“You want to know why we picked you?” she asks, her voice sounding as if it’s coming at me in every direction. “You want to know why?”

“No.” I whirl left then right, scanning the area for her. “I want to know what you’ve done with my sister.”

“Your sister?” she asks with a cackle. “I don’t think I know who you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying,” I growl, stumbling deeper into the trees. “Tell me where she is.”

“Hmmm . . . Let me think. Locked in a house, swallowed by the darkness, where no one has ever killed, yet blood stains the floors and the walls.”

“Fuck you!” I shout, lunging in the direction of where it sounds like her voice is coming from. Instead, I end up bumping into a tree.

I hear the sound of officers yelling my name from somewhere close by and shout out, “I’m over here!”

“And here’s another little secret I’ll let you in on.” Her voice floats from the trees ahead of me. “Your blood is tied to us, Ayden. And not because your mother gave us to you. Your blood has tied you to us from the moment you were conceived.” Footsteps dance around me. “Ever wonder who your real father is?”

“No.” I cover my ears with my hands as I sink to my knees.

“Ever wonder why we chose you?” she whispers in my ear. “Ever wonder why your mother gave you up so easily?”

“No. No. No.” Rage crashes through me as I jump to my feet. “I’m not going to let you get away with this.”

“We already have,” she whispers from right behind me. Then something hits me hard on the top of the head.

Love, love, love.

I never got a chance to say I love her.

My eyes slip shut as I begin to fall.

Then everything goes black.

Chapter 17

Lyric

Something’s wrong. I could tell from the moment Ayden sent me the text this morning. The worry only magnifies when I step foot into my house. For starters, both my parents are home, and Ethan is here along with the three youngest of the Gregorys. When I ask them what’s up, they give me a vague, “We’re just hanging out” answer.

Ayden also didn’t show up for school. He said he was sick, but I’m not buying it. Something’s definitely up.

“So, when are you guys going to fess up?” I announce while everyone’s sitting around the table, eating pizza.

“Fess up to what?” my dad replies, acting all breezy.

“Whatever’s going on with Ayden.” I pick a pepperoni off a slice and drop it back into the box.

“Nothing’s going on,” Ethan says, staring distractedly at his pizza slice.

“You’re lying. I can tell.” My eyes travel across him, my dad, then land on my mom.

She shakes her head. “Lyric, nothing’s wrong. Ayden’s just sick and went to the doctor.” She checks the time on the microwave. “Lila did say she had to run a few errands, and they were going to be a little late.”

“Whatever. Don’t tell me, then.” I finish off my pizza then chill in the living room for a while with my sketchbook.

I work on a drawing of a tattoo I’m thinking about getting until around nine thirty or so when Fiona and Everson walk in. They have backpacks in their hands and frowns on their faces.

“Something’s definitely up,” Everson says as he drops his pack on the floor and sinks back in the chair. “It’s too late for them to be gone.”

I thrum my fingers on the top of my thighs. “Did Ayden seem sick this morning?”

Fiona shakes her head as she unzips her backpack. “No, he seemed fine.” She pulls out a thick textbook. “My parents seemed freaked out, though. My dad was acting like a weirdo the entire drive and gave us this huge lecture about being careful and keeping an eye out for anything weird today.”

“It probably has something to do with the fact that the police were at our house this morning.” Kale appears in the doorway with a slice of pizza in his hand.

I turn the volume of the stereo down. “How do you know the police were at your house?”

He shrugs, sinking down into a chair. “I was hanging out at one of my friend’s houses across the street, and his mom asked me about it.”

I bite down on my lip and pull out my phone to send Ayden a text.

Me: When r u going to b home?

When he doesn’t answer, an uneasy feeling gnaws in the pit of my stomach. I know he’s told me time and time again not to worry about him, but I can’t help it. I love him, and not knowing where he is drives me crazy.

I get lost in my thoughts as I flip through songs while everyone works on their homework. I’ve always had a rather overactive imagination, and it conjures up a thousand different horrible scenarios of what could be going on.

When my mother walks into the room and motions me to come over, I suddenly realize that maybe my imagination was right. Perhaps something terrible has happened.

She points at Fiona, Kale, and Everson, then puts her fingers to her lips, indicating for me to be quiet before leaving the room. I causally get up and wind around the sofa.

“Where are you going?” Fiona asks, glancing up from the textbook.

“To get a snack,” I reply, hoping I sound calm.

“Grab me something, too, would ya?”

I nod. “Sure.”

She smiles and returns to her homework while I hurry and sneak out of the room. When I get into the kitchen, my mother is sitting at the table with her phone clutched in her hand, and my dad and Uncle Ethan are hurrying for the back door.