Page 32 of Twisted Truths
His huff of laughter is humourless. “She wouldn’t want this for you. Maddy didn’t want you here.”
“What would you know?” I demand, my surge of anger making me forget who I’m talking to and where we are.
Gabriel’s palm slaps over my mouth, his steel gaze darting to the door behind him. “Fuck. Do you have a death wish?”
Fear grips me as I realise what I’ve done. Fighting back the tears threatening to fall, I wrench out of his grasp and rush towards the door.
“You’re flirting with danger, Hadley.” he calls after me.
My thoughts swirl as I pass the bathroom, desperate to get as far away from Gabriel as possible. Ascendant Sierra calls after me, but I ignore her and Gianna, bursting through the front door and down the steps.
With no path in mind, I hurry away, not surprised in the least when I find myself dropping to my knees in front of my sister’s grave.
“I’m in trouble,” I whisper, tears streaming unchecked down my cheeks as I rub a smudge of dirt from the white cross with her name carved into it. “I’m in so much trouble, Maddy, and I don’t know what to do. I have nowhere to go.”
The reality hits me hard.
I have nowhere to go.
“What am I supposed to do?”
The sound of twigs snapping behind me causes me to scramble to my feet and dash into the bush, where I hide behind a tree. I clamp a hand over my mouth, trying to calm my breathing. Heavy footsteps crunch through the clearing, and I shrink further into my hiding spot. There are a dozen graves besides Madeline’s and my unnamed niece, but I’ve never seen anyone else out here in my time at the commune. I simply assumed the others had no family here.
Seraphina made it clear when she took me to visit Madeline that the focus of the Sunfire Circle is looking to the future and not reliving the past. It was why she wanted me to avoid Gabriel, and why she warned me about staying away from my sister’s grave. Sometimes I wonder why she let me stay whenshe seemed so concerned about how he would react to my presence.
“Hey, firecracker.” The low timber of Gabriel’s voice catches me off-guard. “I hope you’re still causing havoc wherever you are. Give Annie a kiss for me.” He pauses, and when he speaks again, his voice cracks. “Tell her to take care of her mama.”
Pain lances through my chest. Annie was our mother’s name.
“I’m starting to realise fiery red heads run in your family.” Gabriel chuckles, the sound foreign to my ears. “I met Hadley. Believe it or not, I actually thought she was your ghost. Fuck, Maddy. I don’t know what to do. Your sister has no sense of self-preservation, and it’s way too dangerous for her here. Remember the local girl I told you about? The one who came to me looking for refuge? She’s dead. They killed her whole family and framed it to look like she did it. Dad swears they had nothing to do with it, but I don’t know. They didn’t like me going against our customs with Zara, just as they didn’t like when I went against them for you. But I can’t keep being a pawn in their game. I don’twantto be a pawn in their game.”
My blood runs cold. What game? Who are ‘they’? Is he referring to his parents, or the commune as a whole?
A knot forms in my stomach as I piece together what little I know. Zara was always cryptic about why she didn’t feel safe here, and I thought it was because the rumours about Gabriel were true. Now, I’m not so sure.
“I promise, firecracker, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Hadley safe. Even if it means bringing them down.”
His footsteps fade away, but I remain in my hiding spot long after he’s gone. It appears the Sunfire Circle is shrouded in secrets, and nothing isas it seems.
Notready to face Ascendent Sierra to explain myself for running off, my feet carry me farther into the bush. I follow the trail I used to walk with Zara until I come to the river. I climb onto the large rock we used to sit and talk, tucking my legs up to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. The way the midday sunlight filters through the trees and reflects off the water, I don’t notice that I have company until he moves.
Nash.
I blink, certain I’m hallucinating, but when my eyes open again, he’s still standing across the river watching me. I’m frozen to the spot, but he moves closer to the water’s edge.
With the practised ease of someone who has done it a million times before, he crosses the river using the large boulders that jut out like ancient stepping stones. His sneakers find each one without hesitation, and before I know it, he’s standing a few feet in front of me, a wry grin on his lips.
“And here I was, wondering if I’d ever see you again.”
My chest flutters at the gravelly quality of his voice. What is happening to me? I should not be entertaining these crazy feelings. Not with Zara’s brother. This is so wrong.
Casting a quick glance over my shoulder, half expecting to find Gabriel behind me, I turn back to Nash and ask, “What are you doing here?”
He shrugs, his hands buried in his pockets. “Looking for you.”
I ignore the heat rushing to my cheeks and focus on the warning sirens going off in my head. Being here with him isdangerous, and I’m terrified of the consequences if we’re caught. “You shouldn’t be,” I say, but my words lack conviction.
Nash tilts his head, studying me with those too-sharp eyes. “Is that so?” His tone is light, but there’s an undercurrent in the meaning behind his words. After a tension-filled beat, he expels a deep breath and runs one of his hands through his dark curls. “I’m not trying to get you in trouble, Hadley. I only want to talk.”
