“Hmm…” Willow looked around nervously. Being here must have made her uneasy. She confirmed that when she asked, “And your brother?”

Sheldon tossed her hair over her shoulder and huffed. “Why do you care? You don’t want him, remember?”

“That’s not the point, Sheldon. You know he hates me. We can’t even be in the same room without getting into an argument.”

“So fuck him instead,” she retorted.

“Why do you want me with your brother so bad?”

“Because he deserves someone like you.”

Willow’s eyes lowered, and I thought to cut in when I heard the purr and rumble of multiple engines pull up followed by car doors slamming.

“Shit!” Sheldon exclaimed. “He promised!”

She ran over to the window to look outside and whatever she saw made her curse and dash out of the kitchen screaming obscenities. Willow and I looked at each other and shrugged before simultaneously rushing to the window to see what had Sheldon so worked up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she yelled and shoved Dash sending him backward, allowing me to see the person standing behind him.

An eternity seemed to pass before I was able to breathe again.

He’s here.

He watched Sheldon push and scream at Dash with a bored expression, and when she turned her anger on him, he barely blinked. Dash looked on with an amused expression, which only made her angrier.

As hard as I fought, my gaze wandered to Keiran repeatedly. I looked him over carefully, but he was still the same. Had it really been almost a month since I last saw him? Not a hair out of place or even the slightest bit different, but I could tell by his stance he was getting impatient. He wanted near me. Considering the last time we were face to face, all I wanted to do was scratch his eyes out, dick-punch him and jump his bones all at once.

“Shit, I knew this was a bad idea,” Willow whined. “Should we go out there?”

There were a million valid reasons why I shouldn’t, but I reminded myself I wasn’t afraid of him any longer. When he turned his steely gaze on me, clearly seeing me through the window, I met his stare dead on. He was challenging me, but this time, I challenged him back. His mouth lifted in a smirk, and he nodded his head once in assent, accepting our silent standoff.

Never again, I vowed. So much had changed inside me in a matter of months. I felt like an entirely different person. Sure, I felt my moments of skepticism. No one really changed overnight, but I had the last ten years to build up immunity to him and it was just only starting to kick in.

The sound of the door slamming broke me out of the trance he had me caught in, and all I could hear was the sound of running footsteps traveling throughout the house.

What the?

When Sheldon reappeared, she looked out of sorts with a worried look in her eye. “Guys, I swear I didn’t know they would be here. Dash promised he would stay away, and he promised to keep Keiran away.”

“Wait… you knew Keiran was out?” I asked incredulously.

Sheldon bit her lip worriedly and nodded. “I didn’t know how to tell you. You were just starting to relax, and it’s crazy because he hasn’t said a word about you.” She lifted her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side.

“Well, are they still outside?”

“I think so.” She stalked over to the window and peeked outside. “Damn.”

“You think so?” My teeth were grinding against each other as I prayed for patience.

“I locked them out and told them to go away.”

“But doesn’t Dash have a key?”

“Yes. I did it to piss them off so it won’t be much help. I wonder what’s keeping them?”

“Maybe their male egos finally fried their brain and they forgot how to use a key?”

“One can hope.”

“We should just go.” Willow released a deep breath, and I suddenly heard her voice call out for me. “Lake?”

“Yes?” I answered absently, barely paying attention. I hadn’t realized I had turned back to the window. Keiran was sitting on the hood of his car now with a foot perched on the bumper, watching me with his eyebrow raised and his arms casually resting on his legs.

Fuck you. I stuck up my middle finger to piss him off, but he only blew a kiss before turning back to Dash, dismissing me.

“Should we go?”

“Yes, I think that would be best.” I took a deep breath and released it slowly before turning to face their curious expressions. “I have to tell you something.” I beat down the onslaught of panic and regret and forced the words from my chest. “I was the one to turn Keiran in.”

“What?”

“Come again?”

“Yeah, I uh—didn’t think I had a choice.”

“But… how do you know he killed them?” Sheldon asked.

“You guys know what happened at the fair. You were there. He was the last one with them.”

“Yes, but so were Dash and Keenan, but you didn’t turn them in.”

“Because they didn’t have anything to do with Trevor and Anya’s actual deaths. I overheard them talking the night we went out to play laser tag.

“It doesn’t make sense.” Sheldon shook her head. “Why would he kill them? He was bringing them back.” She looked at me in disbelief. “Lake, I think you were mistaken. He didn’t kill them.”

“What do you mean he was going back to get them?”

“Right before Keenan and I had our fight, he got a call from Keiran. I could only hear Keenan’s side, but he asked Keiran why he was going to help them. I didn’t know until he ended the call that Keiran was going to bring Trevor and Anya back. I just never found out why. Keenan was pretty tight lipped.”

“If Keiran didn’t kill them, then who did?” I challenged.

“I don’t know. Keiran was turned around before he could reach them. I guess that’s when he got the phone call from you.”

“He could have gone back to do it,” Willow argued.

“With his brother fighting for his life in the hospital? Keiran can be a cold bastard, but he isn’t that unattached to human emotion.”

“So where was he for the week he was gone?”

“I don’t know, but something tells me he didn’t do it. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t matter. Keiran is responsible for their deaths whether or not he lit the match.”

“Well, what are you going to do? He can’t find out you turned him in.”

“He already knows,” I admitted slowly. To them, things just went from bad to worse.

“How could he know?”

“I told him.” I shrugged noncommittally when I was anything but. I was a wreck, but no one had to know that but me. My battle with Keiran was mine alone. He’d already shown he wasn’t above using the people I loved and cared about against me. This time I wouldn’t make it so easy for him.

“Why did you tell him?” Sheldon gritted. Willow looked as if she wanted to strangle me as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I don’t know. He called a few days ago. I got really upset and it just came out. I know it was a dumb move, but I needed to show him I wasn’t afraid anymore.”

“So you do and say the one thing that would put you in deeper shit with him than you already are?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I snapped defensively. Sheldon released a curse and began pacing the tiled kitchen floor while shaking her head.

“Do you think he’s here for you?” Willow asked.

“I know he is,” I said, glancing back out the window, but this time, not catching sight of Keiran or Dash.

“How are you going to handle this?” Sheldon demanded. “I hope you have a plan of action because no way is Keiran letting this go. This is the second time Keiran landed in jail for what he thinks was your doing, only this time, it really is.”

“I don’t care. He murdered two people.”

“Let me know how explaining that to him will work out for you.”

“Where are the guys?’ Willow asked.

“I don’t know. They are awfully quiet.”

Too quiet. I peeked back out the window but didn’t see them.