I nod, but it’s a total lie. Rylen clearly has a lot to learn about me if he thinks I’m the sort of girl who’ll just believe everything he says. While I’m not saying he’s not being truthful, it doesn’t mean I’m just going to believe everything he said. No, I’m going to do what I do best and find out the answers for myself.
Find out what the bleep is going on in this town.
I motion for Embry to get in the car as I start to open the back door, when Dixon sidesteps in front of me and crosses his arms.
“I want my computer back,” he demands. “And Liam’s phone.”
I place one hand on my hip, the other still holding my board, and stare him down. “Then give me the thousand-dollar reward.”
He laughs in my face. “You think I can’t just take it.”
Rylen starts to step toward us to intervene, and so does Embry, but I hold up my hand, indicating for them to stop. I want to take care of this myself.
Then I stick my hand into my pocket, grab the Taser, and lift it toward his face. “Back the fuck off before I zap your ass and knock you to the ground.”
Trysten laughs, apparently finding the situation amusing, while Liam looks a bit apprehensive.
Dixon offers me his stupid, infamous cocky smirk as he surrenders his hands in front of him. Then he lets out a dark laugh and sticks a hand into his back pocket. “Fine, you want your money?” He pulls out his wallet that’s filled with hundred-dollar bills and hands me a thousand dollars in cash. “There you go. But a little warning. At the rate you’re going, it’s not going to matter soon if you have that cash or not.”
I clutch the money in my hand. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
With a wicked glint in his eyes, he sticks out his hand. “I paid you the money, now give me back my computer.”
“Fine.” I stuff the money into my pocket, open the door, and have Ev give me his computer and grab Liam’s phone. “There you go.” I practically toss the items at him, and he almost drops both. “Pleasure doing business with you.”
“Anytime.” Like an asshole, he winks. “And if you ever get into your mom’s business, look me up. I might know some people who are interested.”
I glare at him as he turns and hikes back toward his car. Trysten offers me a wink before he walks away, too, while Liam doesn’t even so much as look in my direction, smiling instead at Embry who flips him off and calls him a fucker.
“Please don’t let Dixon affect your decision to meet us on Friday,” Rylen says, lingering behind. “I know he’s an asshole sometimes, but it’s mostly because he’s stressed out.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it is,” I reply, recalling how I overheard Dixon telling Rylen at the skate park how he likes to get under my skin.
He takes a tentative step toward me and leans in. At first, I think he’s going to try to kiss me and I just about Taser his ass, but then I realize he’s just leaning in to whisper something in my ear.
“And be careful of the jade in the caves, Mak,” he whispers. “Once you touch it, nothing will ever be the same again. And of the cameras. If you’re within their view, don’t do anything that will bring suspicion to yourself.”
“How do I know where they are, though?” I wonder. “From what we found out, there are thousands of them.”
He moves back, his cheek brushing against mine. Then he places a hand on my shoulder and steers me around. “See that tree over there with the markings on it?”
I squint at the cluster of trees, then frown when I spot the marking of Greek-like letters surrounding a circle. “Yeah, I see it.”
He moves his lips close to my ear again. “Wherever those are, a camera is nearby.”
“I thought that symbol belonged to a secret society,” I say, highly aware that his hand is resting on my hip. “That’s what Liam told me. Was he full of shit?”
“No, it is. They control the society,” he utters softly, his face brushing against the back of my hair.
WTF. Did he just smell my hair?
Before I can figure that out, he steps away, whispering, “I have to go. I’ll see you Friday night.”
I wonder if he’s referring to the date or meeting at this secret place. Then I laugh at myself.
Why on earth am I wondering about our date? I’m sure it was all part of their setup to bug me.
Irritation pulsates through me as I watch him walk away, so many questions burning at the tip of my tongue. Like, if what he said is true, then why did Trysten see the doctor for jade poisoning? And where are these caves full of jade? What does any of that have to do with this town, the societies, the monster living in the woods, and the cameras all over town? And why the hell was Scarlett trying to get me take jade pills?
What about what Embry found out about jade? That it can give a person supernatural, ghost-speaking abilities? I thought jade is what is causing mine and Ev’s little gift of talking to the dead, but now Rylen’s suggesting jade is bad. It doesn’t make any sense.
Instead of chasing him down and demanding questions, I climb into the car.
I may not know much about what’s going on, but the best way to get answers is to find them myself. Plus, I don’t want to be near here when the cameras come back on. That much of Rylen’s story I believe.
“What the hell was that about?” Kennedy asks after Embry and I scoot into the back seat.
I motion for her to drive as I close the door. “I’ll tell you when we get to my house. Right now, we need to get far, far away from this lake.”
With worry written all over her face, she shoves the shifter into drive and presses on the gas, kicking up a cloud of dirt.
As we pull away, I give one final glance over my shoulder at the trees. My heart nearly stops in my chest.
Peering through some branches is a set of glowing, green eyes.
Now you see why you have to be careful? Sawyer whispers. If you don’t, you’re going to end up there. You’re going to end up like me. Promise me, Mak. Promise me you’ll be careful.
I wrap my arms around myself as Kennedy steers onto the road and drives toward my house. I will.
That doesn’t mean I won’t stop searching for the truth. Like I said before, now that I know what’s out there, I can’t just walk away.
I’m going to find out the truth no matter what it takes.
As we make the drive home silently, I come up with a few ideas as to what is going on.
Shadow Cove is under an experiment ran by some government agency about the causes and effects of jade on humans. And those monsters in the trees are what happens when someone gets high dosages.
The society—who this Alexander is a part of—is luring people into the ghost house and injecting them with jade for various reasons.
The whole town is being watched by some agency, and whenever someone goes looking into the truth, they get doped up or killed or fed to the monsters.
Yeah, that’s pretty much all I’ve come up with, and the theories are way out there. Until I can get more answers, though, I can’t come up with anything else.
And I will get more answers.
Of course my determination deflates a bit as we pull up to my house to find my mom waiting on the front porch with a huge-ass smile on her face. A smile that looks an awful lot like the creepy one Scarlett had on her face the other night.
Mak, get your guard up!
What’s wrong with her? I ask, eyeballing my mom as Kennedy parks in the driveway.
The necklace starts to burn against my neck, scorching my skin.
Sawyer remains silent for so long that I figure he isn’t going to answer, but then I hear it. The softest reply.
She took the jade, just like they made Dad. Now she’s one of them.
Just like that, my heart nearly stops.
You know what happened to Dad?
He doesn’t answer, leaving my head crammed with questions. Like, what on earth is wrong with my mom? What did the jade do to her? And if the same thing happened to my dad an
d my mom, then why is my mom here and my dad isn’t?
Most of all, I wonder: who they are? This they that everyone keeps referring to. Who is this group or person who seems to be controlling the entire town? Is it the society? Someone else?
Who’s in control?
That’s the number one question I need to find the answer to before I end up either dead like Sawyer, gone like my dad, or like the person standing on my porch, looking completely possessed like half the damn people in this town—my mom.
“Dude, what’s up with your mom?” Kennedy asks as she turns off the engine. “She looks like she’s trying out at a clown audition or something.”
“I have no idea.” I open the door to get out. “Honestly, she looks like Scarlett did last night—”
The words are ripped from my tongue as at least a dozen uniformed officers barrel from the trees and from inside my house.
“What the hell?” My heart hammers in my chest as I climb back in and shut the car door.
A tall, broad officer stops at my door while more cops surround the car.
Ev starts freaking out, nearing toward hyperventilation. Embry tries to calm her down, while Kennedy is the epitome of cool.
“Kennedy Lee Everprice,” an officer says as he yanks open the driver’s side door, “get out of the car.”
“Kennedy, what’s going on?” I hiss as I lean forward.
“I don’t know,” she mutters, then lowers her head and ducks out of the car.
I shove on the door to get out, but the officer standing there stops me.
Embry tries the same thing, but an officer stops her, as well, leaving us trapped.
“Let her go!” I shout as an officer handcuffs her.
“Kennedy Lee Everprice,” he says, steering her toward the end of the driveway, “you’re under arrest for the murder of Mila Everprice.”
My heart nearly stops beating. “No, there’s no way Kennedy killed her stepmom!” I shout, trying to shove the door open again. This time the officer lets me out, but Kennedy is already getting shoved into the back of a car that’s parked at the corner of the street.
She stares at me through the window, her face pale, tears dripping down her cheeks. “Help me, Mak, please,” she mouths.
I nod and mouth back, “I swear I’ll get you out of this.”
Moments later, the cop vehicles zoom away, and all I can do is helplessly watch as my best friend is taken away by a group of people who could very well be part of the evil taking over Shadow Cove.
About the Author
About the Author
* * *
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
jessicasorensen.com
Also by Jessica Sorensen
Other books by Jessica Sorensen:
* * *
Shadow Cove Series:
What Lies in the Darkness
What Lies in the Dark
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Tangled Realms:
Forever Violet
Untitled (Legend’s story) (coming soon)
* * *
Unexpected Series:
The Unexpected
The Unpredictable
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Curse of the Vampire Queen:
Tempting Raven
Enchanting Raven
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Bad Boy Rebels:
Meeting the Bad Boy Rebels
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Hacker Rebels:
Discovering Alexis
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Mystic Willow Bay Witches Series:
The Secret Life of a Witch
Broken Magic
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Standalones:
The Forgotten Girl
* * *
Honeyton:
The Illusion of Annabella
Reclaiming Jessamine
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Sins & Secrets:
Seduction & Temptation
Sins & Secrets
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Rebels & Misfits:
Confessions of a Kleptomaniac
Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
The Heartbreaker Society:
The Opposite of Ordinary
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Broken City Series:
Nameless
Forsaken
Oblivion
Forbidden (coming soon)
* * *
Guardian Academy Series:
Entranced
Entangled
Enchanted
Entice (coming soon)
* * *
Sunnyvale Series:
The Year I Became Isabella Anders
The Year of Falling in Love
The Year of Second Chances
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Unraveling You Series:
Unraveling You
Raveling You
Awakening You
Inspiring You
Fated by Darkness
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
The Coincidence Series:
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
The Redemption of Callie and Kayden
The Destiny of Violet and Luke
The Probability of Violet and Luke
The Certainty of Violet and Luke
The Resolution of Callie and Kayden
Seth & Greyson
The Evermore of Callie & Kayden (coming soon)
The Infiniteness of Violet & Luke (coming soon)
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
The Secret Series:
The Prelude of Ella and Micha
The Secret of Ella and Micha
The Forever of Ella and Micha
The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
The Ever After of Ella and Micha
Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always
Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always
* * *
The Shattered Promises Series:
Shattered Promises
Fractured Souls
Unbroken
Broken Visions
Scattered Ashes
Enchanting Illusions (coming soon)
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Breaking Nova Series:
Breaking Nova
Saving Quinton
Delilah: The Making of Red
Nova and Quinton: No Regrets
Tristan: Finding Hope
Wreck Me
Ruin Me
* * *
The Fallen Star Series:
The Fallen Star
The Underworld
The Vision
The Promise
The Lost Soul
The Evanescence
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
The Darkness Falls Series:
Darkness Falls
Darkness Breaks
Darkness Fades
* * *
The Death Collectors Series (NA and YA):
Ember X and Ember
Cinder X and Cinder
Spark X and Spark
Untitled (coming soon)
* * *
Unbeautiful Series:
Unbeautiful
Untamed
* * *
Lexi Ashford:
Diary of Lexi Ashford
Diary of Lexi Ashford: The Agreement (coming soon)
* * *
Ultraviolet:
Ultraviolet (coming soo
n)
What Lies in the Dark Page 12
