Deception by Redwine C. J

Author:Redwine, C. J. [Redwine, C. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance Speculative Fiction
ISBN: 9780062117229
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: 2013-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

RACHEL

My stomach feels like it’s caving in as I stare at the red Xs marking random doors. I glance behind me, but our door is unblemished. I don’t want to take another step. Don’t want to open the marked doors and see what lies inside.

Logan swears quietly, his hand gripping my arm like I’m the only thing keeping him upright.

Fear is ice in my veins, keeping me rooted to the spot as I frantically scan the row of doors until I find the one I’m looking for.

The one Sylph jokingly calls her honeymoon cottage.

A giant X slashes across the door like a knife wound.

A small, hurt sound escapes the back of my throat, and I move. Half-dragging Logan with me, I stumble down the hall, past a marked door on my right, and another on the left.

Sylph can’t be dead. She can’t.

The X is still wet, blood gleaming faintly against the dark brown wood. I reach for the doorknob, and stop, my hand hovering just beneath a streak of crimson.

“Open it, Rachel.” Logan’s voice is calm, but I hear the dread underneath.

“I can’t.” What if she’s dead—another piece of my childhood brutally ripped away from me? Will I see her face when I close my eyes at night? Will her blood pour over my hands while she tells me I should’ve saved her?

He reaches past me and turns the knob. Sylph and Smithson lie on a blanket, another blanket covering them. I can’t see if she’s breathing. I can’t see if there’s blood.

Logan shuts the door behind us and grabs the doorjamb as I let go of him and rush to Sylph. I fall to my knees beside her, and grab her shoulders.

“Sylph!”

Her eyes fly open. So do Smithson’s. And I suddenly realize Sylph’s shoulders are bare.

So are Smithson’s.

“Oh!” I let go of her.

“What’s going on?” Sylph asks, shoving a hand through her tousled black curls. The blanket slips.

“Ah!” I yell, and turn around to block Logan’s view. Smithson beats me to it by sitting up and yanking the blanket up to Sylph’s chin.

“What are you doing in here?” Smithson asks. His chest is covered in curly brown hair, and I can’t even look at him. Or at Sylph. Or at Logan.

I should just close my eyes and hope nobody notices while I crawl out of the room.

“There was a note. And then we saw the X. And I thought you were dead.” I find Sylph’s eyes and hold her gaze. “I thought you were dead.”

A frown pinches her brow, and she starts to sit up.

“No, no,” I say, even though she’s clutching the blanket to her neck.

“Stay down,” Smithson says.

She throws him a look of affectionate exasperation. “It’s just Rachel.”

“It isn’t just Rachel,” he says, and Logan clears his throat behind me.

“I can step out for a minute,” he says.

And leave me alone with a naked Smithson and a naked Sylph? Over my dead body.

“No!” I say, and everyone stares at me. “I mean, um, maybe we should both leave.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.