Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t stare straight into the eyes of anyone wearing a gold mask for a little too longjust in case. But Sebastian wasn’t behind any of them.
“Mmm I would have waited for you guys to get back,” I tell her. “I’m sure you’re tired, and now you’re doing all this for me?”
“No way. It’s your big day, and we love you. Let me do this, River. You go sit with Teagan.”
“Here you go,” River says, setting one of the Bloody Marys in her hands in front of me before sitting on the stool beside me. “Extra bloody for you.”
“Thank you,” I tell her before taking a drink.
She smiles, leaning in and kissing me. She runs her tongue over my top lip before pulling away. “You had a little something right there. Are you nervous?”
“Yeah, kind of. I’m kind of worried it’ll sound like they hated methat’ll hurt my feelings.”
“I’m sure that won’t happen,” River says.
“And if it does, then fuck them,” Hazel says, brushing her now-blue hair away from her face. “They missed out on you. It’s their loss.”
“Thanks what’s that?” I ask, my eyes settling on an old hardcover book on the counter behind her.
“Oh here.” Hazel turns, grabs the book, and sets it in front of me. “I’m pretty sure you already have this one, but Declan said it was for you and to bring it home. It was sitting on the table at the safe house in Moscow when we got there.”
I run my fingers over the front of the tattered cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.
Maybe it is for me.
I open the book to the first chapter. Circled letters spell out the words I love you, Teagan. Tears well in my eyes. The rest of the book is annotated with his favorite quotes. That’s what he said I washis favorite song or favorite quote from a book.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Declan asks.
I close the book, set it down on the counter in front of me, and nod. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
He wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly against him. I blink once, letting the tears fall quietly and discreetly, soaking into the fabric of his shirt.
“We all love you, kitten,” he says.
“I know.”
“Missed you, Riv,” Declan says, kissing her forehead before he walks into the kitchen. “What have you guys been up to?”
“The usual,” she says. “There’s been a lot of tourists around lately, though. A few have wandered onto our beach, so we’ve been hanging out by the pool.”
“And practicing guitar,” I tell him. “I’m getting pretty good.”
“One of you needs to learn drums,” he says.
“And Teagan is teaching me how to swim,” River says.
“No,” Luca says, finally emerging from the bedroom. Most of the time, he still uses a cane, and he can’t run anymore. But he isn’t in pain, and he can stay on his feet. He swims laps in the pool, and there’s a gym for him downstairs. His workouts have changed a lot, but he’s able to do enough to help keep him sane. And he isfor the most partsane. “I’ve seen these so-called swimming lessons. It’s just two brats playing with each other’s pussies in the shallow end of the pool. River’s not learning shit.”
“I resent that,” River says. “I can backstroke now.”
“I’m sure you can,” Luca says. “You can show me that later, Riv.”
“Breakfast is ready,” Hazel says. “What time is it?”
“It starts in ten minutes,” Declan tells her. “You guys go ahead and get your food. I’ll make sure the TV is ready.”
“I’ll make you a plate, too,” Hazel tells him. She places her hands on either side of his face and kisses his lips.
“Thanks,” he says before leaving the kitchen.
After we all make our plates and Bloody Marys, we head out to the living room. The main living space in our home is beautifulcompletely open with light bamboo flooring. The back of the room is made up of folding window doors leading out to a large patio, a fenced-in backyard, a hot tub, and a pool with a waterslide.
Those doors are wide open now. A light breeze moves through the house, rustling through the palms outside, and it smells like saltwater.
“I need to sit by you for this,” I tell Declan once he gets the TV ready.
I’m going to need my port for this one.
“All right,” he says, sinking into an oversized armchair. He pats the space beside him. “Come here, Teag.”
I sit beside him and begin eating my breakfast. The girls and Luca all sit on the sofa; Hazel sets a plate and a drink for Declan on the table beside him as she passes.
And then I hear my name on the television. My heart drops into my stomach.
“And now, on Dateline Investigates Bloodlust: The Teagan Townsend Story.”
I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat. I set my food aside and cover my mouth with my hands.
An old photo of me with River and Hazel flashes across the screen.
“Oh my god!” River says. “It’s us! That’s from my Instagram. We look cute.”
“We do look cute,” Hazel agrees.
“They could have been a little more creative with the name,” I say.
It opens with an interviewer sitting across from my parents, Blakely, and Austin.
In Blakely’s lap is a chubby baby girl, old enough to sit up, but it doesn’t look like she has any teeth yet. She’s wearing denim overalls and a pink shirt with lace around the sleeves and has maybe an inch of dirty blonde hair in ringlets.
“She has a baby,” I say softly. “She’s a mom.”
“You’re an auntie, Teag,” River says.
I offer her a smile. But I’m not an auntienot really. I’m dead.
Declan wraps his arms around me and kisses the side of my head. “If you need to pause it or take a break, let me know.”
“I’m okay,” I tell him.
“This is an extraordinary story,” the interviewer says, “of how a quiet girl from the California suburbs went from a true crime obsession to becoming entangled in one of the most disturbing cults of our time and, eventually, met her untimely demise.”
“Really? Most disturbing?” Declan says. “I can think of a thousand things more disturbing than our family.”
“Shh,” Hazel says as more photos flash across the screen. “You’re ruining my program. Ah! It’s us again!”
“Tell me a little bit about Teagan. What was she like as a child?”
My mom is the one who answers. “She was a good kid. I mean, she wasn’t like Blakely. She wasn’t involved with sports or extracurricular activities. She was quiet, kept to herself. She spent most of her time in her room, reading books or writing stories. Her grades were good, but she didn’t care about school. She didn’t have a lot of friends after elementary school, but for the most part, the other kids ignored her or left her alone.”
“Until they didn’t,” Blakely says.
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.