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Fuck.
I felt like everything was crumbling. But it wasn’t my fault. They wouldn’t listen. And now Raine Wickford was getting more aggressive.
Poe cradled his head in his hands. “I’m sorry, Bailey. This is my fault. Fuck. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not safe here anymore,” I whispered. Raine could get to me anywhere in this house. But what scared me more was my pull to him. Maybe I wanted him to get to me.
Poe rushed to me, and I let him wrap his arms around me. Maybe because he was the only one who wasn’t angry with me for getting assaulted. “Don’t say that, little fox. You know we will protect you. I’ll fix this. I promise.”
My old friend shame began to creep back into my veins. That feeling of being alone and misunderstood was threatening to pull me under and drown me once again.
I nodded, but I was retreating within. I needed to shut down if I was going to survive this. “I’m going to shower and then I’m going to pack a bag.”
He cupped my face in his hands, desperation running wild in his eyes. “Bailey, no, please don’t leave. We can figure this out.”
“Oh, my sweet, Poe. I know if anyone can it’s you. I’m not running away I just need to clear my head. Maureen has been bugging me about a girls’ night anyway. I still have the keys to my old house. It will just be for a night or two.”
He let out a deep sigh. “All right, my love. I promise everything will be better when you get back. You have my word.”
I brushed a strand of hair off his forehead. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed for the front door, which was being blocked by Grim. “Bailey, wait.”
My eyelids fluttered. He was so fucking beautiful. Even when he was angry. “I just need some space.”
He ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “Don’t forget who you belong to when you’re out there.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is that what you call an apology? Fuck off, Grim. Would it kill you to say something sweet for once?”
He stepped into me and pressed his cold palm to my chest. “Nothing can kill me because I’m already dead. And you know I don’t do sweet, Bailey. You’re lucky I’m even letting you walk out of here.”
I shook my head and snickered. “You’re not the only one who’s ever felt trauma or pain or had a shitty fucked up life. But you’re the only one who seems to think that entitles you to act like a fucking prick. I love you, Grim. Maybe try to figure out if that means anything to you while I’m gone.”
His lip quivered and his breath hitched. We stared at each other for so long, I thought we would never stop. And then he stepped back. “Go… before I lock you in my room and show you what it means to be loved by me.”
I looked around once more, hoping that Saint would come to say goodbye. He didn’t. I fought back the urge to cry as I walked out the door. Maybe things that are too good to be true are just a lie.
I called Maureen on my way into town. I had to pick up some supplies for the house and told her to meet me at the store. I hadn’t been back to my old place since I’d left. We would need food, and I was going to need lots of fucking alcohol. She was so excited to spend a night with me, it broke my heart that I couldn’t match her level of excitement. I was happy to spend a drunken night with my best friend but the shit that just went down at Wickford dampened my mood like a dark cloud.
I pulled up in front of the market and hopped out, eager to get this little shopping trip over with. As I perused the aisles, the whispers and stares commenced. Didn’t these fucking people have anything better to do? They looked at me like I was the devil. And for what? Because I bought an old house with inheritance money? I get that my life was strange, but I’d never been anything but kind and polite to them.
I went straight to the wine aisle first, placing four bottles of red in my cart. I eyed a bottle of tequila for a few seconds before throwing two of them in as well. Fuck it. Twenty minutes later, I had stocked my cart with all my favorite snacks: chips and dip, cookies, frozen pizza, fancy cheeses, crackers, and of course eggs and bacon for breakfast tomorrow. I couldn’t cook like Poe, but I did live on my own for most of my adult life. I knew how to make a few decent meals.
There was still no sign of Maureen by the time I reached the checker. That girl would be late to her own funeral someday. I chuckled to myself. I was already feeling lighter at the thought of getting drunk and eating junk food with my best friend. Sleepovers at her house when we were younger were still some of my favorite memories. No matter how old we got, we still acted like silly teenagers when we got together. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until now.
The checker pursed her lips at me as she rang everything up. “Problem?” I asked.
She was maybe eighteen years old with bottle- blonde hair and long pointy pink fingernails. I remembered her from elementary school. Quiet, shy girl until she discovered drugs and booze. Now she had the audacity to look at me with judgment?
She rolled her eyes as she scanned the last item. “That’ll be one fifty-two, ninety-seven.”
I snickered as I inserted my credit card into the machine. “Sure. Whatever.”
The guy bagging my groceries threw her a look. She cleared her throat. “Is it true your house is haunted?”
I punched in my pin number and sighed. “This whole town is haunted.”
Her eyes widened. “What is that supposed to mean?”
