Page 145 of Their Little Ghost

“No!” Erin says. “Stop!”

“It’s my fault you’re dead,” I say. “If we hadn’t swapped places?—”

“You didn’t know what was going to happen,” she says. Even when suspended in a liminal state, she’s rational. “We had no idea how far Dad was going to go, and what he’s done. The guys have shown us that.”

“They did terrible things to you, Erin,” I say. “It’s my fault they came into your life.”

“I’m glad they did,” she says. “They showed me the truth. They taught me to be fearless, more like you, or maybe that was you coming out… I don’t know. Either way, I know who Dad really is now. We know the truth.”

“What now?” I ask. Erin’s always been the smart one. I’m spontaneous and reckless, always thinking with my heart over my head. “I don’t know what to do next.”

“We show the world who he really is,” she says.

I’m a broken shell, cracked into a thousand tiny pieces. Pieces that will be impossible to put together. Yet, despite the blurry haze of not knowing who I am, a new calmness comes over me as my next steps firm up.

I may not know a lot, but the one thing I know for sure is that I can’t let my father know my memories have been restored. He’s been able to erase them once before, and I’ve somehow retained my sanity. I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive another round of his twisted experiments.

“You’re right,” I say. Of course she is. “We have to make him pay.”

“And you can’t do it alone,” Erin says.

“I’m not alone,” I say. “I have you.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she replies.

“But they…” My eyes fill with angry tears. “They hurt you. They hurt us.”

“But they love us too,” she says gently. “You need them, Sarah.”

CHAPTER

FORTY-THREE

ELI

Aiden burstsinto the cabin like a hurricane. The wooden walls shake as the door slams closed, almost torn from its hinges.

“What happened?” I ask. “Does she know?”

“You!” Aiden ignores me and sets his sights on Lex. “How could you?”

Lex, still oblivious, leans over the sink. He sets strips of paper alight and watches the ashes flutter down the drain.

“What’s wrong?” Lex looks up. He arches an eyebrow and smirks. “Didn’t get your dick wet?”

Without warning, Aiden barrels forward and tackles Lex to the floor. “You bastard!”

“What—”

Lex doesn’t finish his sentence before Aiden punches him square in the jaw. What’s wrong with him? He usually saves that level of ferocity for others. We never turn on each other. We’re united. A team.

“Aiden!” I grab Aiden and try to haul him off. They’re a blur of thrashing limbs. “Stop!”

Aiden doesn’t listen. Instead, he keeps pummeling mercilessly like he’s trying to put Lex’s face through thefloorboards. In the frenzy, Lex manages to wrap his leg around Aiden to get some respite.

“What’re you talking about?” Lex rasps, tilting his head to avoid another whack. “I don’t?—”

“You fucked Erin!” Aiden yells. “We had a deal!”

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