The Arrangement Anthology 2(143)

The certainty of Amanda’s light beckons to me, calling me back, but Bryan’s voice is strong, pulling me forward. “It was my choice, Sean, not yours. It was my choice, not yours. Don’t waste this chance. Step into the water and you’ll be safe.”

It takes every ounce of strength within me to pull my leaden body up off the dock and haul my feet forward. Every moment is agony, every second is torture, but I finally step off the end. Amanda’s voice falls silent and the only sound remaining is the ocean. When my foot hits the water it sinks. I turn to look back at the dock, but it’s gone. Amanda’s light has disappeared. There’s no way back and no way forward. I’m sinking. The cold water is swallowing me whole.

I picture the liquid noose rising around my neck, cold and strong. I picture the waves pulling me under as if they were the arms of a giant. I picture gasping for air but never finding enough.

Suddenly my feet hit rock, as if I were standing in a shallow puddle. It’s an illusion, the way the darkness plays off the top of the water makes it look like an ocean, but it isn’t. I take off at full-speed, running toward the lighthouse, wanting her, knowing she’s there. Avery is my rock in the storm. That’s what Bryan was telling me.

Elated, I push further ahead, faster. When I make it to the lighthouse, I race up the steps to the room at the top and throw open the door. The woman I love turns to look at me, and my heart tears in two. She’s naked, standing wrapped in the arms of Trystan Scott. I try to say her name, but my voice fails me. I move my mouth, but she regards me as no more than a speck of dust. The light turns toward me once more, blinding me.

I shield my eyes, calling out to her. “Avery! Wait! I lied. I want you; I want a life with you. Please, Avery…”

But it’s too late. When the light spins around again she’s gone.





Chapter 13

***SEAN***





Drenched in cold sweat, I dart upright in my bed, gasping air as fast as I can swallow it.

“Avery.” I say her name without thinking, and a chill goes up my spine. Clutching my head in my hands, I throw my feet off the side of the bed and sit for a moment, willing my pulse to resume a normal rate. My stomach twists in knots, twisting increasingly harder and tighter, even though the nightmare is over. But that’s the problem—the nightmare is not over, it never ends.

“God, I hate this place.” I can’t believe I let Pete talk me into coming here. The house I grew up in conjures more nightmares than anywhere I’ve ever slept, but Peter insisted on it. There’s no getting it out of his head that I’m injured, and since I need them to believe I am, I allow him to take me here.

If I see my mother, I’ll lose it. I know I will. Our last discussion was less than amiable. Just one disagreement with her would be a fucking cakewalk, but that woman is ruthless. Her scheming never ends and it wouldn’t shock me in the least to see her name at the top of Avery’s damned papers.

A promise is a promise, blood be damned. I did this, but Avery doesn’t know why. I intend on keeping it that way. Lies suit me. I’ve told so many lies the truth is irrelevant at this point. There’s no way she can possibly navigate her way between fact and fiction. For that, I feel sick. She didn’t deserve this, not any of it, and she wouldn’t be in this goddamn mess, were it not for me.

There’s only one way for her to get out. I’m in this so deep the only direction to go is down, further into decay. I know I’ll lose what’s left of myself; I’m not a fool. Avery’s nothing if not perceptive, but there are no choices left. I won’t abandon her.

Laughing to myself, I shake my head and push my sweaty hair out of my face. If I had never gone to Mother for help, this wouldn’t have happened. That snake has her fangs at my neck, ready to strike, and Avery is positioned to fall in my wake. My one desperate action caused this path of destruction.

Cracking my knuckles, I stretch and look up at the ceiling. My days are numbered. My time is devolving into seconds and although I’m horrified by the thought of what I have to do, no dream can make me change course. I have to see this through, or die trying.

Pushing off the bed, I pad across the floor and grab the coffee can off my dresser. Peeling back the lid, I peer inside and smirk. I was livid last night when I finally opened the envelopes. I can’t believe she tricked me—no, that’s not true—I can believe it. She’s been trying to save me since we met. For every move I made, she had an equally brilliant countermove. She stole my breath the first time I saw her, and owned my soul from the first time I kissed her. She’s my equal, my counterpart in every way. The darkness that stains her soul is as black as mine. Malice is under those stains, waiting to be raised to the light.