Toxic (Denazen #2)(94)

But Jade was right. This was ridiculous. “You were wrong.”

Her brows rose, interested. “About what?”

“You said Kale was toxic. To me, to other people—but you were wrong. Kale isn’t the toxic one. I am.” I thought about Brandt and how his life had been turned upside down for helping me. And Curd, who’d gotten a nice fat concussion back when all this started. Mark Oster, Rosie, Alex… “Everyone in my life gets hurt. This is my fault.”

Jade snorted. “As much as I’d love to pin this all on you, I don’t see how you could be to blame. Because you didn’t see through Kiernan? No one did. She had everyone fooled—though you still owe me a pretty sizeable apology.”

“That,” I sighed. “I still don’t get. How I didn’t know… But that’s not even what I mean. If I hadn’t gone back to the old house that night, Able never would’ve touched me. There wouldn’t have been anything to hold over Kale’s head.”

“That’s crap,” she spat. “For someone so smart, you’re kinda thick, you know? If it didn’t happen that night, it would’ve happened another. Walking down the street. At the restaurant. You’re the only one they could use to get to him and vice versa, and they knew it.”

Even though she was probably right—a thought that, while depressing, still made me smile on the inside—I couldn’t acknowledge it.

“I’d like a few moments alone with Deznee, Jade,” Ginger said from the door. Jesus. That woman was like ninja granny. Must have been where Kale got it.

Jade gave me one last, semi-irritated look and let Ginger take her spot next to me. I knew I owed her an apology—and a couple of hard-core rounds for trying to really steal my boyfriend—but it would have to wait.

Ginger didn’t waste any time. “This is not productive.”

“Can’t say I care.”

“You should care. I know this is painful for you, but there’s a bigger picture here.”

“Bigger picture?” I balked. “You’ve gotta be shitting me. Kale is your grandson. You knew this would happen. You put that damn note in my pocket and let us walk right in. You let him get taken by Denazen. Again.”

“We’ve been through this before, Deznee. Destiny is not something to toy with. Things are what they are.”

“That sounds like an excuse to me.”

She didn’t respond. Instead, we sat there in silence for a bit, and a helpless, desperate feeling started creeping up on me. It reminded me of the night at the crane. Which for some reason, reminded me of the night I met Ginger.

“When we first met, you said you were sorry. For what was coming. This was it, wasn’t it?”

Standing, Ginger placed a wrinkled hand on my shoulder. “I did know this would happen, but no. This wasn’t what I apologized for.”

The knot of grief twisted into something else. Something worse. I remembered what she said to me the first night at Meela’s. Alex and I would pay the biggest price.

She squeezed my shoulder and hobbled toward the door. Without looking back, she said, “The worst is yet to come.”





Acknowledgments

/mushy on

First and always—thank you to my family. It’s their unlimited love and support that make it possible for me to do what I do. My husband, who is the most loving and patient man on earth, and my parents, who, simply put, are just frigging awesome. I love you guys.

My CPs, Heather, Katy, and Christa—thank you for your thoughts, ideas, and friendship. I consider myself extremely lucky to have you guys in my life!

Liz, my editor-of-epic, and Entangled Publishing…there will never be a limit to my appreciation and thanks to you for taking a chance on me. I look forward to the many good things I know are in store.

To my agent, Kevan… Thank you so much for believing in me!

A huge thank-you to Dani, my publicist, who works her magic to make some of my crazy ideas a reality…you’re awesome, and I’d be lost (and much less sane) without you!

And lastly (but far from leastly—yes, I’m making up my own language here), to the readers and bloggers. You made the release of my first book, Touch, a dream come true. I am eternally grateful for the support and am in awe of your love and dedication to Dez and Kale. You guys are the sugar and cream in my coffee!

/mushy off





Keep reading for a bonus scene from TOXIC, as told in Kale’s point of view…





Jade’s Dream Come True

Jade and I went back to the house as instructed. I hated leaving Dez but trusted Ginger knew what was best. Besides, it gave me more time to work on my control. We’d been at it for a while now with no success.

It was starting to wear thin.

“Here,” Jade said, holding out another plant. I didn’t know where they’d come from, but someone had left several dozen potted plants for us. There were only a few left. “Try this one.”

I took the plant by its plastic holder, wondering what she meant by ‘this one.’ It had white flowers on it. Did she think that would make a difference?

When she nodded, I stretched a finger out, hesitating for only a moment before touching one of the delicate white petals. For the briefest moment, it was soft beneath my fingers and reminded me of the satiny smoothness of Dez’s skin. Then it evaporated into a pile of dust and dried dirt.