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I hadn’t known that their grandfather had been chairman. I might’ve dismissed that as something that just never came up…but now I questioned every bit of information I apparently hadn’t been given.

“Why do they hate outsiders so much?” I asked, my mouth dry.

Asha shrugged. “Kimmy figures it’s because they see outsiders as a threat to the power structure of the Valley—the one where they’re on top.”

She barely gave me time to mull that over before she continued, “I guess after their granddaddy kicked the bucket, there was going to be an election for a new chairman, and the elder Jameson was considered a shoo-in. Until something happened.”

She paused, seeming to consider her next words.

“Involving John?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Kim wasn’t too clear on the details. But it sounds like someone in the Valley got kidnapped by a gang. The whole community rallied and was prepared to go after them…but at dawn the next day, your boyfriend turned up with the victim at his side. He went after the gang himself.”

She hesitated again for long enough that I snapped.

“Spit it out, Ash. ”

“Sorry, it’s just—” she stopped, and her face changed from hesitation to concern. “I’m afraid for you, Claire.”

I was temporarily speechless.

“Afraid?” I finally repeated, frowning. “Why?”

She just stared at me, pity in her gaze, before seeming to gather her resolve.

“Because he’s unstable,” she said in a rush. “Kim told me that nobody knew what exactly he did to get the girl back—only that the girl later reported hearing the horrible screams of her captors. And when that gang found us on the road, and he beat that guy to a bloody pulp—”

Asha met my eyes, her mouth twisting unhappily.

“All I could think was,” she said quietly, “how long until that’s her that he’s hitting? For not being obedient enough, for being on the wrong side of his rage that day.”

Sudden outrage flooded my system.

“John has never raised a hand to me,” I said furiously. “And he never would.”

Asha eyed me skeptically. “You sure about that? He’s a violent man. We’ve all seen it. And you sound just like every other battered woman that ever existed.”

“I’m not a battered woman,” I said through gritted teeth. “He’s never hurt me. And he’s not a violent man. He’s sweet, and—”

“Sweet,” Asha said with contempt. “Right. It was real sweet when he killed a man with his bare hands right in front of you, and you had to calm him down.”

“Because that guy hurt me!” I burst out. “You can’t seriously be arguing for a gang member that would’ve killed me in a second, given the chance.”

Asha shrugged. “Gang members aren’t the devil, Claire. They’re people, same as everybody else, and what your boyfriend does isn’t so different.”

“John would never hurt innocent people,” I said firmly. “I know you have trouble trusting him, and I get it, but he’s a good man.”

She grinned at me, but it looked more like she was baring her teeth.

“They all start out that way,” she said without warmth. “Claiming they only do what they have to, just to get by, but the list of things they’re willing to do to get what they want keeps growing. ”

She stood up from the tree stump. “But answer me this, sweetie: if he’s such a great guy, why is it me telling you all this? If he’s so wonderful, what’s he got to hide?”

I hated that I didn’t have a good answer for her. I trusted John, but to know that he hadn’t told me the whole truth made me hurt in all the old ways that I couldn’t forget, no matter how hard I tried. I’d been betrayed once by the people closest to me. I couldn’t bear for that to happen again.

Asha tentatively reached out to me, watching her hand as though she wasn’t sure that it would obey her, and laid it on my forearm.

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” she said in a softer tone than I’d heard her use since before the attack on the Cave.

She sounded more like her old self, and that brought a tear to my eye.

“I’m just trying to let you know that you have other options, if you want them.

Where we came from, you didn’t have many choices, so you may not realize you have them now. ”

She spoke with such sincerity that I faltered. Maybe she was just trying to help. Trying to look out for me, the way she used to, even if she didn’t know how anymore.

“I’ve missed you,” I murmured, a lump in my throat.

Asha sighed. “I’m sorry. I know I’m not who you remember. I just don’t know how to be that girl anymore, you know? But I’m trying—I promise. Don’t give up on me yet.”

I shook my head. “Of course not. Just…I need you to be my friend again, even if you’re not the same. I can handle your pain. But not your indifference.”

My voice trembled, and she clucked her tongue and touched my cheek.

“I’ve always been your friend, girl,” she said. “Ever since you let me copy off your notes in homeroom. That’s when I knew.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “Knew what?”

“That you’re the go-to girl when a hot mess like me needs someone to anchor to.”

“Thanks,” I said with a small laugh. “I’m thrilled to be your anchor in life.”

She grinned in that uncanny way she never used to before, and that familiar sense of unease stirred. I looked up at the stars, sighing.

There would be a reckoning between John and me. Soon.