True Colors (The Masks #1)(52)

“He hurts her?” The black pulse of rage that shot from him made me take a step back. I shoved his mask back on to dampen the impact of his wrath. It worked...sort of.

I swallowed. “I don’t know for sure, but I think he does.”

Micah’s features distorted with a deep frown. “How do you know this stuff?”

I wasn’t sure how much to tell him. How did I sell it without coming across as an unbelievable weirdo? I mean, Nicole and Dale bought it, but I had Eric to back me up...and they seemed to be open to the supernatural for some reason.

Micah’s intense gaze wouldn’t let up, so I sighed and just went for it. “I can see things that other people can’t.”

“What?”

“I guess you could call it a gift?” That still sounded wrong to me, but anyway. “I can read people’s emotions. I don't know what they're thinking, but when you see what they're feeling...I don't know, it's easier to work out what's going on in their heads. So I'm not a mind reader, per se, but an emotion reader. Does that even make sense?" My nose wrinkled as I ran my hand through my hair. "That's how I knew your feelings for Indie."

His dark skin heated as he looked to the ground and scratched the back of his head.

“When I was at Liam’s big party two weeks ago, I spotted Indie’s fear and I haven’t been able to ignore it since. I’ve been spying on her and trying to figure out how to help her. The other day I overheard a conversation between her and Liam. He was really pissed and threatened to punish her if she didn’t do what he said.”

“What did he want her to do?”

“Keep her mouth shut about his business or something. I can only guess what he was referring to, but I do know Indie doesn’t want to be involved. I have a feeling that Libby is somehow caught up in this and she wants out, too.” I shrugged. “I figured because we’re working with them at the moment, this might be a good chance to get them to open up to us.”

“Indie’s a closed book, Caitlyn. You know that.”

“But I don’t think she wants to be.” I really wanted to tell him what I saw at the game...the way Indie had looked at him. But what if I’d just been imagining it? I didn’t want to get Micah’s hopes up, but... “I think she’d listen to you. She respects you, Micah. She sees that you’re a good guy.”

Micah’s laughter was hard and dry. “No, she doesn’t. She’s just as scared of me as everybody else is.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

“You’re different.” He lightly punched my shoulder.

“She’s not afraid of you. I’ve seen it in her expressions. She trusts you.”

The corner of his eye twitched. He was trying to figure out if he could believe me or not. Like my news was somehow too good to be true.

“How am I supposed to help her?” he whispered, his vulnerable fear showing through.

“She needs to feel safe right now. You can give her that.”

This made him feel good. I decided to play on the shining knight tangent.

“She’s trapped inside Liam’s world and she’s desperate to be rescued, but she doesn’t think she can be. If we...if you...can make her feel protected, then maybe she’ll tell us the truth.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Stop hiding how you feel about her.”

His face dropped, his eyes flashing wide for a moment. The idea terrified him, but it was also appealing.

“We need to find out the truth so that we can help set her free,” I continued.

Micah bit the corner of his mouth, his large hand cupping the top of his shaved head. “At the beginning of the year, Indie came up to me with an offer to help me get good grades.”

My insides stirred as another piece began to slide into place. “How?”

“She was really vague, saying she had resources that could guarantee I’d have a sweet ride this year.” Micah shook his head. “I could tell it was this elite thing, like only a few were being approached about it and man, because it was her, I was tempted. But there was just this flicker in her eyes, like a warning. I’d only just finished my probation. There was no way in hell I was getting mixed up in something else. It felt wrong, so I told her I didn’t want to know. She smiled all sweet, but something was off. I liked her before that, but man, whatever I saw that day just made me want to wrap her in my arms, you know?” He tipped his head towards where I’d first approached him on the track. “That’s why I fobbed you off before; I thought you were coming at me with something like this.”

“Well as you can see, I don’t know anything about it.” My eyes bulged wide as I remembered another conversation. “Stella,” I whispered.

“What about her?” Micah didn’t even bother hiding his derision.

I ignored his expression and kept on. “She asked me if Libby was working for me. She got all closed off when I tried to question her about it.” I crossed my arms. “I think Liam’s business is some sort of cheating scam or something. He’s using the smart kids to do all this work for the people who can’t be bothered. Do you think they're paying him? Maybe that’s what he means by running a business.”