Deprecated by Michael Karr

Author:Michael Karr [Karr, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

“Stop, Preston!” Rylee’s shout filled the small kitchen.

Grayson turned to her. “Hey,” he said. “I thought you two might be friends. You share the same meeting ritual.”

“Shut up!” Preston demanded.

Keeping his pistol trained on Grayson, Preston jerked his head in her direction. In his eyes, she saw that same hatred she heard in his voice the night Grayson escaped from them. Preston’s face still bore the bruises from that night. A jolt of fear momentarily paralyzed her.

“Do you know who this is?” he growled. “He’s the Elect who broke my nose. The one who should be dead right now.”

He returned his gaze to Grayson. Rylee could see the veins in Preston’s hands bulge as he tightened his grip on the gun. This was not the calm and collected Preston she knew so well. This was the Preston who had given way to pure anger. Anger over a ruthlessly murdered brother. Over a father who had beat him again and again because of it. The one Preston had suppressed for years.

“I know,” Rylee said, as steadily as she could manage, as she took a few cautious steps forward.

“You know?” Preston snapped, adjusting his grip on the pistol. The muscles in his jaw hardened. “Then what is he doing here?”

“Please, put the gun down, Preston. I can explain.”

“Explain what? That you have an Elect in your house? And you knew about it!”

“He helped us.”

“Helped you? Him?”

Rylee moved in closer. She was halfway across the room to where Preston stood. If she could just get there before he did anything rash…

“He kept my grandfather from getting taken by the Regulators this morning. You can’t hurt him. He’s not like the other Elects. He’s…good.” Even as the word fell from her lips, she couldn’t believe she was the one who said it.

She moved closer. Almost there.

“Good.” Preston spat the word. “He’s an Elect, Ry. They’re all bad. His kind killed my brother, just because they could—just for fun. And you’re trying to tell me this one’s your friend now? I found him sleeping in your bed. Is he your lover, too?”

“No, Preston, he’s not.” A few more steps. Gently, she touched his back. “He’s just…it’s complicated. Please, just leave him alone.”

Preston dropped the gun and turned to her. His eyes looked into hers. In them she no longer saw anger. No, the anger had been replaced by something much worse. Pain.

“Fine,” he said, pulling away from her. “Keep your Elect boyfriend.”

Shoving his pistol back into its holster at his waist, Preston pushed passed her toward the door. Rylee grabbed his arm to stop him, but he yanked it away.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said. Preston didn’t stop. “Don’t leave.”

Just before he reached the door, Preston paused and spoke over his shoulder. “I thought you trusted me, Ry. We could tell each other anything.” He reached for the door handle and turned it. “I guess I was wrong.”

“Preston, don’t…”

But it was no use. He was gone.

Her stomach felt sick. How had she let this happen? Had Preston discovered Grayson yesterday, she would have gladly watched him pull the trigger.

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.