Page 154 of Off the Rails

But at this point, my exhaustion was bone deep, and I was tired of running.

Whoever finds me can have me.

As much as I might like to pretend I didn’t care, in that small, dark space, there was nowhere to hide from my thoughts.

How did any of this happen?

I had no idea where Cyrus had gotten her story, but it pained me that she believed I could do that. Even worse was the thought that Blade and Nash believed her, even after everything we’d been through here.

I didn’t know what was true anymore besides one thing: I hadn’t said a word to anyone. Not about the Freaks’ plans, and certainly not about Cyrus.

I was heartbroken when they left. I could hardly leave my bed without crying for days. If Heirs of Promise hadn’t gotten shut down, I was sure it would only be a matter of time before they sought somewhere else to place me.

But she’ll never believe me.

I’d seen that much in her face.

I pulled in a deep breath, trying to stem the tears before they could fall. I couldn’t afford to give myself away now. There would be a price to pay for what I’d done in the cave, but I wasn’t ready to pay it.

Is she even looking for me?

Normally, it wouldn’t have taken her so long to show her face. But the park was noisy, and the rides’ lights were bright. It was impossible to tell how far away she was, assuming she was coming at all.

It would make sense if she didn’t bother.

She’d already gotten her licks in back at Black Doubloon . And once I finally showed my face, there would be hell to pay for robbing her of her grand retribution.

I couldn’t hide here forever. But I could at least wait until dawn. Maybe my demons would be less scary in the light of day.

Or maybe I was still clinging to my childish hope that if I laid still long enough, she might actually care to find me.

84

TESS

With every passing second, the sound of my own blood rushing through my ears grew louder. I’d picked the smallest, darkest spot I could to wait out the rest of Fright Night.

I had no idea how long I’d been hidden, or how long I had left.

But I knew if I moved, breathed too loud, shifted wrong, my cover could be blown.

I’d gotten a good lead on Cyrus. Shock and anger had frozen her at the center of her demented cave, but God only knew how long that would last before her fury had her sprinting through Feverpoint hunting me.

A flash of green seeped into my hiding spot.

It was over. The game was done.

And I had lost.

Sure, I’d escaped Cyrus. But she’d caught me.

I just couldn’t stomach following through with my punishment.

Not when such a monstrous lie was what fueled Cyrus’ urge for vengeance.

Peeling myself out from under the car, I stretched my limbs wide before I tried to get up. Whatever awaited me back at the apartment would be brutal. There was no world in which Cyrus let me get away with breaking her precious rules.

The punishment for not holding up my end of our deal would be worse than whatever Cyrus had planned to put me through.