91

Clutching the bottle harder, I repeated myself, this time making sure my voice didn’t shake.

“I need to leave,” I said, louder now, my eyes flicking between Adeline and the others.

Adeline’s brow furrowed, and her lips parted as if to shoot back a reply, but before she could speak, I stepped forward, cutting her off. “I know I owe you. You got me out of that prison, and I’ll never forget it. But I can’t do this—sit here and… and share stories like it’s some kind of support group when my life is falling apart!”

Her expression hardened, her jaw tightening as she straightened up, but I didn’t stop. The words were spilling out now, years of bottled anger and desperation clawing their way free.

“Vaughn’s got my brother!” My voice cracked, and I didn’t care. “He knows I’m out here. He’s been toying with me! He was going to let me out even before you came—”

Adeline’s laugh was sharp, humorless, cutting me off mid-sentence. She stepped forward, her body tense, every line of her screaming hostility. “Are you saying this is my fault?”

“I’m saying—”

“No.” She jabbed a finger at me, her voice rising. “Say it, Eleanor! You’re blaming me for saving your ungrateful ass? Is that it?”

Her words hit like slaps, the venom in her tone making my chest tighten.

“I’m not blaming you!” I snapped, my voice rising to match hers.

“Yes, you are!” she shot back, stepping closer, her face inches from mine now. Her green eyes burned, her body taut with fury. “You fucking ingrate! You think I dragged you out of that godforsaken place so you could spit in my face?”

“Adeline, that’s not what I—”

“Shut up!” she barked, turning toward the women as one of them, Clarice, tried to step between us. “Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare.” Her voice was a warning, sharp as a blade.

The room felt like it was suffocating, every breath harder to take. The other women froze, their gazes darting between us like they were waiting for a bomb to go off.

Adeline turned back to me, her expression twisted with rage. “You don’t get to waltz in here, drink my water, eat my food, and then act like you’re too good to be part of this!”

“I didn’t ask to be here!” I yelled, my grip on the bottle so tight I thought it might shatter.

“Bullshit!” Adeline roared, her voice shaking the air. “You’ve got no fucking clue what’s waiting for you out there, Eleanor. You think you can handle Vaughn on your own? That monster?”

My stomach churned at the sound of his name, my brother’s face flashing in my mind.

“Say it,” she demanded, her voice raw. “Say you don’t need us. Say you’re ready to face him alone.”

The silence was deafening, my chest heaving as I struggled to find words.

Clarice tried again, her voice soft but firm. “Adeline—”

“Shut the fuck up, Clarice!” Adeline snapped, her anger spilling over. “This isn’t your fight!”

My eyes burned, the weight of the room pressing down on me. “You don’t understand,” I whispered, my voice breaking.

“Then make me understand!” Adeline shouted, her arms flung wide. “You think you’re the only one who’s lost something? The only one Vaughn’s destroyed?”

The words hung between us, heavy and suffocating. My lips parted, but nothing came out.

Adeline let out a bitter laugh, stepping back. “That’s what I thought.” She turned her back on me, her voice dripping with disgust. “Go, then. Run back to him. See how far you get without us.”

I stood there, the room spinning around me, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. For a moment, no one moved, the air thick with unspoken tension.

Adeline had turned away, her jaw tight, her shoulders rising and falling with deep, angry breaths. But I didn’t move either. The words she spat kept echoing in my mind, gnawing at me, each one fueling the storm building inside me.

The weight of it all—the past, the losses, her fucking attitude—it all slammed into me like a wave, leaving me gasping for air.

I hated her. I hated the way she threw her bossiness around like she was untouchable, the way she always had to control everything, as though the world owed her that.

Memories rose, unbidden and sharp, clawing their way to the surface.

When Dominic and I had taken shelter in her and Bobby’s house—desperate, terrified, with nowhere else to go—it was Adeline who had forced us out. Her grudge against Dominic had burned too brightly, her hate blinding her to the danger we were in.

And Bobby, her own father, had been the one to drive us to that shitty, rundown hotel.

I swallowed hard, the taste of bile rising in my throat as the memory of that night seared itself into my mind. When Dominic had told me about Bobby’s death, how terrified we had been when we had to run from that hotel. Adeline’s grudge, her fucking stubbornness—she’d sent us away, and for what?

The thought of it made my face flush, heat rushing through me like an inferno.

My hands trembled against the bottle as I took a step forward, my voice cutting through the tense silence like a blade.

“You don’t get to do this, Adeline.” My voice was low, shaky but laced with venom.

She turned back to me, her eyes narrowing, her lips curling into a snarl. “Do what, Eleanor?”

“You don’t get to stand there and act like I’m the ungrateful one,” I spat, my voice rising.

Her jaw clenched, her eyes boring into mine. “Careful, Eleanor.”

“No, you be careful,” I snapped, my anger spilling over. My chest heaved, my heart hammering as I stepped closer, the words rushing out of me now. “You think you’re some fucking saint, don’t you? You think you’re the only one who’s lost people, the only one who’s had to make hard choices?”

Adeline’s face darkened, but I didn’t care.

“Do you want to know why Dominic is dead?” My voice broke as the words ripped their way out of me. “Because of you! You forced us out, Adeline! You couldn’t let go of your grudge for five fucking minutes to help us!”

“Don’t you fucking dare!” she hissed, her voice trembling with rage. “I don’t owe you anything!”

“You’re the reason Bobby died!” I shouted, my face hot with fury. “If he hadn’t been trying to protect us, he’d still be alive!”

“Shut up!” she roared, stepping forward, her eyes wild.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

“And Dominic—he died because of you too! If you hadn’t sent us out into the cold, if you’d just—”

Adeline lunged forward, shoving me hard. Her shove sent me stumbling backward into the wall, the force rattling my spine as a sharp, cold shock rippled through my hand. The glass bottle I’d been clutching shattered on impact, fragments raining down onto the floor. The crash was deafening, but it was nothing compared to the sound of my blood pounding in my ears. My bare feet slid over the cold, glass-littered floor. A sharp sting sliced through the arch of my foot as a shard nicked the skin, but I barely registered it. Adeline stepped forward, her body taut with fury, her breath coming in shallow, ragged bursts.

“You don’t fucking touch me,” I hissed, straightening against the wall, my voice trembling with restrained anger. My bare toes curled against the cold floor, glass crunching faintly beneath me as I took a deliberate step forward, the sting in my foot growing sharper with each movement.

Adeline’s face twisted, her eyes blazing. “Oh, fuck you, Eleanor. You don’t get to stand there and lecture me. You think you’ve had it hard? You think you’re the only one who’s been through hell?”

I let out a bitter laugh, the sound cutting through the tension like a knife. “You don’t know hell, Adeline. You’ve never known it. You think losing Dominic was easy? Watching him bleed out because of you?”

Her eyes widened, a flash of something—guilt? Shame?—crossing her face, but it vanished almost instantly, replaced by seething anger.

“You’re not putting that on me,” she snarled, her fists clenching at her sides.

“I am putting it on you!” I shouted, the words ripping from my throat like barbed wire. “Because it’s the fucking truth! You couldn’t let go of your grudge, and now Dominic is dead! Bobby is dead! How many more people have to die because you can’t let shit go?”

Adeline lunged forward, shoving me again. My back hit the wall, but I didn’t flinch. I stood my ground, glaring at her with every ounce of rage boiling inside me.

“Don’t fucking test me,” she spat, her voice trembling with fury.

“You think I’m scared of you?” I shot back, my voice rising. “I’m done being scared of you, Adeline. You’re nothing but a selfish, unforgiving bitch!”

Her jaw tightened, her face flushing red as she took another step forward.

“Say that again,” she whispered, her voice low and dangerous.

I met her glare head-on, unyielding. “You’re a selfish. Unforgiving. Bitch.”

Her hand twitched like she wanted to hit me, but instead, her voice came out like a growl. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You think I’m the only one who doesn’t know?” I snapped. “You’ve been dragging all of us down with your bullshit for years! You don’t just ruin your life—you ruin everyone else’s, too!”

“You don’t get to talk about my life!” she roared, stepping closer, her bare feet crunching glass beneath them. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about what I’ve lost!”

“And you think you’re the only one who’s lost something?” I screamed back, my voice raw with anger. “You think you’re the only one who’s been betrayed by a man?”

Adeline froze, her chest heaving, her eyes blazing with a dangerous light.

“You aren’t the only one who losed your fucking child!” I screamed, my voice breaking under the weight of my words.

The room went silent. The other women stared, wide-eyed, their breaths caught in their throats.

Clarice’s voice finally broke the silence, sharp and firm. “Enough. We’re not bringing children into this.”

I whipped my head toward her, my glare icy and unrelenting. Clarice held her ground for a moment, but when my gaze bore into her, she faltered, taking a step back, her lips pressing into a thin line.

Adeline didn’t miss a beat. “You’re so fucking self-centered, Eleanor. Always playing the victim, always making it about you!”

“You think this is about me?” I laughed bitterly, stepping forward, ignoring the sting in my feet as glass pressed deeper into my skin. “This is about you, Adeline! About the lives you’ve destroyed! You’re the reason Bobby’s dead! You’re the reason Dominic died!”

Her face contorted with rage, her fists trembling at her sides. “You don’t know a fucking thing,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“I know enough,” I said, my voice low and venomous.

The room felt like it was caving in, the weight of the tension pressing against every wall. No one moved, no one spoke. Adeline’s breathing was ragged, her body trembling as if on the verge of exploding.

And I stood there, barefoot, bleeding, unflinching, and ready for whatever came next. The sting in my feet seemed distant now, muted by the rage that had surged and then slowly ebbed, leaving behind a cold, hollow ache. My chest heaved, but I forced myself to breathe slower, to pull the pieces of my shattered composure back together.

Adeline stood across from me, her jaw clenched tight, the fire in her eyes still burning but flickering now, uncertain. The room was a frozen tableau of tension, the other women silent, waiting to see who would speak first.

When I did, my voice was calmer, steadier, but no less resolute. “Adeline,” I said, meeting her gaze. “I’m grateful you saved me. I owe you for breaking me out of that prison. But this?” I gestured to the room, the shattered glass, the faces watching us. “This is wasting time. My brother is out there, and his life is on the line. I can’t sit here swapping stories while Vaughn has him.”

Adeline’s lips parted, ready to interrupt, but I raised a hand, stopping her. “I need to move. I need to make a plan. I need to do something before it’s too late. If you want to help, then help. But I can’t afford to sit here waiting for a miracle. I’ve already lost too much.” My voice cracked slightly on the last words, but I swallowed hard, refusing to let the emotion take over again.

Adeline stared at me, her expression unreadable. For a moment, I thought she might argue, might ignite the fight all over again.

Before she could, Clarice’s voice cut in from the corner of the room. “You can’t go anywhere,” she said, her tone sharp but concerned.

I turned to her, my brow furrowing. “What are you talking about?”

Clarice stepped forward cautiously, her hands clasped in front of her. “There’s a citywide search for you. The prison escape, the cops who got killed—you think Vaughn isn’t making sure you’re the most wanted person out there right now? You wouldn’t make it three blocks without help. Hell, you’re lucky we got you here safe.”

Her words were a gut punch, but I refused to flinch. “So what am I supposed to do?” I demanded, my voice rising again despite myself. “Sit here and wait for Vaughn to kill him? Wait for them to drag me back to that hellhole or worse?”

“You’re not waiting,” Clarice said, her voice firm. “You’re planning. With us. You might hate it, Eleanor, but you need help. You can’t do this alone. Not this time.”

The room fell silent again, her words hanging heavy in the air. I clenched my fists at my sides, the sting of glass still embedded in my feet a faint echo of the fury simmering inside me. She wasn’t wrong, but admitting that felt like swallowing broken glass.

I glanced back at Adeline, who was watching me intently now, her earlier rage tempered by something else—something that looked like understanding. For once, she didn’t interrupt.

I exhaled sharply, my shoulders dropping slightly. “Fine,” I said, my voice quieter now. “But if we’re going to do this, we do it my way. No sitting around. No distractions. Every second counts.”

Adeline’s mouth quirked up in a faint, bitter smile. “Welcome to the fight,” she said, her voice dry but edged with a grudging respect.

Clarice nodded, her expression serious. “Then let’s start figuring out how to move without getting caught. You’re right about one thing, Eleanor. Time is running out.”