Chase sucks in air. “Emma. You don’t mean that.”
But she’s relentless. “You even have the gall to blame yourself for Piper’s death. You didn’t push her off the cliff. You didn’t get her pregnant. It was Piper’s choice to dig into the Virtues. Her decision to become the Virtuous princess instead of me. But because you just can’t stop yourself, now you go after Callie for daring to try to sacrifice herself for you. Maybe she wanted to. Maybe it’s not all about your *sacrifices, Chase. We needed to have our own. I needed to save other girls from becoming Sabine’s puppets. Piper needed to save me. Callie needed to save her friend and you. For once in your fucking life, allow us to be the selfless ones.”
“I’m not going to apologize for wanting to protect the girls I care about.”
“You guys are fighting about who has the right to die first,” I whisper, “when Ivy’s already dead.”
Both go silent.
Emma’s the first to speak. She covers her face with her hands. “I’m sorry. My brain is everywhere. I’m so sorry about Ivy. And I’m terrified for my brother, for you, and I’m taking it out on anything that moves.”
“It’s okay,” I murmur, but the tears well anyway.
Emma lays a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll tell me tomorrow. Try to rest.” She then lays a hand on Chase’s cheek, staring long and hard into his eyes. “You, too.”
“Yeah, sis.” Chase squeezes her wrist.
Emma hobbles out of the room and the bed dips as Chase settles beside me. His body molds to mine, and he says, close to my ear, “Can I stay?”
I turn into him, my damp lashes cool against my tender skin as I close my eyes. “Don’t leave.”
“I won’t.” He brings an arm around me, tugging me close. “I’m so—I should’ve—”
I nudge my nose with his. “Your sister’s right. You take on too much. Let us have our faults. I could’ve saved Ivy, too.”
“I wish you had.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, asking, for just this moment, that my crying stops. “Sabine was aiming for you. I know it in my bones. And I couldn’t stop myself from protecting you if I tried.”
“Callie.” My name sounds so pained on his tongue. He kisses the hair at my temple. “I hear the guilt in your voice. There’s no way you could’ve saved us both. One of us was dying tonight. There was no way out.”
“There’s always a way.”
I’m surprised at the grit in my tone, the instant anger. Yet, the more I stew on the words, the more certain I become.
“Tomorrow will be rough.” Chase fits me against him. “Rest. Sabine’s not touching a hair on your fucking head.”
I lick my lips, truly wondering if Chase can claim such invincibility when tonight has shown us there’s no such thing.
My best friend is dead. That caring, smiling, bursting-with-joy person is dead. Because she wanted to save her family. Because of Sabine.
Those thoughts grow vulture’s feathers until they form into jagged, black wings, and they silently circle my mind, flying lower and lower, ready to eat into the carrion I’ve become.
But with Chase’s arms around me, I manage to avoid their gnarled beaks and fall into a fitful sleep.
REIGN will be a live release!
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A Note from Ketley
Thank you so much for reading FIEND!
If you have the time, I’d love for you to leave a review on your preferred platform, or tag me on social media to let me know your thoughts. Those golden little stars are what drive me to keep writing.
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xoxo, Ket.
About the Author
Ketley Allison has always been a romantic at heart. That passion ignited when she realized she could put her dreams into words and her heart into characters. Ketley was born in Canada, moved to Australia, then to California, and finally to New York City to attend law school, but most of that time was spent in coffee shops thinking about her next book.
Her other passions include wine, coffee, Big Macs, her cat, and her husband, possibly in that order.
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Fiend (Briarcliff Secret Society Series Book 3) Page 27