The Complete Private Collection: Private; Invitation Only; Untouchable; Confessions; Inner Circle; Legacy; Ambition; Revelation; Last Christmas; Paradise ... The Book of Spells; Ominous; Vengeance (174 page)
Noelle gripped my arm tighter. “You’re out of your mind, Sabine.”
Sabine just laughed. “Oh, Noelle. Perfect little Noelle.
You
were the hardest to deal with. You kept getting in the way. Protecting Reed. Explaining it all away. Keeping her sane. Acting the part of the good friend.”
Everyone was listening now. Everyone silent. I frantically searched the crowd for Ivy. Where was she? Had she called the police? Why weren’t they here yet?
“It wasn’t acting,” Noelle said, her glossy hair falling over her shoulder. “Unlike you, I don’t have to
pretend
to be someone’s good friend.”
“Yeah? So I guess you were a good friend to Ariana, then? When you kidnapped her boyfriend and then became best friends with the slut who stole him away.”
Noelle narrowed her eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“But you know what that feels like now, right? To lose your boyfriend to Reed Brennan.” Sabine’s eyes flickered between me and Noelle. “Although it looks like you’ve already forgiven her. I have to say, I expected more backbone from you, Noelle.”
My blood boiled. “Shut up, Sabine.”
“Reed, you’re so pathetically loyal to Noelle I could vomit,” Sabine sneered. “Driving a wedge between the two of you was like pulling teeth. But I did it. That video of you from the Legacy was priceless, wasn’t it? Girl like you could have a future in porn.”
A gasp escaped my lips. One that was echoed by plenty of onlookers.
“That was you?” I said.
“Of course it was me,” Sabine said, looking proud of her accomplishment. “I slipped Ecstasy into your drinks and into Dash’s all night long. I wrote the note that got you up to the roof in the first place.”
Suddenly an image of the note flashed through my mind. The girly handwriting. I had noticed it at the time, but had been too out of it to care. Out of it because of the Ecstasy, it seemed.
“And it all worked like a charm,” Sabine continued. “The two of you were so far gone and all over each other you didn’t even notice me filming.”
The room’s strobe lights continued to flash. Sabine’s face turned red, then pink, then red, then pink.
“You psychotic, sniveling little bitch,” Noelle said from over my shoulder.
“Now, now, just because you totally fell for it, there’s no need for name calling.” Sabine smirked at Noelle, her eyes wide in faux innocence. “It’s amazing how fast you turn on your friends. First Ariana, and then poor little Reed. You ripped her right out of your life without even giving her a chance to explain.”
“You’re insane, you know that?” I said. “You belong in the same padded cell as your sister.”
At that moment we all heard the sirens wailing in the distance. Sabine turned away and my heart flew into my throat. Everyone froze. Everyone but Josh and Trey, who lurched forward, grabbing her to keep her from running. For a split second, I felt nothing but grateful relief, but then I saw the look of terror on their faces. They released Sabine and backed away as she pressed the barrel of a gun directly against Trey’s heart.
Everyone around us gasped. There was a scream and a crash as some people raced for the door. I tried to back up but found that I couldn’t move. My feet would simply not budge. Suddenly I was freezing cold. So cold I couldn’t breathe.
Sabine turned the gun on me.
“Once you were out of Billings, I thought I finally had you. I thought I had finally succeeded in ruining your life. No friends, no boyfriend, no Billings, no future. But you just keep fighting, don’t you?” Sabine said, her hand as steady as granite. “After that sappy little speech you made last night, I knew it was time for drastic measures. You’re never getting back into Billings, Reed. You can’t have the life you stole from Ariana. You just can’t.”
“Sabine,” I heard myself say, breathless. “Don’t do this.”
“I held this very gun to Cheyenne’s head to make her take all those pills,” she said evenly. “Now I’ll finally have the chance to fire it.”
I took a step back. “Sabine—”
“Maybe I am just like my sister, Reed,” she said, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “But unlike Ariana, I am going to finish this.”
My life flashed before my eyes. Josh, Noelle, Thomas, Constance, Natasha, Kiran, Taylor, Dash, Scott, my parents, my grandparents, even my dog. This was it. This was the end of it all. I would never see any of them again.
“Reed! Oh my God! No!”
The sirens swelled. Josh shoved Gage aside and leapt toward me. Sabine closed her eyes and pulled. The shot went off, as deafening as a blast of thunder.
And then, everything went black.
Chapter 12: Breaking and Entering
Chapter 16: Pancakes and Grilled Cheese
For Lanie, who brought it all together
OCTOBER OF SENIOR YEAR
White headlights severed the darkness as Ariana Osgood veered from the two-lane highway onto an overgrown road near the outskirts of Easton, Connecticut. She gripped the steering wheel with one hand and adjusted the rearview mirror with the other, glancing nervously into it.
Calm down, Ariana. Just calm down.
She hadn’t been followed; she knew that. No one had seen her slip away from Billings House in Josh Hollis’s Range Rover. No one knew that she was retracing the route she’d taken just an hour ago with Noelle Lange, Kiran Hayes, and Taylor Bell. That she was coming back for Thomas. And no one knew why she needed to find him. Her secrets—their secrets—were safe.
Rocks and chunks of hardened earth popped underneath the Range Rover’s tires as she jerked the car off the road, cutting through the grassy field. She leaned forward and squinted into the blackness.
He was somewhere out there. She just had to find him, talk to him. And once she did, he would understand everything. Understand that he was wasting his time with Reed Brennan, that she was nothing but a novelty. A terrible mistake. Understand that he was meant to be with Ariana.
Suddenly her headlights caught something. Someone. Someone slumping limply from a pole.
Thomas.
“No!” She slammed on the brake pedal and swerved violently, barely missing him. Hands shaking, Ariana fumbled with the lock and opened the door, leaving the car’s headlights on.
“Thomas!” Her voice sounded small in the open, deserted expanse around them. Thomas’s head lolled forward, his chin grazing his chest. He groaned and mumbled something Ariana couldn’t understand. Panic bubbled in her throat as she stared in disbelief at the figure in front of her, as if she was seeing him like this for the first time. Had they really left him in this condition? His arms and legs were tied to the pole with thick rope, and a black mesh bag was draped over his head. His chest and torso were covered with scratches from where her friends had jabbed him with tree branches. Dried blood encrusted a cut on his shoulder. The shirt he’d been wearing was on the ground, next to the baseball bat Noelle had forgotten to take with her when they’d left not even an hour ago.
Ariana’s heart twisted painfully in her chest. How could she have let this happen? She’d never meant to hurt him, had only gone along with Noelle’s plan so she wouldn’t suspect anything.
“Thomas.” The second her fingers grazed his clammy skin, he flinched, recoiling from the contact. From her. “Thomas, it’s me,” she choked, ripping the bag off his head. She had to cover her mouth to keep from vomiting. Thomas looked almost . . . dead. His wet curls were matted against his gray, sweaty face.
“I’m here. It’s all right,” she whispered, as much to herself as to him, and started to work on the knot binding his wrists. It didn’t budge. “You’re safe. I’m here to take care of you,” she grunted, pulling futilely at the knot. She could have killed herself for not thinking to bring a knife or scissors.
His eyelids fluttered. “Take care of me?” he croaked.
“Of course.” He would be so grateful to her for saving his life—for keeping their secret through all that—that he would never leave her again. Everything would go back to normal, and they could be together. Just like they’d planned. Just like he’d promised.
“Go to hell,” he moaned.
The venom in his voice stung like a slap across the face. Thomas had never spoken to her like that. Digging her nails into her palms, she reminded herself that he was probably still drunk, or high. He didn’t know what he was saying. He loved her, wanted to be with her. She knew he did. She just had to make him remember.
“Thomas, I just want to help.” She sounded weak. She hated sounding weak. She reached for the rope coiled around his wrists and tugged at the knots. “I—”
“Don’t touch me,” he said, his voice stronger this time. His blue eyes bore into hers, full of disgust. “You think I don’t know it was
you who tied me up like this? You think I didn’t recognize your voice?”
“It wasn’t me! It was Noelle! I couldn’t stop her!” His image blurred in front of her as tears filled her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. After everything they’d been through together, it couldn’t end like this. “I would never hurt you. I love you,” she said, her voice a barely audible whisper. “You love me too. You have to.” A salty tear slipped down her cheek.
“Or what?” he spat. His stare sliced through her like a steel blade. “What are you gonna do, Ariana? Kill me?” A strange laugh slipped from his lips. “Like you killed—”
“Stop it. You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re not thinking clearly.”
He shook his head, his desperate laugh still hanging in the air between them. “The thing is,” he croaked, “for once in my life, I actually am. Everything is clear now that I have Reed in my—”
“Don’t you dare say that name,” Ariana snapped, digging her nails into her arms. Hot rage rose inside her. “She’s not like us, and you know it. She’s a nobody, Thomas. A nothing.”
“She’s everything!” Thomas yelled. He lunged forward, his chest heaving. “Don’t you get it? She’s everything you’re not, Ariana. I love her.”
“No, you love me!” Ariana screamed. “Everything I did, I did for you. For us.”
“There
is
no
us
,” Thomas spat.
“No us?” she repeated dumbly, taking a step back and wincing at her vulnerability. She fought to keep her voice steady. “Do you not love me?”
“Not anymore. Not after the things you did. The things
we
did.” He was silent for a while. When he spoke again, his voice was calm. “But I’m going to fix it,” he said quietly. “Make it right. I have to.”
“What are you saying?” Her throat felt tight, like she couldn’t get enough air. How could he not love her anymore? He had to.
Had
to. He was the reason she’d done those things. The reason why those things were okay. Worth it. How was she supposed to live without him? How was she supposed to continue to watch him with Reed? Her stomach heaved at the thought and she gasped for air.
In . . . two . . . three . . .