Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

charged. He’d get it away from me if he really wanted to, but
hopefully I’d get it charged enough to make some calls first.
How could my mother leave me like that? He got them
packed, changed and out of the house in a matter of a few
hours before I got home last night, and he or Crane hadn’t
relayed a message, I hadn’t gotten any calls—that I knew of
yet, but I’d check my phone as soon as it had a charge—and
no one else had contacted me to let me know my mother was
concerned or trying to reach me.
She hadn’t just left me. Arion would have, but not my
mom. What threat or lie did he feed her to get her out of the
house? Did he even handle it himself or did he use some of his
dad’s hired muscle?
And were they really in the Maldives? Like all the way in
fucking Asia? Ari always wanted to go. He would’ve agreed to
anything to get rid of her.
But he wasn’t joining them.
He wasn’t going anywhere. Even I knew that.
Walking into the kitchen, I took a glass from the cupboard
and filled it with bottled water, hooking the tip of my finger
over the edge of the glass to feel when the water reached close
to the top. Taking a long drink, I closed my eyes and listened
to the house. To the wind and the rain and the floors,
absorbing the hum of the refrigerator, the heater warming the
water, and the silence.
Too much silence.
My blood coursed under my skin, and my hair stood up on
my arms.
I still felt it. The same thing I felt this morning.
No creaks. No footsteps. No music.
No Mikhail.
But it was still there. The heaviness in the air.
And I knew.
I just knew.