Page 64 of Crucible

The three of us came outside to “talk” after Aurelia tired herself out from screaming and throwing shit at us. Namely me. Once she passed out on the couch, Khalil carried her to his bed, and we hadn’t heard a peep from her since.

Huh…

I guess I hadn’t brought her hope after all. I think I just made it worse.

Well, she hurt my feelings, too, when she called me emotionally stunted. Actually, I guess that’s a fair assessment.

Thorin grabs my coat in both fists and gets in my face. “You’re done. Wake Ezekiel up. Now.”

“Fuck you.” I shove him away. “We both know neither of you wants him awake right now. Can you imagine how far it will set him back once he finds out what you’re doing to that girl?” I laugh again. “Shit’s going to hit the fan, and you know it, so yeah, I think I’ll stay a while longer.”

“Cut the shit, Seth. Why did you do it?”

I shrug a little petulantly as I stare out into the wilds, drowning in darkness. The darkness never seems to end. Even way out here.

“I get the feeling that Aurelia is all alone in this world.”

She’s like me.

She doesn’t have anyone who cares enough to risk their own neck to save her. Not like Zeke did. She needs to accept that now so she can move on.”

Khalil latches on to what I let slip and inches closer. “You’re not alone, Seth.”

“Fuck you!” I explode while stepping back to keep the distance between us. I can’t let them confuse me like Isaac did—like they’re trying to do to Sunshine. “You’re Zeke’s friends, notmine. You don’t give a shit about me. You keep trying to make himbetter.”

“Because you keep trying to kill him!”

“So? What’s the big deal? He wants to die,” I tell them. Thorin and Khalil both look so pathetically heartbroken over it. Disgusting feeling creatures.

“You’re supposed to protect him, Seth.”

“Iam.” When they just shake their heads, I feel myself getting defensive. “None of you know him like I do. You’re not in his head. You see it, but you don’tfeelit. Ithurts. More than any of the shit they did to us.”

“Then stop fighting us, and let us help you, Seth. Both of you.”

I scoff and look away. “Whatever.”

It’s quiet for a while, and then Thorin asks, “What makes you think Aurelia is alone? She has her uncle.”

We’d grilled Sheriff Kelly for as much information on Aurelia as we could without seeming suspicious.

Orphan.

Raised by her father’s brother.

Won over the world with her voice at the tender age of fourteen.

And from the looks of it, she’s been under her uncle’s control ever since.

“Take it from someone whose own brother tried to kill him. Marston George doesn’t give a fuck about his niece.”

“You don’t know that.”

“She was a danger to everything he’d built. I wouldn’t be surprised if he fucked with the plane, and it wasn’t the storm at all.”

Thorin blows out a breath. “That’s a little far-fetched.”

“Yeah? Well, what would you do for complete control of a billion-dollar fortune?”

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