Page 61 of Anathema
“She's just like you and me, Chy; you see that, don’t you?” Madison frowned, sympathy in her words.
“Ugh, fine, but we need to get the fuck out of her—now.” She demanded, heading down the hallway and stairs to exit the frat house.
“Let’s go…” Madison gestured with her hand for my name.
“Alexis,” I answered quickly.
“Alexis. You’re one of us now. Come on.” She placed her hand on my back and shoved me out of the room and down the hall to follow Chyler.
One of them. Could there be anything better?
Chapter 26
Chyler
AtlasandItriedto get here as soon as possible but were held up by prior obligations when Derek sent his texts. The moment I saw Derek’s fucking face, I lost all sense of self-control. I was fuming, pissed off, furious, every vicious emotion under the sun. You name it, I was feeling it.
I didn’t give him a chance to speak, not a single word, before I balled my fist as tightly as I could and cracked him hard across the jaw with it. The force and impact were so intense that his head snapped to the side, and my knuckles split, pain shooting up my arm, but I didn’t let it show.
“Where the fuck is she, Derek?” I shouted with all the venom I had in me. My mind was racing a thousand miles a minute, I was hyperventilating, unable to control my breathing, and my chest was rising and falling with every exaggerated breath. I clenched myjaw, my face buzzing with the adrenaline flowing freely through my veins.
Strong hands gripped my biceps from behind, and I flinched at the touch.
“Breathe, Chy,” Atlas murmured into my hair as his forehead rested at the back of my head. “We’ll find her. It’s going to be alright.” He attempted to calm me down, but I was far from it. Alexis was in serious shit, and it was all Derek’s fucking fault.
Atlas had no more information besides what Derek had told him over text, but that didn’t matter to me. What mattered was getting Alexis back and alive.
Derek stood there, his eyes narrowed as he rubbed the side of his jaw. I hope it bruised. Alexis was strong, but who knows what Anathema had planned for her. She had been missing for over twenty-four hours without a single trace.
How could he lose her?
I struggled in Atlas’s grasp, begging for another shot at Derek. If I could, I would tear him apart limb from limb, and I just might if we don’t find Alexis safe and in one piece. My heart was squeezing tightly in my chest with the thought of her being seriously injured, or worse—dead.
“You did this, Derek. You just had to get involved with Alexis, and look where that landed her.” I seethed through my teeth. All I saw was red with how infuriated I had become, and the longer I stood there, the hotter I burned.
“I wouldn’t put all the blame on Derek, Chy. What about you? She wouldn't have accepted their recruitment ploy if you hadbeen here instead of playing house with Atlas in Duluth all these months.” Madison cut in coolly, and I was ready to rip her head off. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re all happy for your ‘happily ever after,’ but it’s time for you to snap back into reality with us. The world didn’t get better just because you found happiness.” She added, and I snapped like a fucking twig.
“Seriously, Mads? Are you trying to place the blame on me now? And where the fuck were you when Lex was getting lured into Anathema like a child to a fucking ice cream truck? Huh? Enlighten me, will you?” I shouted, pulling myself away from Atlas and stepping into her.
If she was looking for a fight tonight, she would get one. I don’t care how long it’s been.
“I think we all played a role in this, and it’s up to all of us to find her and get her back before it’s too—”
“Shut the fuck up, Eli.” Madison and I echoed, both turning to face him and screaming like the banshees we became when one of us was threatened or in danger.
He held up his hands and began backing away from the group. I glimpsed at Derek over my shoulder, who had started to pace, flexing his hands in and out of fists while Atlas attempted to reason with him. I couldn't hear their conversation over Eli and Madison, but I knew we were getting nowhere and wasting precious time fighting over something we couldn’t reverse. I took a deep breath before returning to face Madison.
“We need a plan and to act fast. We’ve already wasted too much time here.” My voice cracked as I slowly came down from my surge of emotions.
I swallowed the lump of bile that had built in my throat as I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort and pressed my lips together in a tight line.
“I think the first place we need to start is with Eli and what he knows.” Madison shot a pointed glare at him, and he froze.
“M—me? Why me?” Eli stuttered. He was always intimidated by us. No matter how fond he was of Alexis, he feared us for the big sisters we were to her. She was the youngest of the three of us, and we had watched over her like hawks until now. Leaving her behind without warning of what we were protecting her from was our biggest mistake and regret to this day.
I never intended to leave Alexis and Madison all those months ago. The choice wasn’t mine to disappear, but, in truth, I didn't have to stay away from them as long as I did. I could have fought for them, but instead, I let my desire for Atlas cloud my better judgment, and the promise of a perfect ending blinded me to the fact that they were still here and needed me.
“You, because you’re withholding information and also because we all know that you were the reason she went through with it in the first place,” I added, turning around to face him, placing my hands on my hips.
