Free Darken (Siege #1) by Angela Fristoe Page B

were deadly? Her mind and mouth refused to cooperate and work together. She never intended to tell Gavin about the accident, but she been unable to hold it back any longer.
    “That’s a bullshit excuse.” He jutted a finger in her direction, and her eyes crossed as she attempted to follow the waving digit. “You were driving that night. Lela wouldn’t drive drunk.”
    “But I would?”
    That shut him up. She wondered if he realized that if everything he claimed to know about her was true, how could he explain her doing something like that?
    Cora tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling tiles tinted yellow with age. They were old and tired. Just like her continued determination to play the villain in Gavin’s mind. She didn’t want to be blamed for something she hadn’t done. She’d made plenty of mistakes that night, but driving drunk wasn’t one of them.
    “We were so happy. Four years at college and we were finally done,” Cora said, her lips curling into a smile as the bittersweet memory took over. “We spent the whole evening dancing and drinking. Or I did. Lela knew I hated driving at night, so she only had a couple because she planned to drive back. She wanted you to come so you could drive.”
    “I would have gone, but she told me it was a girls' night.”
    “Because I didn’t have a date, and she didn’t want me to feel left out" Cora’s head rolled along the back of the couch. “Did you know she couldn’t dance?”
    “I knew,” he answered.
    “Of course, you did. Dancing was the only thing she couldn’t do perfectly.”
    “There were others,” he said. “She just didn’t let it stop her from doing them.”
    “Maybe, but that night, she learned to line dance. I taught her the Electric Slide. She said she was going to take you dancing and surprise you.”
    She paused and gazed at Gavin. Her stomach heaved, and she really regretted that third drink. Two she could have handled, but the more she drank, the more she talked. This conversation was the prime example. It was a conversation she’d never planned on, but keeping the words trapped inside of her became impossible.
    “What happened, Cora?” His voice cracked on her name.
    “Right before we hit the bridge, some idiot almost rear-ended us. I got so mad. Lela told me to calm down. She was going to let him pass, but I rolled down my window and gave him the finger.” She squeezed her trembling hands into fists. “He rammed us and Lela lost control.”
    Gavin’s fingers plowed through his hair, clenching the ends tightly before he took a deep breath. His mouth gaped as if he couldn’t form all of the questions racing through him.
    “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me believe you’d been driving? That you caused the accident?”
    “Because it wouldn’t change anything. I’m still the reason Lela died. The guy hit us because of me. The car filled with water so quickly because I opened my window. Lela drowned because I was too drunk to get her out.”
    He didn’t say anything, and she took the silence for agreement. It was hard to argue with those facts.
    “I couldn’t even get myself out,” she said.
    “What do you mean? They found you on the bank of the river.”
    “Someone driving by spotted the car in the water. He pulled me out, but by the time he got to Lela, it was already too late.”
    He straightened and moved forward so swiftly; Cora held up a hand, worried she would lose her balance and somehow he would fall on her. Or was it him lose his balance? Either way, he was moving too fast.
    He went to his knees before her and gripped her shoulders. Her eyes widened, trying to adjust to the new close-up view of his face.
    “What do you mean, someone?” He shook her gently and her head spun at the way his face danced before her eyes.
    “Someone. A person.”
    “Who?”
    “I don’t know. I passed out after.”
    Passed out. The words didn’t accurately describe falling into a two-week coma. If she’d