All The Truths (Lies & Truths Duet #2) by Rina Kent

It’s not something. It’s someone.

I inhale the pine scent coming from outside as the memory hits me like sparkling fireworks on the Fourth of July.





Night of the incident





I sit on the bench, my eyes filled with tears. All the way here, I’ve been hardly holding on.

Now that she’s sitting right in front of me, it’s nearly impossible to stop the onslaught of emotions.

Her hair is a bit shorter than mine and she’s got it up in a ponytail. She has the same deep blue eyes, the same full lips with the teardrop at the upper lip, the same tiny nose that fits the shape of her face.

Reina.

She’s finally here. We finally found our way back to each other after nine years.

She stares at the engagement ring on her finger. It glints under the cottage’s soft light as she grins.

I cross my arms over my chest. “Are you here for me or for that engagement ring?”

“The ring. Definitely the ring.”

I huff. “Whatever.”

“You’re just being jealous.” Reina hits my shoulder with hers. “It’s not my fault I got all the looks.”

“Oh, puh-leeze.” I flip my hair. “Are you even looking at me?”

“Yeah.” Her grin is a little sad this time. “I see me.”

“I see me, too. Rei…” I grab her hands in mine. “I’m going to make things right for the both of us. I’m making that promise come true. You saved me. It’s time I save you.”

She shakes her head, expression calm and wise. “I don’t want you involved. Dad was, and we both know where that led him. I won’t lose you, too, Rai.”

I jerk up, running a hand through my hair as I pace the length of the cottage. “You can’t expect me to sit and do nothing. Dad would’ve understood.”

“Rai.” She stands up and slowly approaches me, as if she’s afraid of setting me off. “Listen to me. Dad knew why I had to do this. Why do you think he kept it a secret? Besides, I have someone who’ll help me, but you have nothing, okay? You don’t know these people as much as I do. They’ll murder you and bury your remains at a new construction site. They’re dangerous people.”

“Are you listening to yourself?” Tears well in my eyes. “If they’re dangerous, how do you expect me to leave you in their clutches and carry on as if nothing happened?”

“You forget a little trick, sis.” She grins, rubbing her nose with her index finger like she used to do when we were children. “I’ve been studying them for years. I can handle them.”

“Reina…” My voice breaks. “I just can’t watch you slip through my fingers again. I can’t.”

“I won’t slip away.” She rubs her hand on my arm in a soothing gesture. “We’re one, after all. You’ll feel me even if we’re apart. Do you remember those days with Mom?”

I snort. How could I not remember? When we were twelve, Reina and I met for the first time. Even though we had people after us and we had to sleep at different hotels and hostels every night, those months were the happiest times of my life.

I had a mother and a sister.

Then they were both taken away from me.

We were separated for nine years. For most of those nine years, I thought Reina was dead. I searched for her all around and even made deals with a lot of ‘criminals’.

Finally, I scored the right people and she came in contact. The day I received an invitation from her to come to this place was probably the happiest day of my life.

Just when I was starting to give up, she showed me a sign.

She came back for me like she’d promised back then.

I’m older, you know, she’d scolded. I’ll be the one who finds you.

She kept her promise.

She’s here.

But not for long.

“Mom was smart,” Reina continues, “but she wasn’t that smart, Rai. It’s useless to run away in a pack. They would’ve always found us. Diversion, remember?”

“What if I don’t want to? What if I want to run away with you?”

Her face falls. “Then it’ll be like Mom all over again.”

“I hate this.”

“I do too.” She ruffles my hair. “But I’m coming back. You won’t get rid of me.”

“Promise?”

“Promise, Rai.”





Present





I’m pushed back to the now with a crippling force.

I gasp for air as if I’ve been drowning underwater.

Rai.

Oh my God. My name is not Reina—it’s Rai.

Reina was the other one, the one who told me she’d come back, the one who stopped me from going with her.

I jump to my wobbly feet and walk to the spot where both of us stood that night. She hugged me, and we made a promise.

We talked and then…what?

I stare at the black walls, at the cracks in them.

We found human remains.

The detective’s words bounce in my head like an atomic bomb.

No, no, no.

Fuck no.

It’s not Reina. They didn’t find Reina’s remains. They couldn’t have.

I pace the length of the cottage, back and forth, back and forth like a trapped animal. They took my sister away from me.