Page 14 of Burn it Down

I see the look of alarm on their faces.

“Lucas? My Lucas?” Our mother gasps, and Riven rolls his eyes because what other Lucas would he be talking about? He grabs the closest dressing room door, yanks it open, and shoves Belinda inside, slamming it behind her and pulling it so hard that it jams. He turns toward our mother. She doesn’t move, but I see the way her breath quickens, and her eyes dart between the exit and the man in front of her.

“It’s your fault I gutted your little golden boy like the spineless fish he is,” Riven says. “He begged for his life and I hope you think about that with the little time you have left.”

“You’re unstable,” she hisses. “She needs someone normal. Someone safe.”

Riven lifts his shirt just enough to show the gun tucked into his waistband. “She’s the safest she’ll ever be with me. I’ve killed for her and I would die for her.”

She blanches. But her spine stiffens in defiance. “After everything we did for you?—”

“All of your children are expendable,” I say, stepping out from behind Riven, trying to keep my voice steady. “We all had uses. We just didn’t find out until it was too late.”

Her mouth opens.

But then her eyes drop to my hand where I still have the ring on. I’m dying to get rid of it, but my finger is cut from my father holding me down while my brother jammed it back on my finger this morning. Riven’s already on edge and I honestly just want to get the hell out of this town without any more hold ups.

“Give me the ring, Lakynn. If he’s going to take you, at least give me the ring.” I give her a puzzled look,because she can’t be serious. I don’t get a chance to respond because Riven is shoving her toward another dressing room next to where Belinda has been trapped.

Riven smirks. “Inside.”

Our mother looks like she might cry and I don’t have any sympathy for her. I believe Riven when he says he killed Lucas and Matthew is next. Actually, I think there were probably more casualties along the way that he left out. I feel nothing but relief.

He grabs the doorknob, ready to shove her inside and I realize that we’re going to be alone. It’s what I was hoping for. I begged him every night to come back for me, burying my face inmy pillow and crying out for him. But now that he’s back, I’m not sure I’m ready for whatever he has in store for me.

I bolt while he has his hands full and run out the front door. Down the street. Through the snow-lined sidewalks of Castlebrook Falls.

I don’t know where I’m going.

I just know I need to run.

Not because I’m afraid of him. I’m terrified of what happens if I don’t.

Losing Riven once almost destroyed me, and if I don’t leave first, I’m afraid I won’t survive it again.

The wind hits my cheeks as I tear down Main Street, past shuttered shops. There’s that smell in the air, the kind that tells you snow is coming. It lingers, heavy and electric, like the whole town is holding its breath waiting for it. I used to love the snow because that meant going further up the mountain to the cabin our father and his brother built on a pond. I used to love watching Riven play hockey on the frozen pond. It’s one of the only memories I have of him where he seemed free, like he was enjoying himself.

I wish I could say I’m numb right now. Or even that I’m angry. But I’m not. I’m buzzing. Skin alive. My nipple is tingling where his fingers lingered.

I can’t stop replaying how he looked at me. Like he’d been crawling through the dark and finally found the light. Like I am his salvation, his sin, and everything in between.

When he touched me,reallytouched me, it was like I was his. Like I’d always been his.

It was everything I’ve ever wanted.

And I hate myself for almost giving in too quickly. I practically fell into his arms just because he came home in time to save me from the very people he left me with.

I hate that I still feel connected to him in this soul-tethered way. That no matter how many months passed, how many nights I cried alone, that pull between us never died. It just went quiet.

Until now.

And that’s why every nerve ending in my body is screaming at me to run back to him. I want to throw myself into his arms and beg him to take me anywhere he wants to go. I’ll be happy as long as I’m by his side.

But I keep running.

RIVEN

The boutique goes up in raging flames faster than I expected.

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