Page 82 of The Vigilant

She took my shoulder in her hand. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Shoulder other people’s choices as if they were your own.”

I gritted my teeth. “Mara wasn’t like me—isn’t like me.” A wasp. A scorpion. “I was always more of a monster.”

Her voice lowered. “No history labels David as the monster for killing Goliath.”

I sucked in a breath.She knew.I wasn’t used to people knowing—not people outside of juvie. And I definitely wasn’t used to telling people. To tell someone was like handing them a loaded gun. Vulnerability wasn’t someone knowing my weakness; vulnerability was someone knowing what I was capable of.

And that was exactly the fear that paralyzed me earlier at Tynan’s bedside. The fear that to alleviate his guilt, I’d have to be more vulnerable than I’d ever been before.

“No history puts David in jail for it either,” I murmured.

Her head cocked, and she gave me a half smile. “Sometimes, there’s a price for personal justice.” As she spoke, her hand left my shoulder and went to the chain around her neck. “And there are few people brave enough to pay it.”

“What was the price for yours?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

She dropped the chain, and for a second, I wondered if the necklace was more like a noose hanging around her neck.

“I’m still paying,” was all she would say for herself before changing the subject. “Was there something else you wanted to ask?”

“Are you going into town?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“Can you pick me up a few things from the grocery store?”

“Yeah, sure. Do you want to come with me?” she countered.

And leave the garage?

I should go. Get out. Leave this tension-filled bubble even if it was for just an hour. I should leave?—

“No,” I heard myself answer. “I’m going to clean Tynan’s bike. I really did a number on it driving here the other day, and I think there’s some blood on the seat…”

All true things. None were the reason I was staying.

“Okay.” It was only her eyes that smiled at me. “Text me.”

“Yeah.”

“Also, you’re welcome to anything in my cabin—including the bed.”

I made a conscious effort to not read into the offer. Yes, I’d been staying in Tynan’s cabin and attempting to sleep in his bed, but only so I could keep an eye on him and make sure he wasokay. If he spiked a fever or was in pain or needed something, I needed to be there. But the window for those scenarios was closing rapidly, and after this morning, I was afraid the only thing he needed from me now was the truth.

“Thank you.” My throat tightened.

“Oh, and Sutton?” She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Don’t make Tynan pay too much. He’s the best of us.”

I stiffened, refusing to justify her assumption with my response.

He was the best…and it was the most frustrating thing about him.

Chapter Seventeen

Sutton

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