Page 153 of Cruel Pleasures

The two of us turn for the door. Imani calls out to us a few footsteps away from the threshold.

“Archer? Ryu?”

“Yes, minx?”

“Thank you for giving me what I need.”

Hurst and I share a look, confirmation we’ve made the right decision by compromising. This time, I answer.

“Always.”

40. Imani

Who Are You Running From? - Sevdaliza

The instant the door closes, I’m up on my feet and dragging my suitcase out of my closet. Archer and Ryu have headed downstairs to give me the space I’ve requested. It might not have made much sense to them, but I needed the time alone.

Even just a few minutes to check in with myself.

“Mani, are you okay?” I whisper, my heart beating faster than I like. “Is this what you want?”

But even as I ask the question, I know the answer.

It is.

It’s exactly what I want. What I need after everything that’s happened and what I’ve been through. For months I’ve been living with a dark storm cloud that’s taken over my life. It materialized the day I lost Lyra and has only grown more pervasive the more time has gone by. Once I left the isle and Archer and Ryu behind, it was almost unbearable.

I’ve been going through the motions, trapped in a bubble that kept me removed from the outside world. Invisible while still visible. Present but not really present.

Alive yet no longer living.

Wherever Lyra is, she left without a goodbye. She disappeared without a trace, never to be seen or heard from again. Regardless of if she’s still alive, it seems I’ve lost my best friend for good. I have to accept that she’s gone and it’s time to move on.

My future has made itself known despite the fact that I’ve spent weeks denying its truth.

Through the dark tragedy of losing Lyra and the madness that was the Midnight Society, I’ve found two men who care deeply about me in their own way. They’re not at all what I expected or ever thought I would want, but what can I say when I’ve fallen for them both?

As I stuff my suitcase with my clothes, my heart races in anticipation.

There’s nothing left for me here. Nothing in Easton that’s worth staying for.

None of my sisters will care I’m gone. Mom won’t and neither will DJ at the shop. Any fuckbuddies I’ve had have probably already moved on, and Emerald might be sad a day or two, but another roommate will move in soon to take my place.

The future that waits for me with Archer and Ryu makes me smile to myself.

I pick up the things that belonged to Lyra that I had snatched the day I visited her bedroom. The collage of our college photos and the sweater of mine she’d borrowed and never returned. My smile only grows as I think of them fondly and then pack those away too.

She’ll always be my best friend. I’ll cherish our friendship for the rest of my life.

But this is what’s for the best.

With the sweater no longer crumpled on top of my bed, I realize I’ve forgotten a few more things I meant to pack—the Christmas morning photo and notebook of Lyra’s that I had found at Hurst Manor.

The smile fades from my face and a shiver runs down my spine remembering what had been written inside the notebook. Then I look to the grim photograph where a young Lyra is pictured next to her sister and mother. Their misery leaps off the page.

I tuck the unsettling photograph deep into my suitcase and then focus on grabbing anything else I might need. I leave the bedroom to go collect my toiletry items from the bathroom I share with Emerald and the others on the second floor.

Making it back to my room, I stop a couple footsteps inside. My gaze has fallen on the window. It hangs halfway open, my long embroidered curtains rustling in the late evening breeze. The same shiver that had worked its way through me a couple minutes ago returns.