The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(44)

“How did you—?” Rachel seemed to realize she was about to admit to something and clamped her mouth shut.

Eden kept her smile gentle and her words quiet. “The adults of this town don’t like to admit it, but when they were your age, they did the same thing. Even the old-timers snuck out and drank moonshine and hooked up in the woods, though old-man Parkinson was one of those kids back in those days. It’s a rite of passage, which is why I get the feeling Sheriff Owens doesn’t bug you kids about it too much as long as you’re not wrapping your cars around trees.”

Rachel hesitated, then finally whispered, “My mom doesn’t know. It’d kill her if she knew.”

“I see no reason anyone has to tell her.” It wasn’t Eden’s business if Rachel indulged in a little underage drinking. Finding out what happened to Elouise—and potentially Neveah—was. “You were out there Friday?”

“I went with Neveah.” She made a face. “She said high school boys were lame, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to go.”

“I knew girls like her when I was in high school.” Though she hadn’t been friends with them, mostly because she’d grown up perpetually on the outside. Back then, her peers had either taken a note from their parents’ book and looked at her with suspicion—or they’d wanted to be friends with her so they could walk on the wild side. She hadn’t had a use for either type of person. Eden eyed the way Rachel readjusted the flowers. “Did she take one of those high school boys out into the woods?”

“More often than not.” She spoke so softly, it was barely more than a whisper. “Friday it was . . .” Her voice hitched. “God, this is stupid. He’s stupid. If he really liked me that much, he wouldn’t have chased after Neveah and hooked up with her. That’s not how people act when they’re actually into you.”

Eden narrowed her eyes. “Which boy?”

“Christopher Jackson.”

She made a mental note. “Did you see her afterward?”

“No. I”—she took a deep breath—“I left after that. I didn’t want to cry in front of everyone, and I was upset.”

“That’s understandable.”

“It’s just so wrong. Neveah’s supposed to be my friend. She’s the one who said I should text him and ask him to the Sadie Hawkins this year, and then she turned around and hooked up with him just because she could. Why? She’s beautiful and she could have any guy in school. Why did she have to have him?” Apparently the quiet support was all she needed to keep talking. Eden understood. Even if Rachel and her mother were close, some things were still hard to talk about.

It wasn’t really her place to give this kid relationship advice, but she sounded so anguished, Eden couldn’t help it. “I’ll tell you something it took me a long time to figure out—people like that, both him and her, aren’t worth your time. If she was really your friend, she wouldn’t have hurt you like that. If he really was worthy of dating you, no other girl would do. It’s not going to make you feel better right now, but it’s the truth.” What really wouldn’t make the girl feel better was if her friend turned up dead.

Shit.

“Did you two ever go out to Elysia?”

Rachel blinked. “How did you know?”

Oh, fuck. Eden worked to keep her expression placid. “Let’s call it an educated guess. And I’d bet it was Neveah’s idea.” Rachel might be prime picking for Martha and her people, but not yet. Then again . . . timid or not, the girl seemed to have a pretty legit support system, even without a father. She’ll do okay if given half a chance.

“She wanted something exciting.” Rachel made a face. “I don’t get what’s so exciting about that place. It was a whole lot like going to church, though they weren’t teaching stuff like any church I’ve been to.”

Yeah, well, most churches didn’t cover Persephone’s fall. She made a sympathetic noise. “It’s not as exciting as most people believe.” At least not where civilians could witness it.

And sure as hell not the kind of exciting it seemed Neveah had been looking for.

“Neveah was sure there were other things—secret things—going on. She even made me go back a second time because she said one of the cute guys was sending her the look.”

“The look?”

“You. You know, the look.” Rachel wrinkled her nose. “The one that says he wants to take her somewhere alone and, well, you know.”

The poor kid. She looked like she might die of embarrassment right then and there. “Got it.” With the picture Rachel was painting, Neveah appeared to be rather free with her charms. Eden didn’t particularly condemn her for that, but there were plenty of people who would.

Maybe Elouise had turned down the same man Neveah had seduced and then abandoned.

Women had been killed for less.

She tucked the thought away, focusing on the girl in front of her. “Did she happen to tell you the name of this guy?”

“No, but she said he was, well, black.”

Lee.



Zach knew something was up the second Eden walked out the front door. That little line had appeared between her brows, and though he found it charming, it meant nothing good. He waited until she’d slid into the passenger seat and he’d put Rachel’s house in the rearview to ask, “Well?”