Page 66 of On Edge

Check scene of crime.

Research the Swanley family as soon as I can.

Get off this island!

17

SAGE

Aweek later, a boat arrives, prearranged to take me to the mainland for a dress fitting in town. The storm that everyone has been freaking out about hasn’t hit yet, so everyone is frantic to get things done before it finally does.

Not fazed by the weather in the slightest, my mother made arrangements the moment she saw the headlines in the papers about the wedding being only days away. Normally, I would balk at the idea of going to a store my mother chose. But this might be my only chance to escape the island and meet Laine and Nola. I need their help to come up with a plan to kill Troy well before the wedding day. And the last message I sent them said I could meet today. They will be waiting for me.

You should have killed him when you had the chance,Nell voices at me.

I shove her out of my head. It’s not like I could have killed him and didn’t. The dinner knife I stole from the kitchen is never going to work. I don’t have the guts to stab someone. I’m not cut out for messy kills like Laine.

And despite everything, I still don’t have proof he killed Nell. Gathering more evidence has been difficult of late. His office has remained locked, and breaking into his phone has been impossible. Troy left for London on business shortly after the barn, when he looked at me like he wanted to devour me, just like he did on the stairs.

It still feels like a fever dream.

All I have is a confusing memory of what happened in the tack room, which makes me wonder if I imagined that strained moment between us, or if I made it up.

On top of that, my dreams have changed. Instead of chasing Nell and then falling to my death, now I dream of Troy. Every night, he brings me to the brink of death in more ways than one, with his hands at my throat and his lips searing mine, fire burning all around us. And then I wake up drenched in sweat and a needy ache between my thighs that won’t go away,

Not unless I deal with it.

Only the birds outside know what I do in the dark, under the sheets, alone. I have no choice but to let go, touching myself until I’m truly lost, with his face haunting my mind and echoes of his rough hands branding my skin. I have to clamp down on my lips to stop myself from even saying his name.

Then, after, I suffocate myself into my pillow….

The horror of what I’ve done, corroding away inside of me.

To make matters worse, Mundel’s permanent scowl has been following me around the house. He caught me trying to sneak off with bolt cutters, so I had to make something up about the old bicycle locked up near the greenhouse, saying I thought I could use it to explore the grounds. He gave me a funny look and said it was missing a wheel.

Only Kathy’s insistence that I help her cook has kept me sane. With nothing to do but worry, baking has taken my mind off things, that, and talking to the horses each morning, feedingthem the best carrots, taking care to close the barn door behind me.

As I’m leaving Grayfleet, Kathy gives me her spare raincoat to wear and then gives me a stiff look, suggesting that I also do some shopping while I’m in town.

“Elias can drop you off at the mall after.”

I keep my expression neutral. “I’m allowed to go alone?”

She raises a brow. “You’re a grown woman, aren’t you? If you’re staying, marrying Master Troy, you can’t keep wearing my old clothes.”

Days of rain have bloated the lake, turning minutes into an eternity. But the boat ride is over before I can panic too much.

Mundel waits by his car as we dock. Not the nimble Jeep he uses on the island that I assumed we’d be taking, but one that’s big and flashy—a huge black SUV.

Mundel opens the passenger-side door, and I climb into the enormous cream leather seat, feeling lost and insignificant as I buckle in. I should say something, anything. The silence is horrible.

“I-I thought we’d be taking the jeep.”

He looks at me like an idiot. “The jeep is stuck on the island until the rains stop.”

“Oh.” I process this. “So, normally, you can drive across? When the water’s lower?”

“When it’s not flooded, yes. There’s a crossing.”