Page 12 of The Reaper
“I went to The Sanctuary last night,” she announced. “And before you start, yes, I was with friends, and no, I didn’t make a show of myself, at least, I don’t think I did.”
Despite her reassurance, I could tell from the way she sighed and took her time that I wouldn’t like what she was going to say.
“I met this guy at the bar.”
My stomach rolled over.
“He seemed nice.”
And?
“He bought me a drink; vodka and coke. But after drinking it, I must’ve passed out, and when I woke up this morning in Devon Brady’s bed, I knew I’d fucked up.”
I was going to throw up all over my dad’s new Persian rug.
“You slept with him? You slept with that Devon guy, after he bought you drinks?” I almost couldn’t say the words. My tongue was like a dried-up lump of muscle, totally useless. It didn’t want to work because I didn’t want to know the answer.
“No!” She flung her arm to the side to look at me. “I had my drink spiked. For fuck’s sake, Leah, keep up. Dale spiked my drink. Devon’s friends saved me, and I crashed in Devon’s bed. He slept on the sofa in another room. There was no bed sharing. What the hell do you take me for? Do you think I’d actually go near one of those soldiers?”
My heart, which had splintered in pain, suddenly flickered with hope.
“I just thought––”
“I know what you thought.” She sat up and shuffled backwards, bringing her knees to rest under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Leah, I know your dad has sheltered you a lot over the years, and that’s a good thing… most of the time. But there are bad people out there, and the soldiers of Brinton Manor aren’t the best guys for any of us to be associated with. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for their help, and Devon seemed like one of the nicer ones, despite what I’ve heard, but you can’t let anyone know he brought me here, do you understand? I don’t want my name associated with them.”
I nodded, pretending I didn’t know who they were.
I did.
I also held my tongue, even though I wanted to ask her, ‘If they were so awful, why did you go to their club?’ But if I’d said that, she’d know I knew more than I let on, and what I knew about the soldiers, I was keeping close to my chest.
“That guy… Devon, was it?” I was putting on an Oscar-worthy performance here. “He didn’t look that bad. He had kind eyes. You can tell a lot by a person’s eyes.”
“Kind eyes?” She was mocking me again. “He was dead behind the eyes.”
Maybe when he looked at you.
“They weren’t dead. There was a real kindness there. A warmth.” I recognised it. I always had. “Anyway, he can’t be all bad. He made sure you got home safely. He even walked you to the door.”
“Because I tripped on my bloody heels.”
“See? Only a gentleman would care.”
He wasn’t like the others.
He wasn’t like any guy I’d ever met in my life.
“Seriously, Leah, you need to get out more if you think Devon Brady is a gentleman. He’s two letters away from being the devil himself. Devon… devil. Pretty close, wouldn’t you say?”
“No, I wouldn’t say. Are you going to tell Helen down the road that she’s two letters away from hell? That’s just rude.”
“Whatever.” Jodie sighed and stood up. “It’s not like the soldiers of Brinton Manor have actual feelings.”
I bit my lip, keeping my opinions locked up deep inside me, and I watched as she sauntered to the door.
“Can I sleep in your spare room for a few hours?” she asked, standing in the doorway and glancing back at me. I don’t know why she asked; she was heading that way anyway. “When Uncle Nathan gets home, tell him I came over for coffee and started feeling ill, so I went for a lie down. Please don’t tell him about last night. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Who would I tell?” I replied, because it was true. I preferred to keep myself to myself. I also knew that the minute she woke up, she’d be spilling it all to my dad over a cuppa. She might leave out the date drug thing, but she always told us everything. That’s what Jodie was like, an open book.
