Page 60 of Unspoken Lies

It’s clear there’s more that he wants to say, but he bites his lip hard to hold back the words. His forehead still appears swollen and tender from last night, and he drops his head back to lay against the wall.

“We’re distancing ourselves from the Society,” Jared says. Elijah gives him a grateful glance, and I realize he was wrestlingwith whether or not to tell us that. “While making this a tit-for-tat thing is crass, I’m not above it.”

“Me either,” Theo says. “We want her to continue to work for us at the mystic shop. I know she doesn’t need the money, though.”

“She doesn’t,”Emil grits out. “This is an experiment to get her out of her apartment.”

“Those locks aren’t the best,” Theo says, flirting with danger. “I got through them too quickly.”

“I still had enough time to get dressed and jump out the window, dick cheese,” I say, blinking at myself in surprise. I’ve been a shadow of who I used to be for so long, I forgot this version of myself.

“Then they were just good enough,”Emil says. “You three have taken a toll on her, maybe you should help put her back together.”

“What?”

The word is said almost like an expletive by everyone in the room, because he can’t be serious. Except, I have an uncomfortable feeling that he is.

ELIJAH

Rachelle looks like she’s about to be sick, her face incredibly pale.

“Liliana, can you get her some water?” I ask worriedly.

Getting up, she sees Rachelle’s face and nods, walking out of the room quickly. Now, it’s just us, but I know better than to get any closer to her.

“Why is that your proposal?” Jared asks, ever the businessman. His eyes are pinched as he gazes hard at Rachelle, trying to figure out how to fix what we’ve broken.

There’s no denying that’s what we’ve done. She may still have sparks of who she is, but it seems to fizzle and pop at random times.

“Hello, Jared,”Mr. Reyes says smoothly. Fuck me while I try not to wet my pants. I can stand toe to toe with a lot of people, but he is not one of them. “Rachelle has a fear that bad things will happen outside of a four wall structure. There are other things that she deals with as well due to you all, but we will start with continued employment. She isn’t to be forced to work in small spaces, though.”

Rachelle woke up when we began to bury her. I remember her screams as they got more and more muffled, until she passed back out again. Claustrophobia would happen to anyone after that.

“What else? Mr. Reyes, we are not monsters. We aren’t going to force her into a small box or anything,” Jared says. I drive my elbow into his side for being insensitive. While he grunts in pain, he doesn’t retaliate. “Bad choice of words. We haven’t proven to have the best track record with Rachelle, so please, go on.”

Theo rolls his eyes, but it is slightly amusing.

“I don’t like bright lights,” Rachelle says softly. “I can’t have people come up from behind me, so I tried to keep a wall or shelf at my back at the store which helped. I’m kind of scared of everything now. It’s ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not,” Liliana says, coming back in with a tumbler of water. Handing it to her, I see that it’s to keep her from spilling, because of how shaky Rachelle’s hands are. She manages to drink from the straw before sighing slightly and laying her head back on Nacio’s chest.

I’m jealous of him, and I have no right to be.

“To answer your question, Jared,”Mr. Reyes says, interrupting us. “Rachelle doesn’t need money, but since she’s alone so often, she needs a social outlet.”

“I like being alone,” Rachelle says under her breath.

“Do you really?” I ask. “I hate people, but also hate to be alone. I think you need the right people to be around.”

“Very insightful,”Mr. Reyes says. Fuck, his voice makes my butthole want to squeeze shut with terror. “Rachelle, I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Unload all of my mental trauma?” she asks with a half hysterical laugh. “I forgot to eat, and had the paramedics break down my door when I failed to answer your calls shortly after moving into my apartment.”

“What happened?” Liliana asks, jaw dropped.

“Theyhooked her up to a feeding tube and an IV,” Mr. Reyes sighs. “It was actually two months after she moved in. I didn’t realize what was happening initially. She had grocery delivery and the ability to order what she needed and have it delivered. Except, she also forgot to order it. When she did, she couldn’t muster the effort to cook either.”

“That’s not just PTSD,” Theo says, glaring at Rachelle.