Page 108 of Distress Signal

“You’re okay,” I assured myself. “You’re fine. Aria is okay. Just get out. Get out and everything will be okay.”

With shaky fingers, I got out my phone, pulled up the Uber app, and booked a car. The fee to get back to Dusk Valley was astronomical, and I knew my disappearance would send the entire Lawless family into a tizzy, but I couldn’t sit around, acting like nothing was wrong while also serving as a blatant reminder of Aria’s attack.

My ride arrived in under five minutes, the sky a pre-dawn grey. I quickly snuck out of the hospital, taking one final look at the family. Finn and Birdie hadn’t yet returned, and the rest of them stood around, chatting, tentative smiles on their faces over the fact that the youngest of them would be okay.

The trip back to Dusk Valley was silent, which was preferable, though as we got closer to the ranch, I did have to speak up to direct the driver to Finn’s house. GPS out here wasn’t entirely reliable.

Once we pulled to a stop in front of Finn’s house, I navigated back into the app, left the driver a hefty tip for taking such a long trip in the middle of the night, thanked him, and headed inside. The security system beeped insistently when I opened the door, so I quickly typed in the code to disarm it. Then I armed it once again and walked around the house to make sure all the doors and windows were secure. Being here alone after what happened to Aria was surely playing with fire, but I wasn’t so reckless as to not ensure I was safe.

Or at least had the illusion of safety.

I hadn’t been living with Finn long, but two weeks was enough that my things were strewn all over the house. Clothes in the laundry downstairs, toiletries and other personal care products in the guest bathroom. My favorite coffee mug—the one I’d bought as a souvenir when Lainey and I had visited all those years ago—sat dirty in the kitchen sink, and my laptop, glasses, and an old, dog-eared paperback were strewn across the coffee table in the living room.

I went to the guest room and dug my suitcases out of the closet, throwing my clothes directly from the dresser into the biggest one, not bothering with neatness. I could sort everything when I got to wherever I was going.

I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Reagan!”

His voice startled but didn’t surprise me. When the brothers realized I hadn’t come back from the bathroom, Finn would’ve raced home.

Sighing, I sat on the bed with my head in my hands, heels of them digging into my eye sockets. Why hadn’t I moved faster? Grabbed only the essentials and bolted?

“Reagan?” he called again, voice closer now.

Ifeltit when he appeared in the doorway. The energy in the room shifted, my body so deeply in tune with his, I’d recognize him deaf and blind in a crowd.

“Belle?” he asked softer. “What’s going on?”

I snorted humorlessly. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving.”

“Like hell you are.”

Still refusing to look at him, I got up and headed back to the dresser, kneeling to open the bottom drawer and scoop the clothes out of it.

“C’mon, Finn. We both know I can’t stay.”

“I don’t see why not.”

Angrily, I threw the clothes down, pajama shorts and tanks flying all over, landing haphazardly on the floor and bed.

Then I faced him.

“Because I’m the reason your sister is in the hospital right now!” I shouted. “How the fuck can you even stand to look at me?”

All the fight seemed to leave Finn. I hadn’t noticed until they relaxed that his muscles had been tense, bracing.

His expression morphed into one of sympathy.

“Is that what you think? That this is your fault?”

I rolled my eyes at his gentle tone. Like I was some scared, wild animal, ready to bolt at the first sign of aggression.

“Itismy fault. The piece of shit who attacked her was here forme.” I emphasized the word with a finger to my chest. “You know it, I know it, your whole fucking family knows it.”

“Baby.” Finn crossed the room in three long strides and pulled me in, crushing me against his chest. My arms hung limply at my sides. “Noneof this is your fault. The only person responsible is the one who attacked Aria.”

I shoved out of his embrace, stalking across the room, though the few feet of space between us was not nearly enough. There wasn’t anywhere in the world I could go that was far enough for me to not feel pulled to him, like a magnet drawn to a metal surface.