𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

Seven

❥ 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄.

So maybe I was the only one who believed Eve was bad news— or could possibly be— but so what? Nobody was going to gaslight me into believing her until she proved she was trustworthy.

I got back to Hawthorne House hours after driving around (and crying) but nonetheless, I wasn't going to let anybody see me crack. Though I was loosing it.

I found Avery in the kitchen.

"Avery," I said.

She looked up from her phone. "Oh, good, where have you been? I was so worried—"

"Don't give me that," I cut her off. "I thought I was being too paranoid earlier? You know, with Eve?"

Avery sighed and placed her phone on the marble counter. "Evelyn, I know why you're worried, but we can't just jump to conclusions."

"But we also can't just assume she's innocent," I pointed out. "And i'm very done playing nice—or pretending like i'm not suspicious of her when I am."

Avery knew she wasn't going to win this battle with me, because I never let her. I wanted this, and I intended on interrogating the hell out of that Emily looking parasite.

"Where are they?" I asked.

Avery sighed. "The cottage."
—
❥

The last time I had been at the cottage was when I got shot— curtesy of Skye Hawthorne. Rebecca was sweet, nothing like I had heard of Emily, and I still didn't have a full analysis on Eve.

Yet.

"There you two are?" Xander exclaimed. "We've been waiting for you both."

"What's going on here?" I eyed the people in the room suspiciously. Every one was here, including Lottie and John. Grayson and Eve were attached at the hip— of course.

"Eve tried to escape," Jameson said, "so Grayson and me had to restrain her."

Hm.

"I just want answers, is that so bad?" Eve batted her eyelashes as if to look innocent, but something about the way she did it suggested she wasn't at all. But Grayson was already too far gone.

"You'll get them, as soon as we find Toby," he clarified for her.

"If he's even gone," I said finally, a questioning tone in my voice. I was playing with fire here, but at least I was the one holding the matches this time.

"What are you suggesting, girl?" Lottie said.

"My sister has a name." Avery warned.

"I don't know why you have such a problem with me." Eves gaze was only focused on me. "I've been nothing but lost and confused since the second I came here. You've been the one who's after me!"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "You expect me to trust you? After like, a couple of days?" Who did this girl think she was? Or better yet, what kind of power did she think she held over us?

"Maybe not trust, just not out to get her constantly." Grayson defending Eve like she was his lifeline was so familiar by now, though it did sting just a bit.

"I think there's only one way to settle this," Avery proposed. "Eve, we need your phone." Thank God Avery hadn't lost all common sense.

Graysons jaw hardened. "Avery, you can't be serious right now." He looked at me. "Evelyn."

He willed me with his eyes, but I wasn't going to give into him. Grayson Hawthorne hadn't reached all parts of me. "I can't."

Eve sighed, hanging Avery her phone. "I can't believe I even have to do this."

Avery flicked through Eves phone, and I hated how a small part of me hoped she found something. Maybe I just wanted Grayson to realize Eve wasn't the girl she said she was.

But after a few minutes, Avery handed the phone back to Eve. "There."

Grayson shook his head. "I can't believe you." But his words weren't directed toward Avery. They were directed toward me.

Lottie stepped forward. "I think you all need to leave, now." She looked at Eve. "The poor girl has been through so much.

"Lottie—"

"No, John. It was her father who poisoned us all." Lottie pointed at me, and my heart dropped. The room fell silent. "And I won't have her poison this girl either."

"Evelyn, this isn't you." It was like Grayson hadn't even heard what Lottie said about me. "Come on."

"I don't think you know her the way you claim to," Jameson said, placing his arm on my shoulder. "Maybe you were just holding onto the Evelyn we knew as kids."

Evangeline. That's who Grayson had been holding onto this whole time. I wouldn't be that for him— that girl was long gone.

"Out! Everyone, out!" Lottie boomed, but this conversation was far from over.
—
❥

"What is wrong with you?" Grayson exploded as soon as we stepped outside.

"Me?" This was almost comical.

"You have been horrible to Eve. She's been innocent this whole goddamn time!"

"I don't think that's necessarily true," Avery said.

"But that's what he'd like to believe," I cut in. "Grayson doesn't see Eve when he looks at her, no, he sees someone else I don't need to name." Grayson made eye contact with me, his gaze sharp. He knew.

Everyone knew.

"You're one to talk. Still fixated on your father, who couldn't care less about you!"

"Gray," Jameson warned, but he had already gone too far. Grayson was gone.

"I'm not going to be apart of a sinking ship," I said, my voice nearly a whisper. For a moment, I notcied Graysons features softened, but the wall was back up before I could say anything to him.

"I thought I knew you."

I laughed, and it was breathy and disheveled. "I thought I knew you too."

And then he was walking away.

"Evelyn—"

I held up a hand. "Don't, Avery. This isn't a battle any of us are going to win." Making my way down the steps, I didn't turn around when I said, "Vincent Blake is coming for all of us, and I think we're damned."
—
❥

a/n:

okay i promise grant ruth is going to come into the plot soon!! also they all make me so angry yet i'm writing them 🙏🏻