Chapter 55 Old Photos, New Plans
Jace Pov
I sat on my bed back at Silverthorn and stared at the photo in my hands. It was old and creased from being folded and unfolded too many times. But I couldn't stop looking at it.
Maddie smiled up at me from the picture. Her white fur was bright even in the faded photo. She looked happy. She looked beautiful. She looked like she belonged to me.
That photo was taken two years ago when we were still together. Before she caught me with Lila. Before she ran away. Before everything fell apart.
I traced my finger over her face in the picture and felt that familiar anger rising in my chest. She had no right to leave me. She had no right to throw away everything we had just because of one mistake. One meaningless night with Lila that didn't change how I felt about her.
My door burst open without warning. Lila stood there with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. She looked angry. She always looked angry these days.
"You've been weird since the game," Lila said accusingly. "What's going on Jace?"
I looked up at her slowly. "Nothing that concerns you."
"Everything about you concerns me," Lila snapped. She walked into my room without being invited and slammed the door behind her. "We're together now remember? Or did you forget that too?"
"We're not together," I said flatly. "We hooked up a few times. That doesn't make us a couple."
Lila's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. "You said things. You made promises."
"I say a lot of things," I replied. I looked back down at the photo of Maddie. "Doesn't mean they're all true."
"You're still obsessed with her," Lila said. Her voice went quiet and bitter. "Even after everything. Even after she dumped you and disappeared. You're still thinking about Maddie."
I didn't deny it. There was no point in denying something that was obviously true.
"What's that?" Lila demanded. She pointed at the photo in my hands. "Is that her? Are you seriously sitting here staring at a picture of your ex?"
"Yes," I said simply. I held up the photo so Lila could see it better. "Want to take a closer look?"
Lila snatched the photo from my hands and stared at it. Her eyes went wide when she saw Maddie's white fur. "She's a white wolf? I thought she was wolfless."
"She lied to everyone," I explained. "She hid what she really was. But I always knew. I always knew she was special."
"Special," Lila repeated mockingly. She threw the photo back at me. "She's a stuck up princess who thinks she's too good for everyone. Including you."
"Maybe," I said. I picked up the photo and smoothed it out carefully. "Or maybe she just needed the right motivation to come back."
"What are you talking about?" Lila asked. Suspicion filled her voice. "Jace what did you do?"
I looked up at her with a slow cruel smile. "Maddie's at Keane College. She's hiding there. Pretending to be nobody. But I found her."
Lila's mouth fell open in shock. "You found her? How?"
"Someone contacted me," I said. I wasn't going to tell Lila about Simone. That was none of her business. "Someone who wants Maddie gone as much as I want her back."
"Gone?" Lila said. She sat down on the edge of my bed. "What does that mean exactly?"
"It means Maddie is going to learn a very important lesson," I said. "She's going to learn that she can't just run away from me. She can't just throw away what we had. She belongs to me and she always will."
"You're obsessed," Lila said quietly. But there was something new in her voice now. Something calculating. "Completely and totally obsessed."
"I prefer the term dedicated," I said. I put the photo in my pocket carefully. "But call it whatever you want."
"And what about me?" Lila asked. "What happens to me in this grand plan of yours?"
I looked at her properly for the first time since she came into my room. Lila was pretty enough. She had long dark hair and green eyes. She was popular at Silverthorn. She would make an acceptable girlfriend for someone who wasn't me.
"You can use this too," I said slowly. "You wanted revenge on Maddie for taking your spot as most popular girl. For making you look bad when word got out about us. This is your chance."
"My chance to do what?" Lila asked.
"To hurt her," I said simply. "To make her suffer the way she made us suffer. To show her that actions have consequences."
Lila bit her lip and thought about it. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She wanted revenge just as much as I did. She just needed permission to admit it.
"What do you need from me?" Lila finally asked.
"Nothing yet," I said. "Just be ready. When the time comes I might need you to help spread some information. Make sure certain people know certain things about Maddie."
"What kind of information?" Lila pressed.
"The kind that will destroy her reputation," I said. "The kind that will make everyone at Keane see her for what she really is. A liar. A fake. Someone who can't be trusted."
Lila nodded slowly. A small smile appeared on her face. "I can do that. I'm very good at spreading information."
"I know you are," I said. "That's why you're useful."
"Useful," Lila repeated. She didn't sound offended. She sounded pleased. "I can live with being useful."
She stood up from my bed and walked toward the door. Then she paused and turned back to look at me.
"Jace," she said carefully. "When this is all over. When Maddie is gone or back with you or whatever your end goal is. What happens to us?"
"There is no us," I said honestly. "There never was. You were just a way to make Maddie jealous. A way to get a reaction from her."
"I know," Lila said. She didn't look hurt. She looked resigned. "I always knew. But I thought maybe if Maddie was out of the picture you might actually see me."
"I see you," I said. "I just don't want you. Not the way I want her."
Lila's jaw clenched but she nodded. "Fine. But I still want my revenge. So I'll help you anyway."