Chapter 56

Chapter Fifty-Six

GREY

I'm in Dutch and Cadence's car, driving away from the interview.

My voice rings from Viola's phone. "Sloane was the kind of girl who saw the fun in everything. She was brave, brilliant and smart. Everyone loved being around her. She just lit up the room… "

Viola pauses the video to look up at me with googly eyes. "The internet is raving about you. They can't believe you spent years investigating Governor Micheals. You're, like, a real life Robin Hood!"

I glance away. Viola doesn't know that I'm nothing but a coward and a fraud.

The real culprit is still out there. Sure, Micheals was a part of the conspiracy. He's a bastard and an abuser and his kingdom was meant to crumble.

Now, the truth is flooding the entire world, and everyone knows the real Sloane. She wasn't a flirt who was asking for it like all the articles implied. She was never involved with Slavno. She was never a ‘troubled kid'.

She was a victim and deserved to be protected instead of blamed.

Still, I redeemed Sloane by accepting information from the man who ordered her dead. The truth is out but at what cost?

"Are you okay?" Viola asks, her voice softening.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you happy this is going viral?"

"I am happy. I'm just tired."

"Do you want us to take you home?" Cadence asks me from the front seat.

I dig my fingers into the seatbelt strapped over my chest.

Home.

Where is that? The mansion where my mother floats through empty rooms, enjoying her jewelry and her status? The hotel room where Kurosaki's men tried to kill me? The villa where I shared a twin bed with Zane?

None of it feels right.

Or maybe I'm the one who doesn't feel right.

My eyes slide to my phone and the urge to call Zane is strong, but he's done so much for me. I want to be able to smile and thank him. To be my most sunny and brilliant self when we meet.

And today…

Today, I feel as worn out as a used dishrag.

"Grey?" Cadence urges.

I glance up and see Cadence watching me. She's not the only one. In the rearview mirror, I meet a pair of piercing amber eyes set in a face that looks so much like Zane's that it hurts.

"Just drop me off at the next stop," I mumble.

"No, we can't—" Cadence protests.

Dutch puts his hand over hers and the two share a look. It only lasts a moment, but it snaps a sigh out of Cadence and she says nothing more.

When I climb out of the car, Cadence springs to the sidewalk too.

"You did a great thing today." She holds my hand. "Sloane would be really proud."

I squeeze her fingers, feeling too exhausted to even cry.

Cadence glances around. "Oh, wow. I didn't realize we were only a few blocks from Redwood."

She's right. I can see the rising steeples of the school. The towers are pointing to a sky that's streaked with a brilliant pink and purple sunset.

"Where are you going from here?" Cadence asks.

"I'll find my way home," I answer.

I figure I'll just walk for a bit, but I notice a contact-less bike rental station up ahead. Pedalling gives me something to focus on and I take off on a path away from Redwood.

The terrain starts to roughen, the cars become fewer and fewer and the bike alerts me that it's losing battery. Hopping off, I walk the rest of the way on foot, wondering if I should head back to civilization.

That's when I recognize the path I'm on.

Hurrying ahead, I move by memory until I get to the cliff. It's where Zane brought me after Kurosaki's assassin tried to run us off the road.

"Aren't you scared?" I'd asked him as he stood right here on the precipice.

"Scared?"

"Our car almost ran off a mountain just like this."

"Exactly why I'm here. To remind myself I'm not afraid of anything."

I smile at the memory.

Last time, I couldn't sit on the edge next to him. This time, I walk right up to the dangerous edge and take a seat. My legs dangle off the cliff, pointing to the dangerous rocks below.

The sunset is brilliant from here and I inhale a deep breath.

"Thought I'd find you here," a deep voice says.

Every nerve in my body sparks to life, as if it had been waiting for his voice to burn brightly again.

I twist my head and meet Zane's deep blue eyes.

When I told Cadence I'd find my way home, I didn't know that home would find me instead.