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“You’ve gotta tell her.”
“No.”
“Yes. Or, you need to keep your distance.”
“And if I don’t? I’ve already told you what I’m willing to lose.”
“Yeah...I know.” He wasn’t happy about it. “I won’t ask you to choose. But what happens if she finds out? How long has her memory even been gone?”
“I’d assume a few weeks, based on some of the stuff she said last night in bed.” I rubbed my tired eyes before taking a sip of the coffee I brought along.
I’d seen every hour of the clock last night, and Cat had seen a lot of them, too. She told me she remembered the leaves being orange but nothing before that. A hint that her memory disappeared sometime in the Fall. Not all that long ago. She only knew she’d been there so long and knew of some of the stuff she and the girls had gone through as a collective because they’d scorned her for fighting against it and reminded her of past punishments.
I couldn’t think of that, or I’d be half tempted to leave those girls behind.
“She isn’t well, Ollie. Aside from the memory loss, she has a heart defect and had a heart attack. I am not telling her about our past because I’m all she has right now, and you’re right in thinking she won’t want to be anywhere near me if she knows.”
“Give her some respect, Remi. Don’t fool her into thinking you’re something you’re not.”
“But I’m not the person I was. You know that.”
“True. But I still think you should keep your distance. For her sake and yours.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you told me before things got worse when she took away her love. If you pursue this, and her memory comes back, will history repeat itself? Will she end up abused and hating you and left in some field? And will you end up numbing all the shit you feel inside with unconventional approaches?”
I was ready to cut in and interrupt Ollie, but a raised hand shut me up.
“I know you think I’m doing this to spite you. I’m not. I’m trying to protect you both, and—”
“I know.” I really did. “But, Ollie. You don’t always make the right decisions when you try to protect your brothers. Look what happened with Jolie. I won’t let that be Cat.”
A message flashed on my phone screen. It was a response from Kate.
Stop worrying, Remington. You only left five minutes ago Cat is okay. She’s in the bathroom, washing her hair, but she was happy for me to wait in your room.
Our van—one of many vehicles that stayed hidden in our garage until we needed them for something like this—turned onto the narrow road that led to Rothbart’s manor, and my skin turned cold beneath another of my hoodies.
I lost the hood the second we pulled onto this land. I had no one to hide from here.
“Slow down.”
Ollie followed my command, rolling slower until he stopped.
The road ahead was long and bendy. Joseph’s truck no longer blocked the road. It was now in my backyard. But Llewrehtom's orange truck was down in the bank, somewhere close to where his brother’s body should still be.
I jumped from the van. “There’ll be a body around here somewhere.”
Ollie followed, moving around me when he saw the truck wrapped around a tree.
“Tell me the hag is inside, and it’ll make my day.” I dropped down the bank, my boots taking the impact much better than Woodrow’s sneakers, which I’d tossed away. I hadn’t told him yet. I’d order a new pair and pray he didn’t notice.
“I wouldn’t call her a hag.” Ollie’s eyes looked sad. His fingers pushed back the hair covering a young woman’s face. “She can’t be much older than sixteen or seventeen.”
Fast footsteps scooted me through the trees, and I met him at the side of the mangled vehicle. The door was missing, ripped completely off.
A girl was inside, and blood was wrapped around her like a blanket of death. Piss soaked the seat beneath her, either from fear or from her tiny malnourished body giving in to death.
