica. Just be there. Friday night. And wear a mask.”
“This little plan of yours? It reeks of deceit.” I cross my arms. “Why don’t I give you the dagger instead?
Problem solved. Once you’re done fucking him, just crawl out of his bed and put the precious little heirloom back in its rightful place.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. You’ll be back in his bed and on his dick before he even knows you’re gone. ”
She pushes me against the car. “Careful. I can practically smell your jealousy.”
A wave of insults rises, but I bite it down. There’s little point in arguing with her. I don’t want to stoop that low. Kane isn’t mine. Never was. And like it or not, he can do whatever he wants. Apparently, he wants to be with her.
“You have a small window to return the dagger before his father finds out. And trust me when I tell you that you don’t want him to learn the truth. It won’t end well for you.”
“What’s in it for you?”
She sighs, long and hard, as if she wouldn’t ask the same thing if the roles were reversed.
“You don’t have to trust me. I don’t care either way.
Return the dagger. Don’t return the dagger.
It’s your choice. But if the Society finds out it went missing and you were responsible, Kane won’t even be able to keep you safe. ”
I snort. “As if he cares for my safety.”
For some reason, that angers her, and she steps away with a shake of her head. “You have no idea, do you?”
Pushing off the door, I straighten my top and open the car door. Suddenly, I’m filled with regret, and I don’t know why. It makes no sense.
Which is why I slip into the driver’s seat before she can notice the slight tremor in my fingers.
But she’s not done yet, grabbing the door again as I start to close it.
She leans down. “Honey, if you run crying at the first sign of trouble, you’re not strong enough for our world. If you want to love someone like Kane, you have to be prepared to bleed.”
I try to close the door again, but she keeps it steady.
“Open your eyes, Jessica.”