“Don’t try to be a hero, Aiden. It’s beneath you at this point. We all know you’re not a good guy.” She leans forward, tapping my chin with the blade, and grins. “Like I said, I’m trying to help you. Clearly, you’ve fallen for Riley’s little innocent victim act, and have lost sight of what’s important.”
“I haven’t lost sight of anything,” I say, resting the iron on my knee. The cool metal of her knife against my chin is grounding, keeping me focused despite Riley’s whimpers. “Though I’m feeling pretty enlightened right now.”
She groans, pulling back to glare at Riley again. “I heard your confession at your show tonight. I’d planned on flying to New York to be with you, but I knew as soon as I heard that you’d failed in your mission and needed me to help. That’s why I grabbed her, and brought her back here. Thought it would be poetic to end her life where you woke up this morning. I read between the lines, baby. Don’t worry. I know what you need.”
“What I need,” I say, speaking slowly in the hopes of distracting her, “is Riley.”
Mellie inhales, but Riley doesn’t stir. Her face is so pale, coated in sweat, that I wonder if she’s even conscious.
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Mellie insists, shaking her head.
“I do. Whatever you think there is between us, I’m in love with Riley. I have been since I first saw her, I think.” Pausing to roll the words around in my mouth, my chest warms as they settle, permeating my skin like they belong. “Whether or not you’d switched your tickets at the auction that night, I would’ve found my way to her eventually.”
The scream that splits the air makes me flinch, dropping the iron as a body hurls in my direction; I’m not expecting to be tackled, so I go down easy, my head smacking hard against the floor. Mellie looms over me, thrashing as she straddles my hips and grips her knife in one hand, using the other to drive her fist into my face.
“You’re supposed to be with me,” she screeches, punctuating each word with a punch. “I’m your biggest fan, I’m willing to do anything for you, but you’re going to choose her?”
My hands grapple for hers, but she’s fast, propelled by adrenaline. I finally get a hold on one wrist and shake the knife from her hand. She hits me in the balls; I deflect the brunt of it with my knee, but it still catches me off guard, and the breath shoots from my lungs as pain zips up my spine.
Her fingers find my neck, and she digs her claws in, cutting off my airway as she reaches into the back of her waistband and pulls out a pistol.
“Jesus, you are fucking crazy,” I wheeze, and she replaces her fingers with the gun, jutting it right under my chin.
“I didn’t work the last three years chasing you, only to lose you to some dumpy little slut. If you won’t be with me, she sure as hell doesn’t deserve you.”
She presses the barrel against my jugular until I can feel its imprint inside my throat; I force a swallow, glancing at Riley as much as possible without turning my head.
My insides tangle together, dread and resignation filling me.
“Angel,” I say, dropping my hand to the floor, reaching for her. Her eyes are open, watching me, and she scoots closer, her nose brushing my fingers. “I mean it, okay? You’re it for me. Promise you’ll remember that, even when you recall all the shit I put you through.”
“That’s stupid,” she whispers. “I don’t need to remember, because you’re not going anywhere.”
Mellie flips the safety, and I laugh.
“I love your optimism, pretty girl. Don’t let anyone change that, okay? And I know it doesn’t much matter right now, but fuck, I’m so sorry for everything. If I could spend my entire life trying to make up for the way I’ve treated you, I would.”
“Don’t apologize.” I hear her tears and let their presence soak into me.
Mellie presses harder, and I choke out a strange sound. “You deserve so much more than words, Riley. The entire fucking universe should bow at your feet in awe of your strength and goodness. I must be the luckiest fucker in the world to have gotten to experience you, even for a little while.”
“I love you,” she says, and the sound of those three words from her pretty lips is my undoing.
I break inside, hating myself for the way I’ve treated her. Hating that she’s caught up in this mess and that I brought it to her.
Mellie rolls her eyes. “Cute,” she says, and I watch her finger hook against the trigger, prepared to pull. “But you—”
Blood spurts from her neck, cutting her off as it splatters everywhere; her hand falls from the gun, and I reach up as a reflex, taking it and switching the safety back before I’ve even fully registered what’s just happened.
Mellie reaches up, eyes wide in shock and her breaths coming in sharp, hollow gasps; the knife she had when she walked in now juts out from the side of her throat, lodged all the way to the handle and coming out the other side.
As she collapses, my eyes find Riley crouched on her knees, the zip tie hanging from just one of her wrists now. Her pink hair is tinged with red, her face slightly swollen, and even though there’s a girl bleeding to death on top of me, she smiles.
“Rookie mistake, leaving a weapon unattended. Guess you should’ve spent less time being a bitchy psychopath, and more learning your surroundings.” Riley spits in Mellie’s direction, anger etched into her face. “Or your people.”
I slide out from beneath Mellie’s body as it goes limp, kicking the gun away and drawing Riley into my arms. My heart races, battering against my ribs, and I thread my dirty fingers through her hair, tilting my head to look down at her.
“Holy shit. What the actual fuck just happened?”
“I told you I had nothing to do with the rumors,” she says hoarsely, and I chuckle, stroking her cheek with my thumb. “And you were going to ruin my life because of them. A shame, really. Imagine what you’d have lost out on.”
Grinning, my mind not quite caught up with the severity or finality of the situation, I press my forehead into hers.
“I’d never have been able to go through with it,” I say. “Leaving you earlier was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Stupidest, too.”
“You came back, though.”
Huffing a laugh, I nod, cradling her head in my hands. “And I’m not leaving without you again.”
EPILOGUE
“You’re absolutely sure you want to do this?”
Turning my head, I glare at my brother as he sits on the plastic chair beside me, hands on his bouncing knees. His eyes dart around the room, coasting over every piece of artwork hanging on the walls, tension threading through his jaw.
“Boyd.” He glances at me, and I pinch his thigh. “Your nervous energy is contagious, and I’m gonna need you to stop.”
He groans, reaching up to pull at his dirty-blond hair. “God, you’re right. It’s just… tattoos are permanent, you know?”
I give him a flat look, cocking an eyebrow. “No shit? I thought you were just bad at showering.”
Rolling his eyes, he pushes to his feet and paces in front of me. I know the nerves have more to do with his evening plans than anything else, so I sit back and continue scrolling through my phone, refusing to let his anxiety bother me.