It’s late, and I should have been asleep hours ago. School is going to suck tomorrow. But I can’t stop thinking about what happened last night. I have a bad habit of replaying things over in my head, cringing every time I think about that stupid word.
Demon.
Words aren’t supposed to break bones, but I feel like they do when they come from Landon. He’s made jokes about me not being human before, but he’s never said that stupid word. The word Audrey decided was so fitting for me after the party. Landon using it too feels like a slap in the face. Like it really was them against me the whole time, and I was just collateral damage.
But am I really?
That question will haunt me until the day I die. Because when you can’t remember, how can you deny that you didn’t do anything wrong?
I squeeze my eyes shut and wish it wasn’t all so complicated. I wish I didn’t feel so uncertain about him. I wish I could just hate him for real. On my worst days, I wish I’d never even come back.
Something thumps against the wall beneath my window, and this time, I know I’m not imagining it. I reach for the Mace on the nightstand and bolt upright, turning on the lamp. I’m half expecting someone to be there in the dark window, but nobody is. After a few long, painfully silent seconds, I creep closer to the frame and peek outside with my weapon clutched between my fingers. And there he is. Landon, faceplanted in the grass, probably drunk.
Cracking open the window just enough to speak, I yell at him. “Go away!”
He doesn’t move. At first glance, I think he must have passed out, but when I shine the light from my phone on him to get a better look, I gasp. His shirt is bloody, and there’s a gash on the back of his head that looks bad.
“Landon?”
He groans.
“Just… stay there!” I tell him.
My bare feet slap against the tile floor as I dart outside in my pajamas, meeting him where’s he’s lying beneath the window. I kneel beside him, frantically checking him over, and not really sure what to do.
“What happened?” I ask.
Another groan.
“Kail.” His voice is rougher than I’ve ever heard it. “I need you.”
I try to roll him onto his side, but it’s like trying to shift a concrete wall with your bare hands. He’s too big for me to help on my own, and whatever’s going on, he does need help.
“Shit.” I frown when something occurs to me. It’s not the greatest solution, but I don’t see any other choice. “Stay here, okay? Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”
He mumbles something about the sea, and I assure him it’s going to be okay. But really, what do I know? Until we can get him inside, I have no clue how bad it is.
I sprint across the lawn and into the main house, screeching across the tile floor. Just as I’m about to fling myself up the stairs, Theo’s voice in the kitchen stops me.
“Kailani? Are you alright?”
He’s standing by the kitchen sink in his pajamas, rinsing out his nightly cup of milk.
“Oh, thank god you’re awake.” I run to him and grab his arm, dragging him outside with me. “I need your help.”
“What’s going on?” he asks as our feet squish into the moist grass.
My breath comes in jolted fragments of words. “Landon. Hurt. Help.”
Theo springs into action, taking off in the direction I pointed, and it’s the first time I see him in a whole new light. To me, he’s always just been my mother’s husband. I didn’t let myself get close to him, even when he tried, and nothing he had to say registered as important. But now, he feels more important than ever. Before Theo decided to hang up his military uniform and cash in on his inheritance, he was a combat medic. He can help Landon. He’ll know what to do.
When I reach the pool house behind him, he’s already assessing the situation with a cool efficiency I’d never be capable of.
“Bring me a flashlight, a blanket, water, and the first-aid kit,” he orders.
My mind is a jumble of thoughts as I race back into the pool house and gather the items he requested, carrying them to him as fast as I can. When I return, Theo has Landon rolled onto his side, examining his face. But it isn’t until he shines the flashlight that we see the extent of the damages.
There are claw marks down his cheek like a rabid animal attacked him, and there’s an ugly round burn mark on his neck. Dried blood coats his temple, and there’s a big patch on his scalp where he’s missing a clump of hair.