Page 76 of Creeping Beautiful

“Oh, thank God. Adam? Oh, my God. Adam? Are you OK?”

That’s Indie.

I blink a few times, trying to focus my eyes, and then McKay is pulling me up to a sitting position.

My head throbs. I reach for it and find a hard crust of blood matted into my hair.

My head swivels to the side and I barely make out… Nathan. Little coward. Standing in the far corner. Arms crossed over his chest. A red ring of fingerprints still bright around his neck. And he has the fucking nerve to scowl at me.

“You,” I croak.

“Easy, killer.” McKay pulls me to my feet. “You took a hard hit. And it wasn’t him.”

“I’m so sorry, Adam.” Indie is all up in my face. Eyes darting back and forth, searching mine. “I didn’t think I hit you that hard. But you were gonna choke him out! And I told you, he was teasing me! That’s it! That’s all it was!”

But that wasn’t all it was. My head is pretty foggy right now but I saw what I saw. His fucking hand up her shirt. His lips on her mouth.

I direct my glare at McKay. “You’re supposed to be watching her. Do you have any idea what she’s doing over here?”

“I’m not doing anything! We were watching a movie and you came in—”

“I saw you, Indie. Kissing him.”

“Oh! Kissing him! Call the fucking FBI. Two teenagers were kissing!” She turns to McKay. “Do you believe this shit?”

“Indie.” And McKay growls her name. “Go home.”

“No! No! I’m not leaving you two here with him! So you can what, choke him to death this time? You didn’t see him, McKay! He was an animal! He was practically foaming at the fucking mouth!”

And in this moment McKay looks at Indie like… well, let’s just say the last I saw this look on McKay’s face, he was in the middle of killing someone. “Go. The fuck. Home.”

Indie stomps her foot and folds her arms across her chest. “I’m not going home. I’m staying right here until this is settled.”

I touch my head again and this time my fingertips walk up the baseball-sized lump to find the gash in the middle. It fucking hurts. And then I look around and find the weapon. A silver candlestick on the floor. Dried blood on the top edge.

McKay looks down at it too. Then up at me. “She hit you.”

“No shit.”

“I had to!” Indie is still hysterical. “You morphed into a violent freak!”

McKay’s fingers come up to my head and he touches the wound. “The bleeding has stopped but you definitely need stitches and…” He trails off, but he’s just staring at my head.

I glance down at my white thermal shirt and find one whole side of it crimson with blood.

McKay looks at Nate. “Get him some fucking ice, will ya?”

“How long was I out?”

“A long time.” McKay sighs, then looks over at Nate in the kitchen, then back at me. “What the fuck happened?”

“I told you what happened!”

McKay points to Indie. “Shut your fucking mouth. You hear me? Because if you say one more fucking word, I will bend you over my goddamned knee and spank you like a fucking child.”

“I’d like to see you try.” She is defiant till the end. I will give her that.

Nate comes back from the kitchen and hands McKay a dishtowel filled with ice. McKay hands it to me, and I take it, gingerly pressing it up against my head. Then I look at Nate. “Where the fuck is your grandfather?”