Lies Like Poison

by Chelsea Pitcher

  Then he was lowering his window and tossing the phone into the darkness. “Please. Just listen,” Dr. Holloway said, closing the window again. “When I left to pick you up at the airport, I was planning to divorce Evelyn. I didn’t want to hurt her. I swear, son, I never wanted to hurt anyone. But I saw a figure darting across the lawn as I was leaving the estate, and I just… pulled the car around to the side of the road. Snuck in through the back gate, like you kids had done for years. I heard everything Lily said to Evelyn because I was listening outside the window, and once I realized Evelyn had been hurting both you kids…”

  “You snuck back into the house.”

  “While Evelyn took her shower, yes. She liked to let her tea steep.” He twisted to the right, finding Raven’s gaze. “It was easy to pick up the flowers and stuff them into the kettle, but I swear, Raven, I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing. I must’ve been in shock.”

  “You killed her.” Raven wrapped his sleeve around his fist. He would punch his way out of this car if he had to. He would try, because his father wasn’t taking him to visit his mother. He was kidnapping him. “You killed Evelyn, and then you framed Belle for the murder. You must’ve found her recipe out in the orchard while you were pruning the trees. And you kept it all these years.”

  “I wanted to ask you about it when you came home! I tucked it away in the garage, and forgot about it, until…” Dr. Holloway winced as if he’d been struck. “Until Evelyn was lying on the kitchen floor. And you were on your way home. I knew the police would take me away from you if they figured out what I’d done, so I planted the recipe in the kitchen, figuring it would send them in another direction. I had no idea the flowers had come from Belladonna’s yard. I had no idea she’d snuck over to the house earlier that day.”

  “You left her in a juvenile detention center! Anything could’ve happened to her in that place. And instead of letting her out, you gave Jack a false alibi and abandoned Belle—”

  “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to keep us together.” Dr. Holloway fumbled with his key chain, looking for the button that would open the front gate. The car came to a stop as they drew near. “You’re the only family I have left.”

  “I have a family,” Raven whispered, staring at his reflection in the glass. He thought maybe he’d see his mother’s eyes. Her warm, wide smile. But all he could make out were his own dark curls, and the curve of his father’s jaw behind him. This was not his family. This would not be his life. Raven took a single, shuddering breath, and slammed his fist into the glass.

  There was a sharp, sudden sound, like a blade puncturing a balloon. But it had come from outside the car. Cringing, Raven rubbed at the glass with his sleeve, trying to glimpse the outside world as his father hit the gas. The car stuttered forward unevenly, like the vehicle itself had been drugged, and then it stopped.

  Dr. Holloway cursed, unhooking his seat belt. He unlocked his own door—only his own—then slid out of his seat, his body instantly swallowed by the darkness. The door shut and locked at his back. Raven scrambled into his father’s seat. His knuckles were throbbing from where they’d slammed into the window, but there were noises outside the car. Voices he recognized. With trembling fingers, he pushed the lock up, yanked the handle toward him, and then he was tumbling out of the car.

  He looked up to find figures in the darkness.

  “Don’t touch them,” he warned, because his father had poisoned Evelyn. He’d allowed Belle to be locked up in a cell.

  Raven had to protect his true family.

  But he’d forgotten who he was dealing with. As he pushed to his feet, he saw Belle standing in front of the car, blocking their passage. Lily was kneeling beside the front tire, her gardening shears stuck deep in the rubber. Jack stood nearby, his phone set to record in case Raven’s father lashed out.

  Dr. Holloway held up his hands. “I’m sorry,” he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I don’t want you to live in fear of me. I’ll turn myself in.”

  A pang shot through Raven’s stomach as his friends surrounded him. “Every time we call the police, it makes things worse. I don’t want you locked up—”

  But his father was already climbing back into the car. Before Raven could stop him, Dr. Holloway had sped through the open gates, disappearing into the darkness.

  Raven raced after him, but the road spread out before him, silent and empty. “This isn’t what I wanted,” he said at the sound of footsteps approaching.

  “I know.” Jack touched his arm and Raven spun around, letting Jack enfold him into an embrace. “We don’t turn each other in,” Jack whispered. “We fight for each other.”

  “You fought for me.” Raven pulled back, his gaze drifting to the house. “How did you get to me so quickly? You didn’t answer your phone.”

  “I didn’t have to.” Jack leaned in, brushing his lips against Raven’s cheek. “I heard you talking through the vents.”

  28

  Happily

  They didn’t sleep in the orchard as planned. Instead, Raven and Jack curled up together in his third-floor bedroom, while Lily and Belle settled into Lily’s room on the second floor. Hours passed, and the sun started to rise. As Raven slept fitfully, Jack snuck downstairs and tracked down a planter’s box in the garage. Raven awoke to find a single crimson rose greeting him from outside his window.

  He blinked at the sight of it, then smiled. “You did what you promised.”

  “I always will,” Jack said, coming to sit on the bed. There was dirt on his hands and cuts on his fingers. It almost felt like a normal day.

  But it wasn’t.

  “Do you want to talk about last night?” Jack asked softly. He was aching to toy with Raven’s hair. Aching to cup Raven’s face in his hands. But with dirt on his fingers, the best he could do was grip Raven’s gaze.

  Then Raven reached out, entwining their fingers. “My dad locked me in the car. I tried to get out, but I couldn’t, and the whole time, he was telling me—” He broke off suddenly, the way the car had staggered to a stop after Lily had punctured the tire. That had been a stroke of genius, and Jack was thankful for Lily keeping those rusty shears in her purse the entire time. He was thankful for Belle’s idea to listen to Dr. Holloway through the vents. No matter how many times the people around them had tried to destroy them, abuse them, or tie them up in knots, none of them had stopped fighting back.

  It was the only way they’d survived.

  Now Jack was looking forward to quiet nights beside the fire. Toasting marshmallows with his brothers. Reading stories. Someday soon, their mother would come home, and their lives would be cast into upheaval once again, but for the briefest of moments, the world was peaceful.

  The breeze filtered in through the window, rustling the dark curtains. Raven untangled his limbs from his sheets. Jack could tell that he was still exhausted from the previous night, because his usually graceful movements looked a bit sloppy. His eyes were red from crying. Still, he managed to swing his legs over the side of the bed, testing his strength. “He said we were going to see my mom. I thought, maybe in the quiet of the cemetery, he’d tell me the truth. I kept hoping we were wrong about things. Maybe he’d only meant to scare Evelyn, or maybe Andrew really was the killer.”

  “Andrew’s a killer too. He killed your mom, and he doesn’t get to pretend he’s innocent because Evelyn tricked him into it. He could’ve checked the gun. He could’ve said no to her.” Jack studied Raven’s eyes, expecting to see devastation. “Now he’ll be going to prison along with your dad.”

  Raven huffed, shaking his head. “Maybe they’ll share a cell.”

  “Raven.”

  He turned to look at Jack then, truly peering into his eyes, and Jack expected to see devastation. Fury, bleeding into heartache. But Raven’s gaze was strong. That little boy who’d jumped at every shadow was gone, replaced by someone Jack recognized but didn’t really know anymore. Not as much as he wanted to.

  Maybe, if he was very
lucky, Raven would let him in, like he was letting Raven in. Jack’s heart swelled at the thought. He guided Raven to his feet. “The girls are outside taking down the fort in the orchard. We’ve been talking, and we think it would make sense for you to stay at my house until my mom comes home.”

  “I have a better idea,” Raven said. His voice was clear and unwavering. He took a shaky step, then two. After that, he was striding toward the door, pulling Jack along with him. Jack had to hurry to catch up. Together they made their way through the hallway, where Raven’s father had hung up portraits of his first wife. Arianna smiled back at them all the way down the stairs. The foyer was free of her, but only because it was sparsely decorated. Two end tables framed the ebony door. Two vases sat, emptied of roses. Raven opened the door and led Jack out of Holloway Manor, with its jagged gray stones, into the orchard where the girls were waiting.

  They were supposed to be taking down the fort, but it was clear they’d gotten a little… distracted. Lily brushed apple blossoms from her hair, struggling to smooth her wrinkled clothing. Belle, on the other hand, did nothing to hide the fact that they’d been up to mischief, and she pulled Lily close as her friends approached. “You’re up,” she said to Raven.

  He nodded. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to talk to you about your time in foster care.”

  Belle flinched, and Lily stood on her tiptoes, brushing a kiss against Belle’s cheek. “We’re not letting them place you in some home,” Belle said fiercely. “We’ve already been talking about it—”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Raven agreed. At least, Jack thought he was agreeing with their plan, until he said, “I wanted to know how long it took to place you in a home. I’ll be eighteen in a year, and it seems like a waste of time for them to spend months pairing me up with some family, just to have me turn around and leave a few months after that. Better to let me get emancipated. Then I can stay here.”

  He gestured to the estate around him, and suddenly, Jack started to understand. With Raven’s father in prison, and his mother buried six feet under the earth, this estate could legally be his. But not unless he was an adult.

  “I don’t know how quickly they’ll set the trial. How quickly they’ll convict. But if I can prove that I can take care of myself between then and now, I wouldn’t have to move in with any of you.” A pause, as Raven flashed an impish grin. “You could move in with me.”

  “What?” It was Lily who spoke the words, because Lily had lost as much as Raven had. A father and a mother. She had nowhere to go. There was no way she’d be allowed to live in Andrew Kane’s house alone, and going back to the facility couldn’t have been a palatable option. She needed a home and she needed a family.

  Jack wanted that for her.

  But things were more complicated for Jack. “You should live here,” he said to Lily, forcing a smile to hide the heaviness in his chest. “But I have my brothers to take care of. I can’t just pack up and leave.”

  “They can stay here too,” Raven said swiftly. “You know those boys are my family, just like—”

  “It isn’t that simple. My mom’s going to come back someday soon, and she won’t be okay with them living somewhere else. Not unless she gets to live here too.” Jack gestured to the beautiful estate, the twisting branches, and the house that rose up like a castle in the early morning mist. “Plus, we have Diego to think about. He’s started to patch things up with his parents, but nothing’s settled yet. Flynn won’t send him back home until he’s sure it’s safe.”

  “He can stay here too.” The words came easily. Raven didn’t even blink before he offered them, and Jack’s heart squeezed as if Raven had cradled it in his hand. “There’s room for everyone.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I know I don’t have to,” Raven said. “If I had to, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.” A soft smile then, the kind that rounded his cheeks and brightened his eyes. Jack wanted to accept his offer. He wanted to believe he could, but he’d been so certain, for so long, that he didn’t deserve this.

  A family.

  True love.

  “Things are really complicated, Raven, and if people find out we’re all staying together, they might try to tear us apart.”

  A shrug, so casual. Raven didn’t seem the least bit concerned. “Let them try. If we all get emancipated, we can take care of each other, and if they try to take away the boys, we’ll prove this is a safer environment—”

  “Raven, stop.” Jack shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. Raven wanted to take care of him. Jack understood that. He wanted to take care of Raven, too. But Raven had lost his last remaining parent, and he was probably feeling really unsteady right now.

  Jack couldn’t take advantage of that.

  “Why don’t you focus on getting emancipated? Once the house is yours, you can decide who you want living here with you.” Jack smiled softly at Lily, who was watching the encounter with bright eyes. “You and Lily were a family once. You can be a family again, and I can take care of—”

  “Don’t you get it?” Raven stepped up close, dressed in the black satin pajamas Jack had helped him into hours earlier. Jack was still wearing his clothes from the previous night. Green shirt. Rolled up jeans. They were exhausted and disheveled. They were unstoppable and wild. “I could live in a castle or I could live in the trees. It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re with me. You are my family, Jack. You are my home. All of us can live here together. Lily can have her old bedroom—”

  Lily tilted her head up, taking in the sight of the white, billowing curtains. “I’m redecorating everything. I can do that, right?”

  “Of course.” Raven nodded at her, smiling. “Belle can have the guest room next door, unless she wants to stay with Edwin. Do you?” he asked tentatively, and Belle let out a bark of a laugh. It startled some blue jays from a tree. But down below the branches, nobody jumped.

  “I was already planning to bail.” Belle gestured to a suitcase tucked under the fort of sheets. “I can’t stay there anymore. I’ll never be free if I’m living with him.”

  “Then it’s settled.” Raven’s fingers slid into Jack’s hair. He guided Jack closer to him, until their foreheads were touching. “We’ll live on the estate together. The house will be our home, and we’ll plant vegetables where the roses used to grow. You’ll never be hungry again,” he whispered, so that only Jack could hear. “You’ll never be alone.”

  It sounded like a fairy tale. A story to whisper to a child who was too terrified to sleep. But Jack had separated the world into heroes and villains long ago, in order to survive a life that shouldn’t have been so wicked, and he wanted to believe there was kindness to battle the cruelty. Glittering light to cut through the darkness. He wanted to believe that love was stronger than hate, and as his eyes met Raven’s, love surged in his chest, beating back the pain that had threatened to swallow him for so long.

  Raven loved him, and he loved Raven. The four of them could be a family, and no matter what the world tried to throw at them, they would survive it together. It wouldn’t be easy, but it never had been. They could’ve given in to the darkness years earlier, and become like the monsters around them. Grown claws. Cut out their own hearts. Instead, they’d chosen to fight for one another, and maybe they wouldn’t live happily ever after, because life wasn’t a fairy tale.

  But they would live happily.

  Acknowledgments

  To Mandy Hubbard, my unstoppable knight of an agent, for constantly fighting on my behalf. You make my work stronger, fiercer, and bolder every time. Thank you.

  To Kate Prosswimmer, my talented weaver of an editor, who helped tie all my dangling strings into a tapestry. I am indebted to your brilliance.

  To Nicole Fiorica and the magical staff at Margaret K. McElderry Books, for all the spells you cast behind the scenes. Thank you for your time and your creativity.

  To my family, both blood-related and chosen, for the million little ways you’ve
supported me on this path. Love this journey for us.

  To my critique partners, AdriAnne Strickland, Phoebe North, and Elle Cosimano, for always making me ground my fables in reality. You bring order to my chaos.

  To Mindy McGinnis, Kara Thomas, and everyone in the Lucky 13s. We began as a debut group, seven years ago, and I am continually humbled and grateful that you’ve shown up for me in the years since. I can’t wait to see what you do next.

  To those of you who’ve always known who you were, in spite of what people told you. For those who found yourself along the way. For those still looking.

  This book is for you.

  More from the Author

  This Lie Will Kill You

  About the Author

  Chelsea Pitcher is a karaoke-singing, ocean-worshipping Oregonian with a penchant for twisted mysteries. She began gobbling up stories as soon as she could read and especially enjoys delving into the darker places to see if she can draw out some light. Chelsea is the author of The S-Word, This Lie Will Kill You, The Last Changeling, and The Last Faerie Queen. You can visit her at chelseapitcher.com and follow her on Instagram @ChelseaPitcherAuthor.

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  Also by Chelsea Pitcher

  This Lie Will Kill You

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