Page 162 of Dare To Fall

My vision is swimming, weaving in and out, and I collide with more than one person on my way to the doors. The crisp spring air hits me as I step outside, and I suck in breath after breath, filling my lungs until they ache from the pressure. My eyes are burning. My hands are shaking. I don’t know whether I want to cry or drink, but something has got to give. Something needs to be done.

“Eli?” The voice snaps my spine taut. It’s not Ari, or my dad.

I turn around slowly and my gaze locks onto brown hair. A small part of me registers that he looks as tired as I feel, but I push that aside. I don’t give a fuck how he looks, how he feels.

“What are you doing here?” My voice comes out flat and clipped.

“We might not have been close, but I never wanted to see him dead.”

There’s something about his voice, his stance. My eyes narrow.

“You knew.” It isn’t a question.

“No, I—”

“Don’t lie.” I step forward and curl my fingers into the front of his shirt to haul him closer to me. “You fucking knew.” My voice is as empty as my soul.

He pales.

“Eli, I tried to—”

“You knew Evan was behind everything. You knew he was the one driving Ari to target me. You. Fucking. Knew.”

He grips my wrist and tries to pull free. I shake my head.

“Oh no, Black. You’re not getting off so easily this time.” I emphasize that warning by spinning and pinning him to the wall.

“I tried to talk to you!”

“You didn’t fucking try hard enough.” I’m not even angry. I feel nothing. So, when my fist buries itself into his chest, I do it with full clarity of my actions. “You knew it was Evan, and you stood there and let him ruin lives. I hope it was fucking worth it.” I hit him again … and again … and again.

He doesn’t fight back. Doesn’t try to stop me. Just stares at me out of eyes full of guilt and misery.

Blood explodes outward when I split his lip, but he still doesn’t try and defend himself. I release his shirt, and he slides down the wall until he’s sitting on the ground. It doesn’t stop me. I crouch and send another punch into his face.

And then I’m being hauled backward. I don’t resist, don’t fight to get free. I just hold Jace’s gaze with mine.

“You knew,” I say softly, shake off the people hanging onto me, and stalk away.

Arabella catches up to me just as I step through the gates of the cemetery. She doesn’t speak, slipping her hand around my arm, and keeping pace as I stalk along the sidewalk. I walk aimlessly, taking random turns, until eventually, she pulls me to a stop.

“There’s a small gathering being held at the Country Club. Do you want to go?”

I shake my head. “Kellan hated that place.”

“Do you want to go home? I can call an Uber.”

I nod and lean against the wall.

She pulls out her cell and taps around. “It’ll be here in a couple of minutes.”

A touch to the back of my hand has me looking down. She’s holding my left hand, fingers stroking over my knuckles.

“For someone who needs their hands to produce art, you don’t take very good care of them.”

I look at the bloodied mess I’ve made of them, and shrug.

“Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”

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