Page 82 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

It’s only my foolhardiness keeping me away from the apartment. It could be a test for Liam to see if he really cares.

Or… I don’t know.

I’m sick of people, Halloween, and dead girls.

22

Liam

“Sky?”

I thought I heard a door close, but I had naively assumed it was Sky’s door. And because of that assumption, I wasn’t in a hurry. I took my time rinsing the day off my skin in the shower, then getting dressed in my room—and fighting the urge to think about Sky in the other room.

But now, the apartment is silent, and I can’t recall how long ago that door closed.

Why would she leave? Am I that much of a monster that she couldn’t stay?

I check the bathroom, living room, and finally the spare room, newly minted as hers. There are a few boxes along one wall. The bed is made, but I’m pretty sure that was Sky’s mom. I saw the way she left her bed, and it was never this neat.

The closet is open. I scope it out, running my finger across the sleeves. Pretty shirts in a variety of dark colors, most of them shades of black and gray. She certainly has a unique style, I’ll give her credit for that. She probably transformed to get away from the girl she once was.

But actually… she’s done that once before.

It was subtler back then, and it was only noticeable when she wasn’t around her parents. She was The Great Pretender in my head, the plastic girl next door. It was only an illusion, though, and I quickly figured out a way to see through it. Once I cracked the code, it was easy.

She says she hates masks, but she’s only just learned how to take off her own.

I rub at my face. We used to have a connection, but I’m afraid our actions have frayed it. It’s a gaping wound.

Leaving the closet, I peek in the boxes, then at the window. She’s lined up her little plants on the sill in a row, but her vibrator is not in sight.

Pure curiosity overrides my concern that she’s disappeared, and I rifle through her drawers until I find it. I just want to know where it is… and maybe see if I can elicit that pretty blush to her cheeks again.

“Focus,” I tell myself. I put the vibrator back.

I should’ve kept my eye on her—of course she’d be dumb enough to leave. Does she even know it’s Halloween? Her fear of the holiday has been a long-standing thing, living under her skin. It’s more than just the day: it’s the masks, the costumes.

It probably brings back memories.

Memories. Maybe tonight is as good a night as any to try to retrieve them. It’s only a matter of time before another girl goes missing.

I grab my keys and coat, then freeze. “Fucking hell.”

She doesn’t have keys.

Even if she wanted to come back, she couldn’t make it past the front door.

I race outside and stop short. She probably had much the same reaction, because the street is a main thoroughfare from campus to frat row.

There are a few fraternities around the corner. Their music is already loud, and it assaults my ears. If I had no idea what Sky was about, I’d go in that direction. Any girl would’ve been swept toward the party.

Not her.

But what brought her outside in the first place? Sheer desperation to get away from me?

“Hey, jackass. What the fuck?”

My brows lower, and I finally spot the accuser: Mitchel Norton.