known her forever, and she’s never once mentioned you.”
“Adam, please—” Kurt propped himself against the hood of Mrs. Lewis’ car. “She obviously told him where she was, Jonathan.”
“Get off my mom’s car, man. I get a dent in the hood, I’m dead.”
Kurt grinned.
“Does your mother know where you are, young man?” Cromwell asked.
“Who wants to know?” Adam was frowning at Kurt.
“He knows too much, Jonathan.” Kurt pushed off the car.
“What?” My heart thrummed. “He doesn’t know anything.”
“I know enough,” Adam cut in. “Enough to know you’re all a bunch of freaks living in the middle of nowhere.”
“Adam, shut up!” I yelled.
His gaze flickered at me as he started digging in his pocket. He pulled out his cell. “Em, is Olivia really here? I’m calling the police.”
Several things happened at once.
“Wipe him,” Cromwell ordered with an almost sad shake of his head.
A second later, Kurt had Adam by the front of his shirt. Adam didn’t even get the phone open.
“No!” I rushed forward, only to be stopped. Arms like bands of steel captured me around the waist, holding me back.
“Don’t,” Hayden whispered in my ear. He started pulling me back, away from Adam. “You need to go inside, Ember. Now.”
“No. She needs to see this. To understand I will not have our kind threatened.” Cromwell’s eyes met mine. “I take no pleasure in this, Ember. I asked you not to let me down. You’ve left me with no other choice.”
“Father?” Hayden had a catch in his voice. “You can’t—” Cromwell’s face hardened. “This is not your call.”
“Wait! What are you doing?” I struggled, but Hayden’s grip was unbreakable. I couldn’t get my hands up. Touching him was out of the question.
Adam stayed rooted to where he stood, eyes wide with fear. “Em? What’s going—?”
Kurt touched him on the forehead. Just a thumb—that was all it took. Adam’s eyes fell shut. He stood motionless, like a sculpture.
“What are you doing?” I screamed. “Stop touching him! Stop it! He doesn’t know anything! I haven’t told him anything.”
Letting out a little sigh, Kurt stepped back. A small, sated smile played across his lips. I thought I heard Hayden apologize, but I couldn’t be sure. Rushing filled my ears as ice touched my blood.
Hayden let go.
I staggered forward. “Adam? Are you okay? Adam, look at me. Open your eyes.”
Adam blinked slowly, as if he was just waking up. First he looked at Kurt, then Cromwell. “Where am I?”
“Nowhere,” Cromwell answered quietly. “You need to go home, Adam Lewis. Go now, before your mother worries.”
“I don’t want Mom to worry.” He rubbed a hand over his forehead.
I pushed down the dread building bitterly in the back of my throat. Adam was fine. He just looked tired and confused, but okay. “Adam?”
Adam blinked again. “Who… who are you?”
My laugh sounded strange. “You know who I am, you idiot.”
He fiddled with his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his noise. “I have no idea who you are, but I’ve got to get home. Mom is gonna kill me.” He walked past me, shaking his head. “Man, I’m in so much trouble.”
I stared. He got back in the car, muttering the whole time. He slammed the door and turned the ignition. The engine roaring to life snapped me into action. I rushed to his car. “Adam, look at me. Please!
You know who I am.”
He jerked back from the window, frowning. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
“Please, don’t do this, Adam. We’ve been friends since I ate your lunch in kindergarten. You fell off your bike when you were ten and you broke your leg. Remember?” He continued looking at me blankly.
Panic caused my voice to rise. “You have to sit next to Sheila Cummings in bio. You hate that, because she thinks osmosis is bad breath. Last week, she asked you if she was Jewish. Come on, don’t do this to me. Please!”
“Ember,” Hayden called out, his voice sounding ragged. “Just stop. Stop now. Please.”
I ignored him. “Adam, come on. You are my friend—my best friend. You’re the only one who was my friend after the accident. We… we…” We had sandbox love; didn’t he remember that?
Adam started rolling up the window, brows raised. “I’m sorry. I don’t know you.”
Pain cut through me so sharply that it knocked the air right out of me. “No. No.” I hit the window with my palm. It shook, but did not give. “Adam, please. Say my name. You know who I am. You have to!”
He shook his head, lips pulled back in a sneer—a look I’d never seen Adam give me. “I don’t know you. Jesus. So stop being a freak.”
My hand stilled against the window. I blinked, willing myself to wake up. Because this—this had to be a nightmare. Surely, this couldn’t be real—the pain in my chest, the numb way my body felt.
Adam threw the car in reverse, shaking his head. Someone pulled me back before he ran over my foot.
He left—really left. I wanted to run after him, but it’d be pointless. His face showed the same blankness Mom had whenever she looked at me.
I was dead to him, just like I was dead to Mom.
I could’ve stood there for hours. It didn’t matter. My heart seized, then shattered, and with everything I’d learned to deal with, I didn’t know how to deal with
Cromwell sighed wearily. “I’m sorry for your pain, but you left me no other choice.”
My cheeks felt damp. My fingers came back wet. When I looked toward the house, I saw Cromwell go back inside. Mom thought I was dead. My sister chose toys and a pseudo-mom over me. Our house was gone. And now, my only link to anything had been wiped away.
Adam was gone.
Chapter 8
“Desolation” wasn’t even an adequate word. “Fury” didn’t describe what I was feeling. Blindly, I turned around. Rage and sorrow swelled, wanting to swallow me whole.
“I knew this was going to be a mistake,” Kurt said. “I told Jonathan we shouldn’t have brought her here. The little one—whatever, but I knew this one was going to be a problem. Just look at her, she’s getting ready to blow.”
“Kurt, can you just shut up?” Hayden started toward me.
“You can’t tell me you aren’t worried about her being here. She’s unstable right now. She’s capable of anything. Are you seriously comfortable with her running around in your house?”
“She’s not dangerous,” Hayden said in a low voice.
“That’s right. I forgot. You’re blinded by your obsession with her.” Kurt took a step forward.
“Everyone knows. All those times you went back there. There was no reason.”
“Are you finished?” Hayden asked calmly.
“No,” he said. “She should’ve been wiped—” I acted at the basest of instincts, the cruelest of desires. I dove at him, aiming for any part of exposed flesh. All I could see was him touching Adam, removing all traces of me. So that was his gift. For some reason, I felt like that should have been a more powerful realization.
