Beautiful Elixir (Beautiful Oblivion #3) (18 page)

I
can count
on one hand how many occasions I’ve been genuinely stunned. The first time was when I was twelve and my father said he had to stop off and pick up some mail at a small pink house across town, a part of South Lux I hadn’t even known existed until that day. He told me to stay put, but I was twelve and had to take a leak, so after twenty minutes I walked around back, exploring for a bush to piss in. That’s when I heard the grunting, looked through the window, and saw my old man nailing a woman against the wall with his thrusting body. I pissed all over that window. The ride home was sullen. He had cheated on mother and murdered my childhood all in one afternoon.

The other two occasions were solely at the hands of my brothers. Abel when he announced that after years of floundering he, too, was headed into law, and then Solomon when he asked me to lie for him—only it wasn’t Sol’s request that stunned me, it was my willingness to do it.

I watch as Kennedy bolts down the driveway, hugging the lake until she dives into the Corner Store. It’s safe to say that Kennedy has taken the prize. I am stunned as shit. Can’t even breathe.

The clouds are dove gray as a gentle dusting of snow drifts down to Loveless, but not even the bitter cold, the beauty of a new winter, can shake me from my stupor.

“That’s Kennedy.” Her sister steps out, tears streaming down her cheeks. “She’s just hurt. She’s not really a monster.” Her entire body sags as she stares off in her direction.

“Why would she do this?” Her mother lets out an agonizing cry.

“Why do you think?” Peter straightens, his voice aggressive as a slap. “You’ve fucked her up good, Bev—that’s why!”

Kamryn lets out a venomous growl “Would you two stop! You
both
fucked her up. Congratulations! It’s the only thing you’ve managed to accomplish together in twenty-five years.” She turns to her parents. “Stay here. I’ll bring her back.”

I don’t say a word, just walk alongside Kamryn as we trek over to the Corner Store. We hit the entrance, and she blocks my path.

“Listen, if you’re as pissed as I think you are, maybe you’d better hang tight for a while.” Kamryn turns toward the lake, her hand pressed against her neck as if she might strangle herself. “I don’t want her to be like this. And I’m sick of people driving her to the brink of insanity. My sister is a good person. Yes, she’s made some shitty judgment calls, lots of them, but, deep down, she’s a decent person. At least she used to be,” she whispers that last part.

“Maybe you should tell her that.” I swallow hard just trying to keep it together. “She’s missed you. I know it would mean a lot for her to hear it.” I glance inside and spot Kennedy near the back, her head down, her face glossy with tears, and my heart breaks. “Good luck keeping me away from her.”

The Corner Store is filled with bodies trying to escape the bitter cold. The first snowfall of the season has a way of bringing people out to ogle it only to realize it’s damn cold, and they’d rather sip something hot.

Neva’s eyes widen as we step inside, and she points down to the end of the café where Kennedy sits with Gavin and Demi.

“Why don’t you two head over? I’ll bring you something.”

Kamryn makes a beeline toward her sister, but I’m slow to follow. Instead, I step aside, partially hidden by a crowd of raucous teenagers mulling around the counter. I want this to be about Kennedy and Kamryn. I want to be last in line—have her all to myself. Every emotion under the sun is running through my gut, and I don’t know what to do with a single one of them. Either way this is going to hurt. After all, Kennedy didn’t say those words to my face. I happened to overhear them. I’m not sure she was ever going to say them. But then again, I’ve lied to her. Maybe this is the day we both come clean.

Kennedy rises and does a quick introduction of her sister.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Gavin looks stunned as he gives her hand a quick shake. It is a bit of a shock to see Kennedy in duplicate.

Kennedy lifts a shoulder. “Yeah, well, I’m private that way.”

“Plus, she was a tiny bit ticked at me,” Kamryn adds. “We haven’t really spoken in four years.”

“Are we still sisters?” she asks sheepishly.

“Do you think I’m a horrible person?”

“No—far from it. I think you’re hurt, and you need someone there for you, like a big sister. Can I still be that for you?”

Kennedy gives a dull smile, running her fingers through her sister’s hair.

“You look like a snow princess.” She bites down on her lip, still contemplating her answer. “Of course, I’d like you to be my big sister. You were never anything but.” She wipes down her sister’s tear-slicked face. “That never changed.” She pulls her in tight. “You’ll be my sister until we take our last breaths and then long after that.”

Kam lands a sweet kiss on the top of Kennedy’s head. “I’ve missed you so damn much.”

“I’ve missed you twice that.” She pulls her into another embrace. “And that’s no lie.”

My feet begin the slow trek over without my permission. It’s time. Kennedy and I have a lot we need to say to one another, and now that she’s made amends with her sister, there’s no time like the present.

“But we’re about to make up for some serious lost time.” Kennedy raises her coffee in her sister’s honor, and Gavin and Demi do the same.

“What are we toasting?” The words strum from me, deep and unfamiliar. I’ve never been good at putting up a front. My eyes feel heavy as I keep them trained on Kennedy. I can’t seem to move another step. That perennial smile I keep for her isn’t coming to the party. This is serious, the playful side I’ve shared with her is gone for now.

“My freedom”—Kennedy gives a hard gulp as if swallowing down another lie—“from you.”

“
Kennedy
,” Demi hisses from across the table.

“Good Lord,” Kam sighs. “Let the fireworks begin.”

Gavin gives a dark chuckle. “Lighten up, dude, we were toasting her sister. Take a seat. What’s your ugly mug doing out of your cave? Did the legal system spit you out for good?”

I can’t find it in me to offer even a thin smile to his good-natured ribbing. But I take him up on the offer and find a seat at the head of the table, my eyes still poised on Kennedy.

“Your results came back from the polygraph.” I give an idea of a smile. “It’s true what you said about the videos.” Just a few minutes prior to her admission, I already knew the truth. But hearing her say those words, it was mind-boggling. I don’t get it. I don’t know if I ever will.

Kennedy glances to Demi and Gavin, her lashes lowered just enough to show remorse. “I did it,” she whispers. “I uploaded those videos.” Her cheeks fill with color. “I lied about not knowing that Keith ever made them.” She looks to me. “But the rest? All those stupid idiotic pranks? What did the polygraph have to say about that?” Her intense gaze matches mine. Baby steps—that’s how we’re getting to the finish line.

“Inconclusive.” My brows rise. “Only you know the truth.”

“The truth is a slippery bitch”—she doesn’t miss a beat—“just like me.”

Kennedy and I enter a standoff. This is it, the moment that makes or breaks us. If I hold strong to my lie—if she holds strong to her newfound hatred of me—we could knock this out of the park. It’s all some longstanding curse that’s been ravaging my life, and it looks like Kennedy might have been infected, too.

“Why are you doing this?” My voice is steady, but you can hear the anger rippling underneath like a current about sweep us off to sea.

“I thought you were all about the truth, Caleb. Isn’t that what you want to hear?”

“You’re spewing out more lies, Kennedy.” I jump to my feet, plucking the drink from her hands and hurling it at the wall.

The room pulsates around me as my sanity unlatches, unhooks from my good judgment. I’m coming unhinged for all to see. There has to be a limit to this misery. There has to be a way to stop it.

Kennedy rises to meet me where I’m at, all rage and turmoil.

“I didn’t lie on that test, Caleb,” she screams it in my face. Her voice vibrates over me like a hurricane. “I don’t know why that test showed inconclusive. Maybe it’s because I had a rough morning—with my
sister
, my
father
both popping into my life that day after four long years. Maybe it’s because I wanted so hard to pass I couldn’t tell you how to spell my own damn name!” Tears spring from her eyes like a fountain. She presses her lips together hard for a moment. “I didn’t want to lie anymore in your office, Caleb. I don’t want to lie to you or anyone else again for the rest of my life.”

Her sister rises to her side as she glares over at me. “But you lied, Ken. Tell him how you lied in his office the other night.”

Kennedy closes her eyes briefly.

“One secret I tell you, and you spill it within a day,” she hisses.

“Is it true?” My voice thunders through the small shop. All patrons have ceased their conversations. Their heads craned shamelessly at the two of us.

“It’s true,” she whispers. “I didn’t have anything to do with extorting information from your brother. After I heard that recording”—she shakes her head—“okay, I did say those words, just not in that order. Someone spliced two conversations together. And I don’t even know who that was speaking in the beginning. Don’t you see?” Her voice cracks as Demi comes up alongside her. Gavin rises next to me as if he were about to break up a fight. “If they could be that dubious, make Keith disappear, there’s no stopping them. They have already taken away too much from me.” Her hand floats to the side of my face. “I couldn’t let them hurt you anymore. I needed to let you go—to protect you the only way I know how.”

Kennedy. I bury a kiss in her palm before meeting her teary gaze once again. “You lied to protect me.” I close my eyes a brief moment. “Come here.” I pull Kennedy into my arms and lose it. All of the false armor she’s been wearing, for weeks, years, slowly melts away, and she’s a girl again in my arms. My special summer girl.

“I am so fucked, Caleb.” She buries her face in my neck.

I land a hard kiss to her temple. “We’re going to get you out of this. And I think I know a way.”

L
oveless in summer is nice
. In autumn it shines like cut amber, but dressed in a coat of snow, it is resplendent. Winter has always been the crowning jewel of the mountain.

I take Kennedy back to the cabin and call Abel to meet up with us. I’ve also invited her mother, father, and sister along with Demi and Gavin to help us wade through the sludge of what’s become of Kennedy’s life.

“It’s ironic,” Kennedy whispers, looking at the small crowd amassed at the dining room table.

“What’s that?” I pull her toward the kitchen just out of sight of the others. I want to kiss her. To tell her that everything will be all right, but I don’t have the facts to back that up.

“That in my darkest hour never have I felt so much love in one room.” Her brows peak. Kennedy is a natural beauty both inside and out. “I was thinking we only have so many years left on the planet, and what kind of ending would I like to have? I want it to be a good one. I can’t control how other people act, react, around me, but I can control how I do it, and I want a good ending. I choose to be happy—and happy people aren’t liars. I need people, Caleb. I don’t want to push anyone else away.”

“I’ll always be here for you.” I pull her body to mine and lose myself in her hair, her jasmine rich scent, and suddenly wish we were the only two people in the cabin.

Abel arrives, and Kennedy seems shocked to see yet another doppelganger of mine. Solomon is a meaner, leaner version, covered with tats, cocky and reckless, but Abel is the exact representation, and I can see that this unnerves her on some level.

“We know it’s a girl.” Peter shakes his hands in the air as we congregate in the dining room. “She’s about your age, so I’m guessing you know her.”

“I do know her,” Kennedy offers, and all eyes settle on her, startled by the admission.

I’m not sure I can handle any more surprises.

Kamryn rolls her eyes like a hormonal teenager. “Please knock me off your suspect list once and for all. I’m not amused by the accusation.”

“Check your ego at the door. It’s not you.” Kennedy smirks. “It’s someone in my sorority.”

“How can you be sure?” I pick up her hand and kiss it in front of our family and friends, and her eyes tear up a moment as if that simple show of affection was more than she could bear.

“I wondered from the beginning.” She links her arm through mine and leans against me for support. “Once the ridiculous incidences began—none of which I had anything to do with—I uploaded the videos. I wanted to beat Keith at his own game. Then there were a few more cheap pranks that took place, all of which pointed to me, and, coincidentally they all rang like marking off a checklist. The things that were happening to Keith were the exact suggestions that my sorority sisters offered on ways to get back at him for cheating. That pretty much dissolved any notion that Keith had anything to do with this. I did wonder if he had a mole, some girl working on the inside. But I knew whoever was doing this was more interested in getting under my skin than Keith’s.” Kennedy takes a breath as she looks to her mother. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for the both of them. “That’s why I went back to the sorority with Reese and Brylee. My sorority sisters welcomed me with open arms, and, yet again, they threw out suggestions on creative ways to get back at Keith. The very next week somebody went right down the list once again. Making Keith disappear seemed like a bonus.”

Demi leans in, livid. “So why is this person tormenting Caleb?”

My chest thumps with an aborted laugh. Demi and Gavin always seem to have my back.

“That night at the sorority house, it sort of got out that I was into Caleb. It didn’t take long for them to switch gears.”

Her mother clutches at her throat. “It’s simple. They want what you have. They’re just jealous. People have always been jealous of you.” She points an accusing finger as if it were all Kennedy’s fault.

“No,” she’s quick to refute the theory. “I don’t think it’s that.”