Page 72 of Crush

“How did you find that?” Aiko yanks it from my grip, staring at it like she’s gotten a piece of Savannah back. She goes quiet, clenching the necklace until she manages to tear her gaze from the gold. “You stole this. You took this from Savannah’s room and kept it. What’s wrong with you?”

“She’s not this perfect sister you think she is, Aiko. She had flaws, just like every other human being.”

Aiko balks. “Savvy’s not part of some fantasy family I’ve concocted. She’s real, and she’s missing, but she’s alive. And when she comes home only to discover that you’ve told everyone she’s a drug mule, she’s going to hate you. And so will I.”

Aiko’s stare clashes with mine, bright and furious.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to,” I say softly, my hands out like I’m approaching a wild stallion. “I never said it was true. I was throwing out possibilities, and I should’ve been more sensitive to how they were received. I’m sorry. I truly am.”

“And Thorne? Are you sorry for fucking Savvy’s boyfriend, too?”

I rear back as if slapped. “They broke up, Aiko. And I’m not sleeping with him.”

Aiko looks me up and down like I’m spoiled meat. “You’re letting him do something to you. You know what this means, right? I can’t trust you anymore. From here on out, everything you do to find Savvy is tainted by Thorne and what he wants. You’ve chosen him over me.”

“I haven’t!” The denial rips out of my throat, echoing through the atrium. “If it weren’t for the deal I struck with him, the sacrifice I made, you wouldn’t have your precious orchestra seat!”

Aiko goes silent. Her mouth falls open.

“Aiko, I…” Blowing out a breath, I raise my hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. You worked hard for that seat. Your talent got it for you, not what I did—”

“Don’t stop now, Ember, oh honorable Virtue. What did you think would happen to our friendship the closer you got to them? That I’d continue to be super cool with your initiation into a murderous Society and you cozying up to their prince, who also happens to be the reason Savvy was so heartbroken and miserable the day she disappeared? I don’t care if Thorne had nothing to do with her actual kidnapping. He’s the reason she was distracted that day. She let her guard down because of him, and you’re doing the same thing.” Aiko yanks her bag from the foot of her chair, throwing it against her shoulder. “If you’re the next to go missing, don’t come crying to me.”

“Aiko, don’t go.” I follow her as she storms toward the exit. “Where’s this coming from? This is only a theory. I can forget about the spreadsheet and start somewhere else.”

“Don’t do me any favors.” Aiko whirls on me. “If this is the road you want to take, go ahead. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. The Briars are bad news, yes, but Savvy isn’t. She’s a victim in all this, and I won’t let you tarnish her name just to get in closer with Thorne.”

“Are you serious?” I gape at her. “I’m not using Savannah to get into Thorne’s pants.”

“You’ve taken enough from her, don’t you think?” Aiko pushes out her lips, then spins on her heel and goes out the wide doors.

It’s like she forged a dagger with her words and plunged it straight through my ribs. “Aiko, please! Can’t we talk about this?”

She doesn’t stop.

I press my lips together and push my fingers through my hair, unwilling to keep calling after her. Aiko’s hurt, and she wanted to hurt me just as much. I get it.

But she’s the only friend I have in this godforsaken place. I didn’t even get the chance to tell her about Zeke’s hidden personality.

I turn and flop back in my seat, trying not to cry. My appetite’s gone, but I’m desperate to sear my throat with something hot. I want to burn the same place Thorne squeezed, marked, and commanded, scarring it with my own heat instead of his.

It’s like we all showed our true faces this weekend, and I can’t say I’m proudest of mine.

30

Ember

On Sunday evening, I sit at the dinner table, interlocking my hands under the expensive cherrywood.

Malcolm sits at the head with his graying, slicked-back hair and tanned features. Somehow, the additional sun on his skin makes him appear more severe rather than rested. He taps his index finger against his dinner fork lying flat among the rest of the precisely placed silverware. He noticed me come in at the beginning of supper, nodding his head curtly, but hasn’t said a word since, as if he’s deep in his brain, mulling his trip over.

Possibly thinking about that fucking spreadsheet that he, Damion, and Savannah share.

Shifting in my seat, I decide to use his stern expression as a segue into a more serious discussion. “I’ll only keep joining you for these dinners if you’re honest with me and answer my questions.”

Malcolm takes a long sip of his bourbon, staring straight ahead at nothing.

I am not nothing. He brought me here. He wanted me. “One question, then.”