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“No, but he touched me before. Mostly outside of my clothes, but there have been a few times where he…” She bit hard on her lip, surprised she didn’t draw blood.
“He what?” Riley’s voice rose.
“He has touched me under my clothes on occasion, but never… penetrated me in any way.” Blaire swallowed. “This is so humiliating,” she murmured under her breath.
Blaire shook all over. She had never sat down and shared her trauma with anyone but Charlotte, and not all in one go like this. Only Charlotte knew everything Caleb had done, except what happened the other night. She remembered the first time she told her friend when she slept over at her house. Blaire tackled her to the floor to stop her from going to both her mothers and telling them everything. Blaire wouldn’t risk her friend’s or her family’s lives.
At the time, Charlotte had gotten as wound up as Riley appeared to be right now, and that was before Caleb started pushing the boundaries further because of her age. Which was stupid, since by touching her body outside of her clothes in inappropriate ways, he basically committed the crime anyway.
Blaire laughed bitterly. “You know, he says it’s his right. Can you believe that?”
“Seriously? What right is it of his to molest his stepsister?” She stood abruptly, not waiting to hear any more. She turned and looked down at Blaire, pointing at her. “You will never ever have to face that again, you hear me? I’ll make sure of it.”
Smiling weakly up at her, Blaire got to her feet slowly, still shuddering with the aftereffects of her panic attack. “The sick thing? His grandparents know what he wants from me, and they still financially backed him until he settled into his new job position.”
“What does he want from you? Sex?”
“No. Well, yes. I guess he wants that too… but—”
Surprising her, Riley pulled her into a tight embrace, cutting her words off. “You’ll never be alone again.”
Blaire fell silent and wrapped her arms around Riley. She closed her eyes, comfortable with the small girl.
She didn’t know what to think of Riley’s statement. She’d been alone for quite some time, except for Charlotte, and even then, she was still alone, because Charlotte couldn’t help her without risking herself. Blaire wouldn’t allow that. Could Riley help her? Could being here with Riley provide the safety and security she so desperately craved? Did the Wilcox family truly have no reach here? The Vasirian said she didn’t have to stay, that she could leave if she needed to.
“There’s no way you can leave and go back to that trash. Even if Lukas acts like an ass about everything, I’m not letting you go, my damn self. Even if you don’t stay here, you can’t go back to that.” Riley shivered as she pulled from the hug.
Blaire wiped her cheeks to get rid of any residual wetness and knelt, digging through her backpack, pulling out her compact.
Riley sighed.
“I’m not ready for anyone to see anything like this, and besides, it should fade soon. It’s already been a few days.” Blaire shrugged as she began the process of covering her bruise. She didn’t tell Riley it would last longer than that.
“You really need to talk to someone about this…”
“What do you mean?”
“A therapist. The university has an entire department dedicated to psychology, and the majority of the staff are licensed. It couldn’t hurt to talk to them. I can go with you if you want…”
Blaire looked at Riley with apprehension. “I’ll… think about it.”
After vocalizing the trauma she’d been through, she realized one thing above all others.
Riley was right. No way could she leave, because if she did run away, Caleb would find her, and she might not survive the punishment.
Besides, did she even want to run away anymore?
No. She wanted to stay.
If the events of today were any representation of the future, she had at last found protection in a school full of bloodsucking monsters.
10
A DARK STRANGER
Heavy rain pelted the windows of the cafeteria, echoing through the enormous space.
There weren’t many students around after breakfast, most in classes, and since Blaire hadn’t made it to her advisor meeting yesterday, they rescheduled to mid-morning. She sat at the same table they used before, reading one of the vampire romance novels she brought from her old home. A small laugh bubbled up from Blaire as she read a passage. The author clearly didn’t do her proper research. She quickly discovered the real supernatural world was nothing like fiction.
