Feuds by Avery Hastings

Author:Avery Hastings
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

11

DAVIS

He was one of them. Davis clutched her pillow to her chest, folding her body around it like she used to when she as a child. She thought what had happened would haunt her forever. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to quiet her brain. Hoping the familiarity of her room would restore some sense of safety. But the images she’d seen were seared inside of her head with such clarity that she might as well have been staring at a projection screen. She couldn’t stop seeing Emilie’s face, and Nadya’s, among the corpses. She couldn’t shut out the blank eyes and gaping mouths and melting skin. Davis’s stomach clenched again and again, and she struggled to think of something else, anything. But the only image that came to mind in the brief seconds where she could force the bodies to disappear was Cole’s face, when he realized what she knew.

Everything she thought he was—wanted to believe he was—had turned out to be an elaborately crafted persona, designed to … to what? Why had he wanted to manipulate her in the first place? Was she just some random girl he’d chosen, the first one he’d spotted at Emilie’s party that first night? Had she just been any other challenge to him? She shuddered, sick that she’d been used so easily, despite everything Vera had cautioned her against. Even her dad, growing up, had always warned her that some guys would just want to use her—that she had to be careful. They were both right. She’d been the blind one. She couldn’t shake the horrible, teeming panic in her stomach. It rose up toward her heart, threatening to spill over. She’d trusted Cole, and Cole had lied to her. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and her hands began to tremble from the panic she felt. She hadn’t known heartbreak could be like this—could make her physically ill. But there she was, trembling and sweating, all because she’d fallen for the wrong person. She was so stupid. She felt so sick and stupid and unable to trust anyone ever again.

Davis curled onto her side, but she couldn’t get comfortable. The mirror lining her closet wall showed her everything: her eyes were streaked black from sweat, dirt, and mascara. Unfamiliar bulges puffed out just between her lower eyelids and cheekbones. She didn’t look like herself at all; no one would believe she was Robert Morrow’s daughter. Her face looked wan and her skin tone was yellowish. She looked identical to how Emilie had looked at the PAs.

Davis ran to her adjoining bathroom—or maybe stumbled—she suddenly felt weak, like nothing more than a puppet—and splashed some water on her face. She grabbed her toothbrush and scrubbed hard at her teeth, but her hand trembled as she did, and she lost her grip. The brush flew across the sink and onto the floor. She left it there, feeling cold panic work its way from her feet to her hands. Her hands. She looked down at them—their light trembling had worsened to something that looked like full-blown tremors.

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.