Take Me Tomorrow (13 page)

I Told You to Run

I didn’t stop him.

He left, and I slammed the door behind him. I even locked it, but I forced myself to unlock it in case Lily arrived. She was expecting Miles at any moment, and I was expecting them to come here as soon as he returned.

“Is he gone?” Lyn asked as she entered the room.

“Yep.” I leaned my back against the opaque door. The glass was cold against my shoulders. “He didn’t say when he’d be back.”

Lyn raised her right eyebrow. This was the one she raised when she knew I was lying – or doing something worse.

“What?” I asked, waiting, but she said nothing. Literally.

She turned away and
disappeared into the kitchen. I followed. Steam rose up from a boiling pot and filled the small room with a lingering warmth. Argos hovered nearby, and I sat down at the table.

“You didn’t tell me that he was on drugs,” she spoke her mind.

She had heard every word.

“I didn’t know,” I admitted, but Lyn’s dark eyes moved across my face. “Honestly,” I promised. “I thought it was aspirin.”

“He’s an addict, Sophia.”

I knew it before she said it, but hearing it was another experience. I bit my lip
, only to force myself to grumble from an almost-closed mouth, “So, why are we helping him?”

“We aren’t,” she said, “We’re helping the entire country. He’s just a pawn in this, and he will end up dead.”

My fingers curled into fists on my lap, but my palms were already moist with sweat. “Why would you say that?”

“Because,” she started, her eyes turning into burning holes, “I don’t want to see you go out with him, and I’m not referring to dating.” Her lip yanked up at the last part, like she had made a joke, but she hadn’t. She was talking about life.

“He saved my life,” I said.

She leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen. “How?” She didn’t sound impressed. “By
forcing you to escape through a river?”

Lyn always knew everything. I blamed it on the fact that she was a mother.

“He helped you avoid your arrest,” she said. “He didn’t save you from dying,” she continued as her nails tapped across the countertop. “Now, don’t get me wrong, Sophia. I care. I do. I just don’t care enough about him to lose you in the process.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I snapped. “I stayed home—”

“This time,” she argued, snatching up the teapot. She poured the hot liquid into two mugs, but she didn’t bring me one.

I stood up, crossed the room, and reached out for it. She grabbed my hand, and her slender fingers moved over the back of my hand. “Just be cautious,” she said, her voice softening. She had only spoken to me once before. It was when she handed me my mother’s necklace.

“Why you?” I managed, unable to pull away from my sister-figure. “Why did my mom pick you?”

Lyn never dropped my hand. When she breathed, her entire body grew. “That’s something I can’t answer,” she exhaled.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know,” she responded before I ever finished the question. “Your mother,” she sighed, “Your mother wasn’t able to come. She wasn’t well.”

My stomach flipped over. “Noah said she’s fine.”

“Noah’s a good liar.”

“Sophia!” a girlish scream erupted from the front porch.

Argos
leapt to his feet and growled. I hushed him as Lyn rushed toward the front of the house. The door was already opening. I ran after her, only to stop when I saw a tall girl with white hair.

“Help,” Lily gasped,
barely holding up a boy as they stumbled inside.

I lunged across the room and grabbed Miles’ other arm. We
dragged him in, and he coughed. Blood splattered across the floor. He tried to speak, but all I heard was mumbling.

“Don’t talk,” I ordered as Lyn directed us to the couch. We laid him down before I relaxed. The blood had only come from a split lip. He was beaten, but he was going to be fine.

“He was laying on the front yard when I got home,” Lily explained. “I think he’s drunk.”

It was then that I smel
led the whiskey.

“Drunk?” I questioned. “He doesn’t drink.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” Lily said, answering all of my unasked questions with one glare. The police had made him drink. They were hoping he’d slip up and talk. That was obvious now.

Lily crossed her arms. “He even threw up on me.” When I looked her over, her shoulders rose. “I had to change.” Her concern dissipated with mine.

“She’s right. He’s just intoxicated,” Lyn said, laying a hand on his forehead. “I’ll get him some water.”

When Lyn left, Lily sat down to speak,
“I drove us here with Miles’ car,” she said, wiggling the keys out of her pocket. “I couldn’t let our mother see.”

Ms. Beckett was a prude woman. She definitely wasn’t in on the plans.
She was probably still at the station, waiting. I doubted she even knew her kids were friends with someone like Noah. I knew enough about her to understand that.

“How did you two get involved in this
, anyway?” I asked.

Lily rolled her eyes, “We met Broden the same way we met you.”

Her mother was our nanny. Apparently, she had watched Broden, too.

“She stopped watching Broden when he was put in middle school, but Miles stayed in touch,” she continued. “Things just sort of happened from there.”

“And you?”

“I never got involved,” Lily said. “They wouldn’t let me, but I watched. I listened. I figured it out.”

Lyn returned with a glass of water. She placed it down before helping Miles up. When she handed it to him, he almost dropped it. “Come on,” she coaxed his grip around the slipping glass. “You can hold it.”

He gripped it and drank it like she controlled him. “Thank you,” he muttered, putting the glass down. A little bit of blood clung onto the rim.

“No talking,” Lyn scorned him. “Let me see your lip.”

He moved the glass to his lap, and she grabbed his chin, turning his face to the side. “You don’t need stitches.”

“But the blood—”

“The face bleeds heavier than the rest of your body,” she said, tapping his head. “It has to get to your brain
, after all.”

Miles grinned
, only to wince. Then, he hiccupped, and another groan escaped him. His cheeks were red, and his dark eyes rolled around. He may have been drunk, but he was coherent.

“You can tell us what happened when you feel better,” Lyn spoke more to Lily and me than to him. She didn’t have to tell us not to question him yet. He looked miserable.

Minutes ticked by, and Argos paced, his nails clicking on the hardwood. Falo started crying, and Lyn went to grab him from his room. When she returned, she joined Argos in his pacing. They couldn’t stay still.

“Where are the trouble
makers?” Lily finally asked.

“Who?”

“Broden and Noah.” Her tone was sharp. “They were supposed to be here.”

“They had a meeting,” I repeated the only information I knew, “with others, apparently.”

She didn’t seem the least bit surprised. “When will they be back?”

I shrugged, but I leaned forward. “Who are the others?”

She tilted her head toward her twin. “He probably knows.”

Miles coughed,
“Not me, though.”

He didn’t make any sense.

Lyn tapped her tattooed arm. “Lily, do you want any tea?”

She nodded, but her face was red. She was mad.

“I’ll get yours, too, Sophia,” Lyn said, leaving. I was starting to believe Lyn couldn’t stay in one room for very long.

“You look like a mess, Lils,” Miles joked,
pulling at his own hair as if to point out how frizzy hers had gotten.

She glared initially
, but her lips broke into a smirk. “Look who’s talking.”

“I’m okay, sis.”

“Are you?” I asked, gaining his attention.

He looked over his right shoulder, his brown eyes widening. “I—” his gaze went to the ceiling, and he attempted to shr
ug. “I don’t know what happened,” but it sounded more like, “I donut want happened.”

Before I realized that I had stood, I
had walked over to the couch and leaned down to hug him. He smelled like dirt. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I choked.

Too many of my friends had been hurt in a short amount of time, yet I didn’t know if we would have more injured soon. I didn’t know where Broden had gone or what Noah had planned to do, and
I wouldn’t know until time continued. I only knew that it couldn’t be good.

Miles was the boy who helped me with my science project. He was the friend who rejoiced with me when I got Argos. He liked dogs, but his sister had a cat, so he couldn’t get one. He was the teenager who taught me to drive in his red car, even though he couldn’t drive very well himself. He was the one who forgave me when I hit a curb. He even bought me ice cream. Now, he was the boy who got hurt during an interrogation, protecting us all by keeping his mouth shut.

“I’m okay,” Miles whispered as I pulled away. His brown eyes were glassy. “Really.”

Lily moved silently across
the room until she was standing next to me. We both sat on the floor, and Lily laid her head next to Miles’ leg. She closed her eyes as if she was ready to fall asleep.

W
e sat like that until Lyn returned. “You all need to relax,” she said, pushing the mugs toward us. “There’s no reason to worry until we can do something about it.”

Lily grabbed her tea as if it were the only thing that would keep her awake. She breathed into it, and the steam from the drink caused her bangs to curl. I followed her lead, and my throat tightened.

“Can I ask you something?” I managed to speak up after a moment, the hot tea warming my fears.

Miles sat up. “Ask.” Lyn was right
− his injuries weren’t as bad as they initially looked.

“
Why would you become friends with Noah?”

“Because I was young,” he said it as if he was an old man. “I thought it was cool, you know. I thought I was important.”
His already red cheeks spread. “I didn’t know it would turn into this.”

“But you kept doing it.”

“No, he didn’t,” Lily defended. “He stopped a long time ago.”

“I only helped this time because I thought it would give Broden an escape,” he finished.

Apparently, Miles and I thought alike.

“I don’t think Broden can escape this,” I said, thinking of his parents’ involvement.

“He can,” Miles argued. “He just doesn’t want to.”

“His parents were found innocent in court,” Lily explained, taking a moment to drink her tea. “He was free. He just doesn’t want to be.”

“You kids have it wrong,” Lyn interrupted, shifting in her seat. It squeaked. “His freedom isn’t your freedom. Fighting is his freedom, and it would be yours, too, if you saw the other regions.”

“Broden hasn’t seen the other regions,” I defended, wondering what side Lyn was actually on. She wanted me to believe in them, but she didn’t want me to be involved. She was just as bad as Noah.

Right when I thought Lyn would argue me, Miles laid a hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t good, Sophia,” he lectured. “Tomo isn’t something to be messed with. It’s dangerous.”

“I know.”

“No,” Miles argued. “You don’t. You have no clue.” His face heated up with frustration. “The Tomery family created that drug. Noah uses the stuff. Hell, Sophia, he’s an addict. A real tomo addict.”

“I’ve seen it,
” Lily agreed, “and nothing good comes out of it. The future shouldn’t be seen.”

I swallowed, the tea burning my throat despite the fact that it had cooled significantly.
I focused on Lily, the girl that used to play dolls with me. “So, when are you going to tell him about Tony?”

Lily paled as Miles shot up. “Tony?” he repeated. “Tony’s back?”

“Anthony was Tony,” I explained, knowing I had called out my friend to her brother.

Lily sighed. “He looked different—”

“How could you not recognize him?”

She held up a hand. “We are not going through this again,” she said. “Tony’s back, and everyone knows who he is now.”

Miles fell back as if she had smacked him. “I hate that guy.”

“No one has yet to explain why we hate him,” I mumbled.

Miles touched his forehead. “Tony was arrested after tomo was released. Phelps blamed his family instead of Noah’s since Noah’s family managed to escape,” he explained. “The entire family was sent straight to Phoenix. They were the face of the crime, so to speak.”

“Why would he threaten me then?”

Miles’ eyes widened. “He did what?”

I explained what Anthony had said. I even told them about my father and how we escaped the Albany Region. They knew about the forgery, and now, I couldn’t hide the fact that I had no escape either. None of us did.