The Lies That Bind by Lisa Roecker Read Free Book Online

accident scene. This wasn’t the playful shriek of a girl who had been startled; this was the sound of someone completely terrified.
    My senses went into overdrive, my body preparing to respond even before my brain could determine what to do. Liam’s hand went slack in mine. I heard the swift intake of air as the crowd gasped collectively, and my eyes instantly adjusted to the darkness as the flashlights clattered to the ground, leaving shadows where there once had been light.
    And then, chaos.
    Everything shifted. Voices muted, colors blurred, and yet my nose filled with a stench so powerful that I felt my lungs burn.
    Smoke.
    And then the graveyard evaporated and I was watching my best friend burn to death in a collapsing chapel. People moved all around me, just as they had the night of Grace’s death, and yet I stood still, my muscles frozen in time, waiting.
    “We’re leaving.”
    I felt Liam tug my arm.
    “Do not let go of my hand.”
    I felt my legs bend, my feet begin to move.
    “This was a bad idea.” Liam swore under his breath as he dragged me through the crowd. A train of first-years held hands parallel with us, their cheeks flushed with excitement. A group of guys darted away from the direction of the crowd, disappearing deeper into the pitch black. Taylor circled on her tiptoes, screaming a name I couldn’t make out. It could have been last fall. It could have been that night. She could have been calling Grace.
    Someone was in trouble.
    I ripped my arm from beneath Liam’s grip. His forehead wrinkled. “What are you doing?”
    He reached for my arm and tried to move forward with the crowd again. When he realized I wasn’t moving with him, he stopped. I watched as his face twisted with emotion—first confusion, then disbelief, and then anger when he realized what I intended to do. But that scream echoed through my ears again and I saw Grace’s handwriting in that book. I couldn’t walk away. Not tonight.
    Liam shook his head, his longish hair making it impossible to see his eyes, but I didn’t need to see them to know that they’d turned the stormy gray color that meant he was severely pissed off. “You can’t keep doing this. It’s not your problem.”
    I hated making him angry, hated that I was disappointing the guy who had pulled me to the surface and saved me from the overwhelming loneliness and depression I was drowning in after Grace died. Liam’s intentions were good. He had my best interests at heart. Always. But he would never understand what it felt like to watch your best friend die. He would never feel the consuming need for justice. He’d never be haunted by ghosts, real or imagined, looking for peace.
    Honestly, I hoped he never would.
    I scanned the cemetery again, searching for where the scream had come from.
    “ They’re not your problem.” Liam was almost shouting now. He jerked his head toward Taylor. Her light eyes shone in the dark and her blond hair practically glowed. Panic radiated off her in waves as she called out. This time I heard the name. Bethany. She was searching for Bethany. “This is probably another one of their stupid pranks. Let’s just go.”
    I watched Taylor for a beat longer. She had friends at her side, cloned girls who wore their hair the same, mimicked her clothes, and attempted to copy the essential eau de Taylor that made her queen bitch of Pemberly Brown. But they never really got it right. They were trying too hard, caring too much, taking themselves too seriously. They all looked pretty freaked out, but Liam was probably right. It was probably just another ridiculous prank pulled by the societies. They were at war. This kind of stuff happened all the time.
    I wanted nothing more than to walk away with Liam, to make him happy and forget this entire night had ever happened. If I was the kind of girl who believed in signs or omens, I would have seen all of this as a big, flashing neon sign from the universe telling me to get the hell out of