“Holy sh…” But before I could spit out the rest, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Taylor.
Headquarters. 6 a.m. Emergency Meeting.
“Shit.” I slipped the phone back into my pocket and looked at Liam.
“Yeah, yeah. What happens if you don’t show? Will the queen have you beheaded?”
I gritted my teeth. He had no right. “First off, that was a private text. Second off, she’s not my queen and you have no idea how any of this even works. If you’d just take a minute and let me…” But I stopped myself right there. I didn’t owe Liam an explanation anymore. He didn’t get a vote about where I went and what I did. I grabbed the yearbook and made my way toward the stairs.
“I’m trying, Kate. Trying to be your friend. But it’s not working. I’m sorry.”
I tried to think of a good response, but I came up completely empty. He was trying and I was being a huge bitch. No way around it. No way under it. Only thing I could do was get through it. To figure out who killed Alistair and to end the Sisterhood. Based on this most recent snippet of information, it looked like I might get lucky and end up killing two birds with one stone.
“I’m sorry too.” I turned around to look at Liam. I had to say this face to face. “But maybe we’re just not meant to be friends right now.” Maybe we’re meant to be more. And maybe after I figure all of this crap out, I’ll actually be able to give it to you. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words to him because I knew five seconds later I’d be thinking about Bradley-freaking-Farrow and would be more confused than ever. I had some major work to do before I’d be ready to say anything out loud.
We made our way slowly, silently up the stairs, only to find that Mrs. LuvR had Seth cornered in the kitchen and appeared to be trying to feed him some type of quiche. The fact that Seth had his lips pursed and his head turned to the side spoke volumes about his mental state. The word “Victim” should have been written across his forehead like a bull’s-eye. Poor guy.
“C’mon, Seth. We’ve gotta go.”
Seth ducked under one of Mrs. LuvR’s outstretched arms and sprinted to the front door. “OkThanksForEverythingBye!” By the time I made it outside to the Jeep, Seth was panting in the front seat, buckled in and ready to go.
“Did you get it?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it right here.” I slid into the backseat.
“And?” Seth swiveled around to face me in the backseat.
“And…it’s a picture of Sinclair and Ms. D.”
“Shut. Up.”
Liam threw open the door and started the car without saying a word.
“Now what?” Seth asked.
“Now I go to the Sisterhood and I find out what the hell is going on.” I waved my phone in Seth’s direction. “They’ve called an emergency meeting first thing in the morning, and I’d bet my nonexistent trust fund it’s about what happened to Alistair and Sinclair.”
Liam sped silently to my house. Every shift of the gears felt like an accusation. Seth must have picked up on the tension in the car because he never asked a single question, just did a lot of heavy mouth breathing from the passenger side.
When Liam finally ripped up the parking brake, I scrambled out of the car.
Seth looked worried. “Be careful. We worry, you know.”
“I’ll be fine. Promise.” I took off into the garage. It was only a few yards, but it felt like miles. I wanted to look back at them so badly, but I knew I’d crumble if I did. Seth had this weird way of stripping me down and making me feel vulnerable. He didn’t care about looking cool or impressing anyone; he just said whatever he felt. It was unnerving, and unnerving was pretty much the last thing I needed.
And Liam. I’d broken his heart tonight. And mine too. Looking back was pretty much the worst thing I could do for either of us at this point. I reminded myself that there was only one way out of this thing, and that was through. And the more I found out about Alistair and the Sisterhood, the more I realized that this might be something I’d have to get through alone.