Page 49 of Liar
She points at a sprout of white roses remarkably in bloom despite the cold weather. And now I understand why. She planted them there. Over her baby. Aria.
“Oh, Savannah…” I whisper.
“He told me the midwife to flush her down the toilet. So there would be no record of her … but she couldn’t do it.” Savannah cups a white petal, stroking it as she would the top of a baby’s head. “He let me go for walks at midnight sometimes, along the beach where nobody would see me. I kept her in a safe place. Once I was well enough to return, I brought her here. Buried her here.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Savannah shakes her head, remaining focused on the flowers. “Damion was there for me. I was in a bad, bad way after we lost her. It took me months to recover, and even then, I had to be well enough that I could return to my family without admitting the full truth. Damion told my dad that I was sequestered for Societal reasons, and that as king, Dad wasn’t to question it. He was told to go along with the ransom story once I reappeared.” Savannah pauses. “Not once has Dad asked me what I did, where I really was. That’s how much the Societies mean to him, Ember. To everyone. No one would dare lose their place among the elite, not even my father, who lost his child for over a year and now has to lie about it for the rest of his life.” She takes a deep breath, then loosens her chest with a heavy exhale. “Damion helped me create a plausible story that no one could be suspicious of. Except for you. Somehow, I couldn’t entirely convince you, could I? You’ve seen too much yet stay separated from it all at the same time. How do you do it? And why?”
Frowning, I massage the back of my neck. “I felt—I feel just as adrift as you. Having no real parents, being dragged from the familiar and plopped into a very sadistic, foreign environment. All I have left is information, and I’m gathering as much of it as possible, so I can—”
“Stay in control of your fate,” Savannah finishes. She pushes to her feet, walking closer, her stare less intense and burning. I hope her unloading cleared her vision some. “See? We’re almost the same, you and I, in so many ways.”
I’m unable to argue. I nod, my cheeks hot despite the cold, my vision blurred. Savannah’s pulling on emotions I thought were long dead. “Why did you tell me all of this?”
“Because I needed to.” Savannah tucks her hair behind her ears. “And because if you come forward with any of what I said, it won’t be me facing the worst of the punishment. You’re the one who dealt the final blow to Zeke. Your fingerprints are all over the deadly weapon. I have the paddle. Took it before we left the catacombs. You’re screwed, Ember, if you breathe a word of what I said to anyone. Even Thorne.”
“That’s—” I clear my throat of my panicked heart scrabbling up my esophagus. “This is a hell of a monologue.”
“I’m well aware of your relationship with him. As you’ve probably figured, I could give two shits about it. I’m still with Damion. We’re keeping it a secret, for now, until I graduate. It feels good to tell someone the truth and get it off my chest. To have someone else know Aria existed and that she’s here. And it feels extra special because your lips are sewn shut. My secret baby isn’t worth your jail time, now is it?”
“No.” What else can I say? My mind’s working overtime, parsing through exactly what the hell’s going on right now.
“Good.” Savannah folds me into a tight hug that I endure, stiff-backed and confused. “I’ll text Alejandro. We’re going to be late for school.”
Chapter 16
Thorne
Where is she?
Ember isn’t in any of her morning classes. As a Beckett, she should be beside me in almost every class, yet her seat is empty for all of them.
Slipping out of her bed and leaving Ember before dawn was a feat unto itself. Laying beside her was a comfort I had trouble admitting. Surrounded by her scent—caramelized peaches—and inches from her warmth, I figured this was the closest I ever came to being happy. Happy. An exotic, rare word in my vocabulary that I’m starting to associate with Ember.
Not good.
Hence, my burglar-level exit from her bedroom, then her home. She didn’t stir as I collected my things, so heavily sedated by our sex. As I buttoned my shirt at the foot of the bed, I took the time to imbue her moonlit profile into my memory, the howling manor doing little to distract from the serenity of the moment. It was that second of realization that I lurched backward and half-walked and half-heaved myself out of the room.
Sleeping with her was meant to remove this ridiculous ache from my body. The need for Ember. The want. The obsession.
Little did I figure that her sweetness would cling to me. I licked my bottom lip as I snuck out the door, hoping to collect one last hit of her pussy.
My dick was soaked in her. She’s drying along my shaft, sinking in, laying her right to it as permanently as a tattoo.
Son of a bitch. My obsession has turned into an addiction.
The only reason I was able to leave the softness of that bed instead of flipping her over and giving Ember her first morning fuck was the thought of seeing her again at school, flushed and nervous as she approached me cautiously—maybe even with a little limp because of the relentless pounding I gave her.
My cock twitches at the memory, straining against my slacks as I stalk the hallways for her. When the bell rings for lunch, everyone streams out of the classrooms and scurries to the various places they belong, their lunch seats designated through the hierarchy of coolness. Jax will guard our table, Aurora and her supplicants soon filling it. With Savannah back and acting as Virtue princess, Ember should be there, too.
I do an about-face toward the cafeteria, thinking about all the ways I’m going to punish Ember for putting me through this … whatever this is. Concern? Longing?
Fuck. I need to see her so I can squash it.
She better not be skipping school because of me. If she is, I’ll break into her home again and demand she never hide from me. That’s not how it works when prey comes to my attention. Especially this one.
Movement catches my eye as I storm past Winthorpe’s main entrance. Two girls are slinking inside, their cheeks flushed from a prolonged outing in the cold.