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Chapters (59)
  1. Bad Friends
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. AFTER: DECEMBER
  6. BEFORE: JUNE
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  46. Chapter Forty
  47. Chapter Forty-One
  48. Chapter Forty-Two
  49. Chapter Forty-Three
  50. Chapter Forty-Four
  51. Chapter Forty-Five
  52. Chapter Forty-Six
  53. Chapter Forty-Seven
  54. Chapter Forty-Eight
  55. A CONVERSATION WITH CLAIRE SEEBER
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. About the Author
  58. By the same author:
  59. About the Publisher

I was panting, gasping for breath as I came beside Seb’s car. He’d left the door open in his haste to get to me, and as I passed I glanced in and oh my God the keys were actually in the ignition. I didn’t look back, I climbed inside and I turned the key and the engine fired –

Feet crunched on the gravel, nearer, nearer …

‘Oh come on, Mag –’ I fumbled with the unfamiliar gearstick, slamming it into reverse by mistake. I heard his curse and I prayed I’d run him over. And then the car was moving forward and I was trying to slam the door, but he’d wrenched it open again, and then I heard a muffled yelp and Seb was leaning over me grappling with the steering wheel, but we were still moving, faster now, and I realised it was my heroic dog on the back seat, sinking his teeth into Sebastian’s arm.

‘You little fucker,’ Seb spat, and I almost laughed but Digby’s head was wet and shiny as I looked down, and I realised it was blood, my little dog’s blood, and then Seb swung him out of the car in one smooth action, and before I could move, before I could stop him, he twisted Digby around, and the brave dog snarled with all his broken might but he was badly hurt already, he didn’t stand a chance. Before I could stop him, Seb threw the dog against the tree right there with all his force. With a sigh and a small whimper, my scruffy little dog slumped down the trunk into the undergrowth.

‘No,’ I screamed, too late. ‘Noooo!’ I looked up at Seb, still looming over me. ‘You fucking nutter,’ I hissed. ‘What did he ever do to you?’

‘I should have done it ages ago,’ Seb grinned, and, reaching down into the bushes, he retrieved Digby’s limp form and flung him callously onto the drive.

For a second I’d been frozen with horror, but now I came to. ‘You’re mad,’ I yelled, tears of fury flooding down my face, ‘absolutely fucking mad’, and I revved the engine, backed the car up. I would get him now, the crazy bastard. I put my foot down and I drove at Seb fast; I floored the car and I couldn’t see anything any more, just red, just anger at this man who had ruined my life for a reason I didn’t understand. And I nearly got him, I nearly did, but he threw himself out of the way just in time, and then there was the old chestnut tree right in front of me and that was it; it was too late to brake – and then it all went black.

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Four