Unfold Me (21 page)

“Yeah, it did. I wish I could’ve thrown everything in Raphael’s face like that.” He spreads his arms and I walk into his embrace, pulling him close to me. For the first time in my life, I think I’m free.

“Kat,” Isaac yells from the living room. “Come here! You’ve got to see this.”

I rush out of the kitchen, my fingers still sticky from ketchup, so I lick them off. “What’s going on?” I poke my head into the living room.

“I think Ericka did it,” Isaac says quietly, and I focus on the TV screen. Archer’s blue eyes look back at me, but when the reporter says the big news, I nearly tumble to the ground.

“Oh my God.” I cover my mouth with my hand. Archer’s gone. Forever. According to the official report, the cops found Theo’s body in one of Archer’s apartments and went to arrest him, but Archer resisted, so the cops ended up killing him while he tried to run away.

“Do you think someone above him sent the cops after him or did the cops figure it out themselves? Because if they search Archer’s place, they’re going to find videos of you and...” Isaac says.

“No way. I’m sure all the evidence is already gone. Those cops are probably working with the Guardians, or they would’ve mentioned Archer’s connection to Raphael. And if I’m wrong... I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to deal with that.” Either Ericka pulled strings to protect herself, and those who control the city decided they’d rather have a Senator on their side than some slave trainer and a party host, or everyone thought Archer lost his mind, especially if he actually killed Theo. I don’t know if he really did that or if he just told Theo to get as far as possible from this city, but the Guardians didn’t like that because of what Theo knew, so they decided to kill two birds with one stone. Although, who knows who else Archer could’ve pissed off?

God, it’s so strange to think that he’s dead. He’ll never be able to hurt anyone again. I just find it hard to believe I won’t have to look over my shoulder and worry about him. I guess it’s finally over.

“And what about everyone else who attended those parties? No one will ever investigate them.” Isaac shakes his head.

“Unless...” I grab my phone, and Isaac looks at me in surprise.

“What are you doing?” he asks cautiously.

“Lilith’s friend is a cop. He’s a good one. He helped her with Raphael. We know everyone who was at Archer’s parties, and we can tell him that. Of course, he’ll have to be careful about it, but maybe he can expose someone else too. Although, I doubt everyone at those parties was a bad guy.”

“Is that smart? If you meet with Lilith, and then she goes to that cop, everyone will know the info came from you.” Isaac gives me a skeptical look.

“No, they won’t. I’m not saying I’m going to give them an anonymous tip. Just tell them that if they ever get a chance to arrest any of those people for something, they should search for other things. You know, if the opportunity shows for investigation or monitoring... why not? It’s true someone can always stop the investigation, but since they let Raphael and Archer fall already...” I have to at least try something, so I grab my phone and dial Lilith’s’ number.

“Lilith, hey,” I say when my friend answers. “We haven’t been out together since like forever. If you’re not busy with Caleb, maybe we could go someplace later today.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We could do that, I guess. Wait, does that mean Isaac is finally better? If he is, Caleb and Jade would really love to see him. In fact, we could all go out tonight together,” she says cheerfully.

“Um, sure.” I look at Isaac. Archer’s gone. There’s no reason to hide anymore and keep telling our friends that he’s sick or having withdrawal issues. It’s been so long, I don’t think they even believe me. He’s spoken to them over the phone, though, so they didn’t press, but I don’t know what they thought about our excuses. We couldn’t have told them what we were doing with Archer. “Sounds good.”

“Great. I’ll text you after I talk to Caleb and Jade!”

“Yeah, okay. Bye.” I end the call and look up at Isaac.

“I guess she agreed?” Isaac says.

“She wants to bring Caleb and Jade too. I said you’d come,” I say, and Isaac’s smile fades. “I mean, it’s really over. We no longer have to pretend you’re my slave and fear what Archer will do to us. And if anyone else tries to expose our secret, they can’t without exposing themselves too. I don’t think the others will care when they see we’re not involved with anything that could threaten them.”

Isaac’s face is expressionless, but there’s an emotion in his eyes that I can’t identify. “Okay. Should we tell them? About Archer?”

“No, we can just tell them who he was and what he did to us, but we shouldn’t tell them anything else. The less they know, the better.” Lilith would be pissed off if she knew I didn’t tell her and ask for help, but aside from her brief encounter and a few short conversations with Raphael, she hasn’t really seen what people like him and Archer are capable of.

Lucky her, because she wouldn’t have gotten a chance to save Caleb or anyone else otherwise. Raphael underestimated her and thought she was just a regular client, so no one even knew about her. I don’t think she would’ve understood or approved of what Isaac and I were doing, but maybe I just don’t want her to know.

“Yeah,” Isaac says absentmindedly. I watch him for a moment, and I wonder if he’s having a hard time accepting that Archer is gone, or if he’s reliving something from his past. No matter how many times I repeat it, I still can’t believe what happened.

“Are you okay?” I finally say. “If you want to talk about something...”

“Yeah, I...” Isaac runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do now.”

“What do you mean?” I frown.

“What are we going to do now that our mission is over?” He meets my eyes.

“Oh, right.” I watch him carefully, barely breathing. What now, indeed? We don’t have to live together anymore. He should enjoy his freedom. There’s suddenly a pit inside my stomach. Isaac leaving... I have a hard time imagining my life without him. “You can move in with Caleb and Jade. They rented their own place. I’m sure they could find some room for you. Besides, Caleb is probably going to move in with Lilith sometime soon, so... they’ll help you to get everything settled... the papers and legal stuff, and... You can get a job like Caleb or even take some classes for whatever you want to do... Actually, you can do anything you want.” I try to smile, but I’m sure it comes out forced.

“Yeah, I guess that could work, except...” Isaac scratches his head. “Jade and Caleb were freed, and I... You paid a lot of money for me, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for that. If you hadn’t done it, Caleb wouldn’t have agreed to work with Lilith and everyone would still be enslaved to Raphael. I’m not good at things like Caleb is, so... if you liked... um, what you and I did... maybe I could repay you in that way.” He stares down at his hands.

“God, Isaac, no. You don’t have to repay me anything. I have money. I don’t need more. I’m just glad everything worked out and that I could help.” I take a deep breath because I know that I have to let him go. It wouldn’t be fair if I asked him to stay just because I have feelings for him.

How can I know if what he feels for me isn’t just gratitude? What if he still thinks he owes me? Or if he wants to stay because he’s scared and isn’t sure what to do? No, I have to let him go even if my heart breaks in two. “We’re going to see Caleb and Jade anyway, so we’ll just talk to them, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Thank you,” he says, but the sadness in his eyes is too strong. We’ll be fine. We have to be. Caleb and Jade will help him assimilate to his new life and soon he’ll forget about me. Tears prickle my eyes, but I push them back.

***

“I guess this is it,” Isaac says, stopping right before my door. Caleb and Jade were thrilled when he told them the news, and Lilith kept giving me strange looks, but she didn’t ask anything. I think she knows something happened between Isaac and me.

“Yeah,” I say.

Isaac hesitates at the door. “If you ever want to come see me... you know where to find me.”

“Sure.” I give him a big smile. Caleb and Lilith are together, so it’s unlikely we won’t ever get to talk or see each other.

“See you around,” he says, and there’s a catch in his voice.

“Yeah, see you.”

He closes the door, and I just stand there, unable to look away. My apartment suddenly feels so cold, but I was living alone before. I’ll get used to it and I’ll be fine. Before I know what I’m doing, I make my way to my room and find my little notebook. I stare at the names on my list. Gripping a pen, I hover over the paper. If I add Isaac’s name to the list, he’ll just be one more guy I slept with, nothing else. I should forget about him and move on.

But the pen starts to shake in my hand and tears flood my eyes. I pick up the notebook and rip all the papers out, tearing them into pieces. When my tears finally dry, I look at the mess on the floor and take a deep breath. Isaac is unlike any other guy in my life. He’s made me smile, and he’s made me feel more emotion than I’ve ever felt. We’ve been through so much together... and he made me happy. He’ll never be just some guy I hooked up with.

I love you, Isaac.

Three months later

I pick up my textbook and sigh. Two months ago, I decided to go back to college, which made my parents immensely happy. At first, I wasn’t too thrilled about it because it was hard to get used to going to classes and studying, but doing it actually reminded me of why I’ve always wanted to go to college, and of course, it gave me something to do besides thinking about Isaac.

Lilith already let me know he’s doing fine and that he’s working as a bartender at one of the bars downtown. I almost wanted to visit that bar to see him, but I stopped myself. He’s doing fine. There’s no need for me to bother him. Maybe seeing me would remind him of what we’ve been through, and I definitely don’t want to spoil his happiness.

My doorbell rings, and I immediately jump to my feet, wondering who it could be, especially since whoever it is seems to have been able to enter the building already or I would’ve seen them on the intercom.

When I open the door, my breath catches in my chest.

“Hey,” Isaac says, biting his lip. “One of your neighbors let me in... I...”

I throw myself into his arms, so happy I could cry. When I pull back, I lick my lips. “Sorry, I just... I’m glad to see you.” I don’t even know why he’s here because I haven’t given him a chance to tell me.

“Can I come in?” he asks, and I step aside.

“Sure.”

“This is for you.” He offers me a red rose he’s been hiding behind his back.

“Thanks.” I take it, twirling it between my fingers. “It’s beautiful.”

“Caleb told me I shouldn’t be nervous about this, but...” He wipes his palms on his blue jeans. His white shirt fits tightly to his strong chest, and his dark hair is a bit longer and even messier, with a few strands falling across his shiny blue eyes.

“Why would you be nervous?” I ask.

“I’ve been thinking about you... about us,” he says as we make our way to the living room. “And I realized that I had to come see you, because if I didn’t, I think I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

My heart thuds loudly in my chest as we take a seat on the couch, as we used to do so many times.

“I really like you, Katherine,” he says. “And if you don’t feel the same about me, then... hey, at least I tried.” He shrugs. “But if you do... maybe we can give us a chance.”

“I’d like that.” I bob my head a bit too much.

“You would?” His lips spread into a wide a smile.

“Yeah. I really missed you. I was too afraid to stop by. Thought you’d find a girlfriend or something.”

“I tried,” he admits. “But none of them were you. I thought you found someone too, but Lilith assured me you didn’t. She said you decided to go back to college.”

“Yeah.” I lift the textbook lying on the table and wave with it. “It’s been fun. What about you? Do you like your job?”

“It’s fine, and I’m kind of good at it. I learned to make some wicked cocktails. I should show you. How about tomorrow night? My shift ends at eight. You could stop by and...”