The Revealed Page 9

  I push on his face, but he’s much stronger than I am. He ducks out of my hold and moves his lips over my neck.

  “Don’t! I have to find Rory.” I shove away from him.

  Now I’m scrambling to get out of his grip with all of my might, but every move I make seems ineffectual and weak.

  “Stop! No!”

  He’s too strong and the alcohol has made my struggles even more pathetically worthless.

  “Hey!” A voice breaks through the haze.

  Before I even know what’s happening, the guy is ripped off of me. I hear something that sounds like a body hitting the ground. I grip the railing, sucking in air. Rory steps over the guy groaning on the ground. “I’ve just spent the last twenty minutes searching this place for you! You can’t just walk off like that! Do you know how worried I was? And—apparently—I had good reason to be.”

  No amount of air can stop everything around me from spinning.

  Rory wraps her arm around me, lifting me up. “It’s time to go.”

  I look down at the ground, where the guy is still curled in a ball, whimpering.

  “Where’d you come from, Wonder Woman?” I ask.

  “He’ll be fine. Just a little lesson on how not to treat a lady. Are you okay?”

  I shake my head no.

  “Yeah,” she nods, “you don’t look so good.”

  Rory helps me walk to the front door, though we quickly decide that isn’t the best way to leave. There are hordes of people still milling around. And I, especially, know that people means cameras and cameras mean pictures.

  “Let’s try the back door.” Rory quickly steers me in the other direction.

  “Perfect!” I throw my hands in the air and nearly lose my balance in the process.

  “Come on.” Rory rolls her eyes. “I think we can get out through the kitchen in the back. I can’t believe I agreed to this,” she adds under her breath.

  “Can I help you?” A manager stops us before the door.

  I shake my head. “We’re leaving.”

  “The exit is the other way,” the manager points back at the masses of people.

  “Look,” Rory tries to reason with him, “we’re just trying to get home. I thought I saw an exit back here and there are a lot of people up there and—”

  “I’m sorry,” the manager says, holding up his hand, “this exit is for employees and emergencies only.”

  He has no idea who I am, which is a good thing. But also a bad thing because if he makes us go out front, somebody may take advantage of the photo opportunity. Drooping eyes, running mascara, disheveled shirt—I’m not ready for a close-up.

  It’s better if I just fill him in. “You don’t know who I—”

  Rory quickly scrambles to cut me off. “Can’t you just make an exception?”

  I glare at her. If she’d just let me tell him, he’d let us out. After all, he doesn’t look like the negotiating type.

  My stomach rolls. “I don’t feel so good.” I turn away from Rory, with the intention of finding the bathroom. I just need to sit down for a minute.

  I stumble. Hands grip me, catching me and propping me up.

  All I see are green-and-gold eyes. His hair falls into his face as he stares down at me with inquisitive concern. At first I think I’m hallucinating. But alcohol doesn’t cause hallucinations. Right?

  “Mr. Westerfield,” the manager says in surprise, “I didn’t realize you would be here tonight or else we would have reserved you a room.”

  “Vince, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Kai?” He pauses to make sure Vince knows he’s sincere. “I was just leaving and these two are with me. I have the car waiting in back.”

  “Of course, of course. My apologies. I didn’t realize.” Vince moves aside.

  “I am not with you,” I shove Kai, but end up wobbling myself. He catches my wrist. When I try to wiggle away, he responds by scooping me up into his arms in one fluid motion.

  “What does that mean?” he asks Rory over his shoulder as I shove against his chest. He needs to put me down. He’s ruining everything.

  “She knows you planted that story in the papers,” Rory says, grabbing the door.

  Kai stops in his tracks, “That I, what?”

  My hand stops on his chest and my eyes go wide as I realize I’m touching him. His shirt cuts into a short V and my eyes are level with the smooth lines of his sun-kissed skin.

  “Put me down!” I push him again. I just need air. If I can just sit down for a minute, I’ll be fine.

  “Please,” Rory waves a hand, “the one of you two in the fields. I have to say, Kai, I know we just met and everything, but I really thought you were better than that.”

  We walk back outside where a car is idling, like Kai said.

  “Put me down!” I repeat because neither of them seems to be listening to me. “I’m fine!”

  “You don’t smell fine,” Kai says pointedly.

  “Oh, right,” I roll my eyes, “like you’re the poster child for good behavior.” And for some reason I find that so amusing that I begin to giggle. The giggle turns into a laugh, and I can’t stop. I cover my mouth and fall back in Kai’s arms, laughing at my little joke.

  He takes me out to the car and puts me in the passenger side.

  “You’re going to sober up,” he tells me sternly. “Then we’re going to talk.”

  “I never want to talk to you again,” I turn my face from him. “Why are you even here?” I push on Kai’s stomach as he leans over me to buckle me in like a child. “I don’t want to see you.”

  “Well, that isn’t really an option after your father called mine tonight demanding to know where you were. Apparently, he thought you’d snuck out with me again.”

  I can’t hide my horror. “My father called you! They were supposed to be out all evening!”

  “I’m so dead,” Rory groans behind me.

  “No, you’re not,” I wave her off with a sigh. “It’s fine.”

  “Lily! Do you have any idea what will happen if they find out I was with you tonight?” Rory’s voice goes up an octave.

  “Don’t worry,” Kai tells her, “I’ll take the fall for this one. I’ll just say I lied when I told my father Lily wasn’t with me. I’ll make up something about how I didn’t want to get her into trouble or some story like that.”

  All Rory does is swallow roughly and nod. I can see the fear on her face. She knows as well as I do that Kai can practically get away with murder. The only repercussion he might face would be a verbal admonition, if that. Rory on the other hand, wouldn’t be so lucky.

  I don’t want her to be afraid. “See. It’s fine.”

  “Do you have your car here?” Kai asks Rory.

  She nods. “It’s parked out front.”

  “Take a cab.” He hands her a wad of cash. “We’ll worry about the car in the morning. I’ll take care of Lily until she sobers up and then have her back at her house before her father can call the CIA to have me assassinated.”

  “Like hell you will!” I cut in defiantly. “Rory, you can’t leave me here with him.”

  Rory gives me a sidelong glance. She knows what happened between Kai and me. But I also know she still has a soft spot for the guy after their interlude here a few weeks ago.

  “I’ll take a cab,” I tell her. “I can just take a cab with you.”

  “That sounds even less like a good idea,” she tells me.

  Rory watches me carefully as I weigh my options.

  At this point, it doesn’t really seem like I have a choice. Either I stay with Kai or Rory gets fired. I can’t allow my best friend to take the fall for this. I hate Kai. That’s a given, but I don’t think he’s a murderer.

  “Fine,” I grumble.

  “Are you sure?” Rory asks.

  “I’ll call in an hour though,” I say. “If I don’t, assume it’s his fault and feel free to call my father’s security.”

  Rory raises an eyebrow, but agrees to the cal
l.

  “There’s water,” Kai gestures to the unopened bottle between the front seats. I don’t look at him. He doesn’t push it, and walks Rory to the back door of the club, asking Vince to hail her a cab.

  Returning to the car, Kai shuts the passenger door for me and gets behind the wheel. He doesn’t start the engine right away. “How did you get here?” he asks, and his cheeks wrinkle with amusement.

  I don’t answer. I don’t want to talk to him. I just want him to take me home and cover for Rory.

  “I’ve got time.” Kai throws the keys up on the dashboard and leans back in his seat. So much for getting the hint. “You have some sobering up to do anyways.”

  I don’t make eye contact with him. The silence stretches out between us. It’s so quiet that I can hear him breathing next to me.

  I rub my eyes and then stuff my hands under my arms and slink down in the seat. My vision is too fuzzy, but when I close my eyes everything starts to spin.

  It’s too hot. I shove my cheek against the window. Being in this car with him is making my blood boil. I don’t want to be here with him. He tricked me. He lied to me. Again, he made me feel more inferior than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. The fact that he holds such power over my emotions is terrifying.

  When he finally speaks, I nearly jump at the sound of his voice. “I didn’t leak that story.”

  I clamp my jaw tightly, and refuse to look at him. But I can feel his expression reaching out to me, demanding that I believe his words. Why does it matter so much to him what I think?

  The silence falls over us again. I wrench the water bottle from its place in his middle console and take a long swig. It helps to cool the burning in my stomach.

  “Damn it, Lily!” He hits his hand against the steering wheel and I flinch. “I’m not my father!”

  I can’t take it anymore and get out of the car, slamming the door as I go. I stumble a bit before realizing this isn’t the best idea and lean my back against the alley wall, closing my eyes. The spinning returns so I force them open again really wishing I’d brought that water with me.

  A few seconds later, I hear the car door open and Kai’s footsteps walking toward me. He marches right up to me, and I can hear his hands clap against the wall next to my shoulders as he steps right in front of me.

  I stare down at the street.

  “Look at me,” he says, his voice rough, close to my face.

  I shake my head, keeping my eyes on my feet.

  “Look at me.”

  “You’re just saying all of these things, and I can’t think.” I press my hands over my forehead.

  “You feel like all of your life people have treated you like something you’re not, that you’ve always been in your father’s shadow. Do you think you’re alone? I’m not him. I’d never do something like plant that story.”

  Slowly, I allow my eyes to meet his, which are unwavering and so sincere. It’s as if he wants me to believe him because it will counteract all those times people have accused him of being just like his father, as though my one opinion will matter that much.

  This is too much.

  “Can you just take me home?”

  His hands slip from the wall and he stands up. His eyes don’t leave mine. “Yeah,” he finally concedes. “I can take you home.”

  We walk back to his car and this time he turns on the ignition immediately. He quickly pulls onto the street, driving the familiar route to my house. I call Jeremy on my way home to let him know I’m coming, and he’s waiting for me at the gate when we arrive. The only light overhead is the lamp, which bathes everything in a soft, white hue. Around us, it’s pitch black and silent; only a light breeze disturbs the complete stillness.

  Kai parks in front of the gate and gets out of the car with me. “This was my fault.” Kai puts up his hands as though he’s surrendering. “Lily and I just lost track of time and—”

  “Noble,” Jeremy says and sighs. “But I, at least, know better by now, Mr. Westerfield. Lily is her own person. She went out tonight because she wanted to, not because you or anyone else convinced her.”

  I actually like hearing Jeremy say that.

  “I wouldn’t,” Jeremy says, raising an eyebrow at my reaction, clearly too plain on my face. “Your parents will, no doubt, agree. You aren’t in for good times.”

  That definitely makes my expression fade.

  Jeremy opens the gate for me and holds out a hand to usher me inside.

  I pause. “Will you give me just a minute, Jer?”

  His hands drop. “A very quick one.” He emphasizes “very.”

  I walk back to Kai, still standing at the door of his car. I meet his gaze unsurely. “I want to trust you … about the story.”

  “I want you to trust me.”

  “Good.” Maybe it’s the alcohol that’s making me brave. Maybe it’s my desire to believe the best in everyone or the sincerity behind his expression. He did, after all, cover for Rory tonight. I breathe, “One more chance.”

  He nods and his eyes light up with surprise. “Saturday. Can I see you tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be lucky if my parents don’t want to keep me locked inside until I’m twenty after the stunt I pulled tonight,” I sigh.

  “Here,” he grabs a pen from the center console along with a scrap piece of paper and quickly jots something down. “I’ll wait for you. Ten a.m.”

  He gives me the paper with his phone number scrawled across.

  “I don’t think—”

  “Come on Lily,” Jeremy calls.

  “I’ll be here. I’ll wait,” he tells me resolutely.

  I lower my voice, “I’ll try.”

  But Jeremy isn’t quite finished yet. “Mr. Westerfield,” he calls to Kai before he can get into his car.

  Kai turns back.

  “I just want to remind you of the repercussions if you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone—”

  “It’s okay.” I put a hand on Jeremy’s arm to stop him. “He won’t say anything. I trust him.” I glance back at Kai and meet his gaze again. This is his chance to prove he deserves it. “Goodnight.”

  My mother and father are waiting in the entryway.

  “Go upstairs. Go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.” My mother’s eyes are hollow.

  My father stays quiet, his expression dark.

  “I—”

  “Do not,” my father says sullenly, “even try to rationalize your behavior this evening. This,” he waves his hand at me, “is not the daughter I raised.”

  His comment takes me off guard like a punch to the stomach. Tears well in my eyes because they don’t understand. I can’t make them understand what’s happening to me.

  So I just brush past them both and go to my room.

  I collapse onto my bed and scream into my pillow. I’ve never done it before. It was always something in movies that seemed juvenile. But now I understand. The emotions in me have been bottled up for way too long without anyone hearing them. And I need someone to hear me, to listen.

  My parents are not those people.

  A sharp ring snaps me from my stupor.

  I sigh as I realize it’s just my cell phone. The blue light dances next to me as Rory’s name pops up on the screen.

  I pick up the call. “Hi, Rory,” I sigh into the receiver.

  “Lily,” she sounds exasperated, as though she’s been watching the clock for the past hour counting down the minutes until she could call.

  “Sorry,” I mutter.

  “Are you home?”

  “Mm-hmm,” I say. “Just faced the parents. They want to kill me.”

  “I might just strangle you too! You didn’t call! I was getting worried!”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, without the strength to make it wholehearted. I just need sleep.

  “And Kai was a gentleman?”

  “If that’s what you want to call him,” I murmur. “He didn’t plant that article. I mean, I don’t think he did. It’s confusing.”
>
  “Hmm,” she muses, “sounds like someone’s interested again.”

  “I wasn’t ever interested.”

  She laughs into the phone.

  “It’s Kai Westerfield. I can’t be interested.”

  “We always want what we can’t have.”

  “No,” I whine. She sees through me too easily. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Fine. Not tonight. We’ll talk more tomorrow. After tonight, I can only imagine the sleep you need.”

  “Yup, you too. Goodnight.”

  I click the phone shut. Lazily, I open my eyes and stare out at the moon. But it’s half-blocked by something taped to my window.

  What the….

  As if this night couldn’t get any worse.

  It’s a small black square.

  The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. My stomach rolls over, tossing the alcohol.

  I can see the silver crescent symbol in the center sparkling against the moonlight.

  My throat tightens as I rip off the sheets, stumble to the window, and tear the back of the envelope open. In my panic, my movements are hurried and clumsy.

  April 13

  My sleepiness goes right out with the breeze. April 13 is my birthday. The letter seems to make it clear that I won’t be reaching my birthday next year.

  It’s all I can do to reach the bathroom before spilling the contents of my stomach in the toilet. As if tonight wasn’t already rough, I spend the remainder of it huddled with my back against the wall on the bathroom floor, the note clutched in my fist.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Daggers.

  There are little daggers stabbing their way around the back of my eyes.

  I try to blink away the pain but it stays with me. I groan as I reach for my clock. It’s still morning. I’ve never been one to sleep away the day, though today very well could have been the exception.

  In my bathroom, I find two Advil and slam them back without a second thought before making my way to the kitchen.

  My mother’s voice carries through the foyer before I see her and my dad in the dining room. I grip my head as the stabbing returns.

  “Marg called this morning,” she says. “She’s backing Roderick.”

  My father is still here, which is surprising. He answers, “Even after the gala? Did she say why?”