Page 13 of Twisted Fate

Her gaze softens. “I know. Let’s get out of here. We’ll figure it out, I promise, but we need to leave.”

My eyes burn as the tightness in my chest threatens to suffocate me. “I’m not going anywhere,” I force out in a hoarse voice.

Allison throws the dress into her suitcase. The only sound in the room is the loud zip of her luggage. She looks at me for a long moment, but I can’t read her expression. “I’m so sorry. I have to leave,” Allison whispers. She takes off, leaving the door wide open.

Her quick footsteps retreat down the hall, but I don’t follow. Tears spill free and wet my cheeks. I want to go after her. Shake her and demand answers. I have a million questions, but my feet are glued to the floor.

I stand there as the minutes tick by and stare at the almost empty side of our room. Allison’s bed is unmade like usual, but all of her dresser drawers are askew, the clothes she left behind falling out of some of them.

The fae are real.

I might not have believed the crazy guy who kidnapped me, but Allison—my best friend—I believe. I’ve lived with her for years. How did I not know something wasn’t human about her? There must’ve been clues. I sink down onto my hard mattress and push my palms against my eyes.

I stand and pace my room until I’m dizzy, trying to come up with some brilliant plan to figure this whole thing out, to keep Tristan from finding Allison, to keep the fae off my back. None of my plans are feasible. Leaving would only take the issue elsewhere, not get rid of it. Facing it head-on looks like my only option right now.

Huffing out a heavy sigh, I fall onto my bed and curse. I bash my fists against the mattress, but none of it takes away the ache left behind by Allison’s absence or what she hid from me. I thrust my fingers through my hair and groan.

I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get in contact with her, checking with her friends to see whether they’ve heard from her—none of them have—and scouting out every place on campus she might go to. I’ve run out of all options except one. Maybe there’s a chance Oliver knows something. I head to his room and bang on the door until he opens it. I was hoping to keep him out of this, but that isn’t going to be possible. I don’t know what else to do at this point.

He pokes his head out the door and frowns. “Aurora, what’s up?”

“Have you heard from Allison today?”

He shakes his head and opens the door to let me in. “She did mention going to visit her parents, so maybe she went home.”

“I’m worried, Oliver.” I don’t tell him she packed her bags and took off. I don’t mention that there’s a dangerous, potentially psychotic fae looking for her. IfIdidn’t know about Allison, I can’t see that Oliver would.

He laughs. “It’s Allison. I’m sure she’s fine.”

I blow out a breath, but it does nothing to alleviate the weight on my chest. “I have a bad feeling. Please help me find her.”

“Okay.” He sighs. “Hold on. We both have the Track Your Friend app.”

“Like a GPS sort of thing?”

“Yeah,” he answers.

“Okay, can you try to find her?” I chew my bottom lip as he taps away on this phone.

His eyes brighten when it chimes. “I got her,” he says. “She’s still in the city but nowhere near campus.” He frowns. “It looks like she’s across town somewhere.”

“Why would she go there?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Her cousin runs a bar around there. Maybe she went to see him?”

“Do you know which bar?” I ask, and he nods. “Can you take me? I want to make sure she’s okay.” I have no idea why Allison isn’t tearing it out of town while she’s got the chance. Could this cousin of hers know something about her situation? Maybe he knows how to keep her safe. I want to believe that.

We walk down to the student parking lot and get in his car. As we’re pulling out of the lot, Oliver asks me to call her. Shame licks at my insides.

I bite my lip. “I think I lost my phone at the party.”

His eyes flit to me for a second before returning to the road. “That doesn’t seem like you.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” I snap and regret it when he frowns. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so snippy. Give me your phone, and I’ll try her again.”

She’s still not answering. Not that I blame her. She’s scared out of her mind right now and on the run. I might not understand what’s going on, but I do know that I’ll fight to protect my best friend.

“Anything?” Oliver asks.

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