Page 18 of Treasured by Them (Rose and Dagger #3)

Troy

I drive faster than I’ve ever driven. The curving roads leading up to Danish Lake are dangerously tight. Concentrating on the asphalt keeps me from spiraling over what might be happening to Dani.

“Anything new?” I ask Edmund.

“No.” His voice is low. He stares at his phone, at the message he recited to me when we tore out of the apartment building.

ILY .

She would never write that. Not in a million years. Not Dani.

Edmund leans forward in his seat. “I will murder every last member of Vorsong Circle.”

“I’ll help you do it.”

He shoots me a glance, surprised. He knows I don’t like the violence that comes with our lifestyle.

“Blood answers with blood.” I quote his father.

He finishes the quote. “Always has, always will.”

There better not be a single drop of Dani’s blood spilled tonight.

The GPS says we’re thirty minutes away.

I slam my foot down on the gas pedal.

* * *

Danica

The lake’s cold water shocks my system. It must shock Malcolm, too, because his grip falters.

I wrench away from him, kicking hard behind me. I think I get him in the head, or maybe it’s one of the dock supports. Either way, immediate pain spikes up my leg before fading to numbness.

My body is protecting me, urging me to forget the superficial pains so I can focus on the most important thing: air to breathe.

Already my lungs ache with the need for oxygen. Still, I propel myself down and away from Malcom.

When I don’t think I can survive another second without breathing, I swim toward the surface. Or what I hope is the surface, anyway. It seems lighter in that direction.

Up I go, higher and higher. When will I reach air? My chest feels like it’s caving in on itself. I’d give anything to just breathe. Just a tiny bit. But I know if I do, I’ll drown.

Finally, I break the surface.

“Danica!” Malcolm shouts.

I spin around. He’s searching for me in the opposite direction. He swims toward the shore on the other side of the dock. I made the right call by swimming down and away.

Another deep breath and I go under, pushing myself toward the trees and blackberry vines on this side of the dock.

I don’t dare come up again until I reach the vines.

A fallen tree juts out of the water. I cling to it, grateful for the chance to rest. There’s just enough coverage and shadows from the trees and blackberry vines to keep me hidden.

Where do I go next, though? I can’t stay here forever—eventually he’ll come out to look for me.

I don’t have to hide forever, though. Edmund and Troy are on their way. I’m certain of it.

Malcolm shouts my name several more times. “Where the fuck are you, you stupid bitch?”

He staggers up the shore, coughing. He falls to his knees, tries to get up again and slips in the mud. He must think I got out of the water and ran.

“Stop right there,” a woman says.

Silently, I move my wet hair out of my face, trying to see better. Is that Zora? Why is she talking to Malcolm like that? Whoever it is, she’s hiding in the trees near the boat shed.

Malcolm raises a hand in supplication. “Zora, help me. Something happened to Danica—I’m worried about her.”

“Did you kill her?”

He freezes. “What are you talking about?”

A click that sounds suspiciously like a gun echoes in the silence.

“Don’t move a fucking muscle,” Zora says. “I asked, did you kill her? ”

Malcolm coughs, struggling to stand up. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t. Move.” She steps out of the shadows. Twilight glints against the barrel of a gun.

I remain where I am, crouched against the log and shivering. The wood is slimy against my hands, arms, and legs, but I’m afraid to let go. I don’t want a single ripple or splash to give me away.

“Zora.” Malcolm remains on his knees, but he raises his arms in supplication.

A loud bang resounds, followed by Malcolm yelping in fright.

“You could’ve fucking shot me, Zora.” Malcolm doesn’t move, but I can tell he wants to. “What is going on?”

“Did. You. Kill. Danica?”

“No, of course not, what a ridiculous thing to say. We tried to take out the boat, but it capsized. I’m trying to find her?—”

“Bullshit.”

He coughs again, a pitiful sound. I wonder if he’s doing it on purpose, or if he really did inhale that much water. “Why are you doing this, Zora? Put the gun away and we can talk.”

“Like you talked to Britney?”

A long pause. I replay the words in my head. Like you talked to Britney? Like you talked to Britney? How does Zora know? She wasn’t there that night—I’ve never seen her before in my life.

Unless she was there, and it’s just another thing I forgot.

My stupid brain. I don’t know what’s real or not anymore. But the way I forgot makes sense. I was trying to protect myself—Malcolm would’ve killed me, I have no doubt. Maybe not that night. But at any hint of my memory coming back, he would’ve arranged for an accident, just like tonight.

I thought he didn’t plan this, but now a part of me wonders if he didn’t have a million plans, for a million different scenarios. He must have been living in fear the past fifteen years, wondering when or how the memories could be triggered.

I wouldn’t doubt that he’s the one who ripped away the cover photo on my scrapbook. He was likely in the photo and he didn’t want to remind me that he was at camp.

Malcolm hasn’t moved. In a soft, even tone, he says, “What are you talking about? Britney who?”

“Stop playing dumb, Malcolm.” Zora laughs bitterly. “Britney was my cousin. The sweetest girl. And you killed her.”

“What? No, no way. That didn’t happen.”

“She told me she would meet you that night. She wanted to break up, and as her older cousin, I told her it was the right call. You were too old for her. And you were acting strange, possessive.”

“I was never with Britney—this doesn’t make sense.”

“I swear to god I’ll shoot you if you lie to me one more time.” She hisses out the words, her anger hot like steam.

“Look.” He remains kneeling in the mud. “I was gone that night. The police asked me about Britney. They checked my alibi?—”

“You mean your friend on the police force? The one who didn’t think you’d do such a thing, and lied about checking your alibi so your teaching program wouldn’t kick you out?”

I shiver. The lake is so freaking cold, but there’s no way I’m getting out. Not until I lay eyes on Edmund and Troy. I know they’re on their way. They have to be.

“I didn’t want it to be you, Malcolm.” Zora angrily wipes tears from her face with her free hand, keeping the gun trained on Malcolm with her other. “I didn’t want it to be you, but I knew it had to be. It wasn’t Brendan. He loved her, but not like they were saying.”

Those rumors…I remember how disgusting they were.

She goes on, “Brendan kept in touch with me, even after he left the country. I was the only family member who remained in contact with him. After a while, we talked about that night, and about your relationship with Britney. We figured out, the two of us, that you did something to her—we just didn’t know what. ”

“I didn’t, though?—”

She pulls the trigger and shoots. I yelp, too loud, but neither of them seems to hear me. I think the sound is lost in the echo of the gunshot.

Malcolm jerks to the side, but he seems unharmed. “Put the gun away, Zora, or someone’s going to get hurt.”

“No, you’re coming with me to the police station. You’re going to confess, and Britney will finally have justice.”

Yes. Please, yes. Put this man behind bars. I’ll testify—I was a witness. I’ll do whatever it takes.

My dad’s heart will break—Malcolm has been his best friend for years. But no way would my dad ever agree to letting him go free now. Not after what he did to Britney, not after what he tried to do to me.

A part of me feels like a fucking coward for shivering here in the water while Zora does all the hard work on the shore, but she has a gun. I don’t. Malcolm already proved he can overpower me once. My best bet is to sit tight.

Malcolm has other ideas, though. He lunges forward. He grabs the barrel of the gun.

Zora screams. The gun fires, but the shot goes off to the side, missing Malcolm and landing harmlessly in the mud.

Malcolm wrenches the gun from Zora’s grasp. He grabs her, wrapping his arm all the way around her throat and squeezing.

No—no, I can’t watch this again. I can’t watch him kill another woman right in front of me.

Malcolm whips his head back and forth, searching the near-darkness. The sun has fallen completely now, and there’s no way he can see me in my hiding spot.

“I know you’re out there, Danica. You always were good at that, sneaking around. But I heard you scream just now.” He tightens his arm around Zora’s neck.

Her eyes bulge and she scratches at his skin, but he doesn’t seem to register the pain.

“Come out now, or watch her die. Your choice.”

Fuck. Fuck . How did it turn out this way? Edmund and Troy could be here any second, but if that second isn’t right the hell now, they’re too late.

Malcolm lifts the gun and holds it to Zora’s temple.

She was only trying to figure out who killed her cousin, her best friend. Britney, whose body was left in the mud for years while everyone else forgot.

While I forgot.

My throat is closing with panic, but I know this is the right thing to do.

I swim around the blackberry vines and toward the shore.

“Here! I’m fucking here, okay, you psychopath?” I step out of the water and face Malcolm.