Dad scoops the knife off the bloody carpet with one hand and fists his other into her hair. He presses the tip to her forehead. “This what you wanted? What was your plan? Gonna slit your old man’s throat?”
I curl into a ball and press my eyelids shut tight when a trickle of blood starts down Destiny’s forehead. My heart’s pounding in my throat, choking off my scream.
I didn’t save her. Dad is going to kill us both.
But then there’s an earsplitting crack.
I open my eyes and Mom’s standing behind Dad. She’s wobbly on her feet, and barely more than a skeleton, with sunken, red rimmed eyes and cracked lips. But in her hand is a crow bar, and on the floor is my dad, blood pouring from a dent in his head just over his right ear.
She drops to the floor on her knees. “Get cleaned up,” she says. “Get dressed and go. I got this.”
The scene fades and I blink, not sure how much I said out loud.
“Lilah?” Mary asks. “What did you recall?”
“Nothing.” I say, an uncontrollable tremor shaking my body.
“I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”
I feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train. I hurt all over, and I’m shaking so hard I can barely speak. “My friend is in the parking lot. I need him.”
She looks at me a long time before gaining her feet. “I’ll walk you out.”
Chapter 31
Bran
When I see Lilah walking toward me through the drizzle with an older woman, I stride in their direction.
“Are you okay?” I ask when I reach her. She’s pale, and looks shell shocked.
She nods but doesn’t say anything.
I loop an arm around her shoulder and start guiding her to my car.
“I’ll look for you next Saturday, Lilah,” the woman says to her back. “Please don’t miss.”
She doesn’t respond.
I help her into my car, then get us the hell out of here. Once we’re away from the hospital, I pull to the side of the road. “Talk to me Lilah.”
She shakes her head. “I need to talk to Destiny.”
Something happened in there and my natural instinct is to protect her, but I can’t protect her from her own demons.
When we get to her apartment, I walk her up. I know the situation with Destiny might still be delicate, but Lilah’s pretty out of it and I’m not going to chance her breaking her neck on those steep stairs. I know that was the right call when she leans on me for support when we reach the top. She opens the door and I follow her through, my arm firmly around her waist. Destiny is on the couch, Mom’s old TV playing a The Big Bang Theory rerun. When she sees me there’s a flash of anger in her eyes…until she gets a look at her sister. She’s off the couch like a shot, crossing the room to us.
“What happened to her?” she demands.
“That’s Lilah’s place to tell you,” I say.
I start to turn Lilah over to her sister, but she wraps her arms around me and presses her face into my neck. “Thank you,” she whispers. She holds me for several beats of my pounding heart before her grip loosens, but it’s a moment longer before I can force my arms to let her go.
I kiss the top of her head, then draw back. “You two have some things to deal with, and I don’t want to make that harder on you than it has to be, but just know, I’ll always be here if there’s anything you need.” I lift my eyes to Destiny’s. “Both of you.”
I turn for the door and head down the stairs to my car. It’s Saturday and I need to get to the bar. But I can’t help looking up at Lilah’s window before I get in, hoping she and Destiny will be able to help each other through whatever this is.
Chapter 32
Lilah
I watch the door well after Bran is gone. Destiny sits next to me on the couch and combs her fingers through my hair and I still watch the spot where he was.
“Bran took me to my appointment with Mary,” I finally say.
Her hand stops.
I clear my throat. “I know Dad isn’t in jail.”
She sighs and shakes her head cautiously. “How much did you remember?” she asks.
I face her. “All of it.”
Her face crumples.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, my voice lowering.
“You were so young, and you’d blocked it all out. I didn’t want you to remember. I wanted you to be able to grow up without being haunted by that memory.”
“Is that why we ran? Why you told me not to look back?”
“Think about it, Lilah. People died. I didn’t know what was going to happen with the house…if it was going to burn the bodies or if they would know what happened.”
“Do they know?”
“That Dad and that guy were dead before the fire?” She shakes her head. “I watched the news and never saw anything. I guess they figured a couple of tweakers dying in a meth fire wasn’t unusual. They probably didn’t even investigate.”
“What about Mom?”
Her lip curls. “What about her?”
“Is she really in jail?”
She nods. “She belongs there, Lilah. She stopped being our mother then day she started using.”
“But they don’t know she killed Dad?”
“No.”