Page 113 of Chalk Outline

“Thanks,” I respond as I tune in to the next song that just started playing.

Mitch sings every word while smirking at Braxton’s glare.

I roll my eyes at their nonsense. “Just shut up and drive.”

I try to hold it in, but I can’t stop grinning in the backseat like an idiot. We’re so close to returning home, and I’ll finally see Winona face-to-face again.

Sparks ignite within my core.

Winona’s confusion softens her stony expression. “Larson? I didn’t even recognize him.” She shakes her head in disbelief and paces back and forth across the balcony. “If that’s the case, his appearance has changed entirely. How could I have missed that?”

“Even if you had noticed, what then? He wasn’t a threat you knew about; he was just an inconvenience to us.”

She stops, raising her eyebrow in question. “What?”

“I meantto you.“ I drop my gaze to the floor, scrunch my face, and squeeze my eyes shut. Me and my fucking mouth. “Your grandma told me about your college days and showed me photos. He was in most of them, and we made the connection.” I lie like a fucking idiot.

She looks straight at me when I flick my head up, and I know she sees right through me. She knows it’s me. She recognized my bullshit from miles away. So what is thirty feet over a sea of lies?

“Can we be allies instead of forced enemies?” I attempt to steer the conversation. “I’ll take you to the prison myself.”

“Okay.” She agrees. “No lying this time, promise?”

I gaze at her, nodding. “I promise.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” She turns around and walks away.

There’s a truth on the tip of my tongue, and I hate being the one to shatter her world when she finds out.

Chapter twenty-one

Reeve Hardy

A Forest — The Cure

My teeth clench at the sight of Romina’s icy expression. “You sent me on a killing spree and trained her in the meantime.” What the fuck was I doing out there when she put her on a new path that could lead her straight to her death?

“I didn’t raise a weak little girl.” Her expression hardens. Her eyes are blank. That look is meant to keep me in my place, but I’m not a kid anymore, and she knows better. “May I remind you? You trained her as well.”

“For her safety. Not for her to go after the people who want her dead.” I roll up the sleeves of my jacket. My blood boils. My jaw tightens, and the muscle there feels like it’s about to rupture under the tension.

“She can’t be sheltered by us forever. As much as we are too scared to let her out because of our past, we need to releaseher from her shackles. She’s ready to face the world. She was always ready. And I know she wouldn’t be alone.”

My wandering gaze returns to her.

“Do you think I’m that naive? I know you kept tabs on her and sent her little presents.”

I had to do something. I had to lift her broken spirit when she cried around the house and fought with an imaginary ghost in the kitchen. When she let the darkness swallow her, she sank so deep. But the moment she resurfaced, she stepped out of those venomous waters until they hit her again like a tsunami. I couldn’t see her falling apart when she had no one to comfort her. It was my job to be there for her.

I guess we are the same.

“Winona is smart. She doesn’t believe I’m dead. She doesn’t buy the story you told her. Want to know why?” I raise my eyebrow, waiting for her nod of approval. “Because I promised her I would never leave her. Ever. And I kept my promises to her until you made me break them.”

“So, what now?” she asks in a rough tone.

“How did she learn about the prison?”

“She’s Winona. She asks so many questions that you end up telling her something without even realizing you did. She’s that good.”