Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
And Eli left, too. And I know that hurt them both.
“Good morning, Teagan,” Hazel says as they hurry past me.
“She was mad at me, too,” Luca says once we’re inside our room. “About Heidi. She’ll get over it. She’s just a gentle soul. She doesn’t understand why we all can’t just get along.”
“So, I take it she’s never met your masked friends or been to one of their parties.”
He laughs. “Oh, god no. But Haze has been with Declan. You two have something else in common now, too.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ve both killed someone for hurting someone you love.”
For Riv, then. It has to be Riverthey met when they were young. And in foster care.
And River is afraid of men.
“It’s not my story to tell,” Luca says, likely sensing the wheels turning in my head. “But she forgave me even though I’m not the good guy.”
“I’m not the good guy, either,” I tell him.
“Maybe not,” he says. “But you’re my guardian angel even if I don’t deserve it. That’s worth something, right?”
I don’t answer, pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before clearing out the bathroom. I’m not sure if he’s right or not, but I was just trying to save the person I love. Even if the person I love isn’t the good guy.
“River still loves you, Teagan. Just give her space; our family will be okay.”
I force a smile in his direction. “I love you, Luca.”
“I love you, too.”
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St. Louis and Chicago.
That’s it. Two more stops, and then we get to go home. Maybe Declan will even change his mind and let us take a vacationmaybe we can all go. River and Hazel, Brady and Rhett, too.
A private island or a city we could get lost in. Maybe River would smile again, and Luca and I could sneak off and get married like he said. We’d get to have our secreta secret that doesn’t feel like a rock in the pit of my stomach.
One that’s only for us.
River isn’t smiling now, though. She leans against Hazel’s shoulder with her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. We still have nine hours left of this driveI can’t just sit here, staring at her, waiting for her to look at me.
I’m tired. We’re all tired. Luca and Rhett have tried to start some sort of conversation a couple of times each, but it didn’t take. And Declan has been on the phone since we left the hotel.
“I’m tired. I’m going to lie down in the back,” I tell them.
After I slip off my shoes and pull the covers over my body, I hear the door creak open.
Luca moves into the space beside me. “I’m tired, too,” he says. “Can you open this for me, Teag?”
He removes a bottle of pills from the front pocket of his hoodie and hands them to me.
“Sure.”
I open the bottle and hand it back to him, and he washes two white pills down with water. “Do you want one?” he asks. “It’ll help you sleep.”
“No, thanks,” I tell him. “I’ll pass on the drugs this time.”
The door opens and closes again, and River crawls into bed on the other side of Luca.
“I’m tired, too,” River says. “I’m not mad at you, Teagan. It’s not your fault; this is just how I process things. I need to be quiet and alone. Okay?”
“See?” Luca says. “I told you so.”
“It kind of is your fault, Luca,” she says.
“Oh well live and learn,” he says.
“Live and” She pauses, sighing. “No, you know what? It’s over.”
“Thanks for telling me,” I say. “I was scared.”
“Good night, Teagan,” she says, forcing a smile that doesn’t touch her eyes.
“Okay,” I tell her. “Good night.”
Luca wraps his good arm around me and kisses me on the forehead, and River pulls the covers up to her chin and burrows in on his bad side.
I don’t think I’ll actually be able to fall asleep, but it’s okay. I’m content just existingknowing I’m not alone and listening to them breathe.
But I’m wrong. The rise and fall of Luca’s chest quickly lulls my tired, aching body to sleep.
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When I wake again, it’s dark inside the cabin and Luca is no longer at my side. I prop myself onto my elbows and see both River and Hazel asleep in the bed.
Looking out the dark window, a sense of dread washes over me.
We should have been there by now. It shouldn’t be dark.
“River,” I say, nudging her. “Wake up.”
“Hmm?” she says. “Are we there yet?”
“No,” I tell her. I grab my phone from the side pocket of my bag. “And it’s after ten. We should have been there by seven.”
“We must have hit traffic,” Hazel says. “Jesus, we slept all day.”
I swing my legs over the side of the bed and make my way over to the window. “We’re back in the mountains,” I say.
“So?” Hazel asks.
“So, there aren’t mountains in St. Louis,” River says. “She’s right. Something’s going on.”
I push open the door to the main cabin and find Brady sitting alone with a beer in his hand.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “Where are they? Where are we going?”
“They’re upstairs,” he says. “Don’t go up there. We’re going home.”
As much as I want to be relieved, I know better. I can feel it in my bones.
“Why?” I ask. “What happened?”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.