Chapter 25
Rayne
Back then, in high school, Hunter never sat alone during lunch because he didn’t come to the cafeteria at all.
I always sat with Weston.
Both of us never knew where his brother went.
I found out where Hunter ate lunch one day by accident.
Not because I saw Hunter himself, but because I saw what he left behind.
He’d been in the library computer lab, at a desk in the back. Even back then, Hunter always drank little cans of black coffee, and I saw a forgotten empty one left at one of the desks.
He attempted to log out, but the computer didn’t complete the task. Hunter’s account was still logged in.
Along with his search history.
The first few were about different fencing swords. No surprise.
But one search was different.
It was a search for grief counselors in the area.
Hunter always said that he was forced into therapy against his will. That he hated it all. That he was comfortable as himself, fucked up and all.
But there was something inside him reaching out, even back then.
Even when the fire inside him was at its worst, there was an untouched, weathered stone inside him, surviving through so much pain.
That’s the thing about fire, no matter how strong the blaze.
It’s almost never hot enough to melt stone.
“Fuck. Is the green better, or the baby blue?” I ask, turning and looking at my shirt in my long, wood-framed mirror for the millionth time.
Ollie and Noah are sitting at my desk chair and Hunter’s chair. Noah rolls his eyes, looking up from his leather-bound planner.
“Just pick one. Hunter will want to give you all his babies even if you were wearing a bright pink tutu,” Oliver says with a sly grin.
“Maybe Hunter would enjoy you in a pink tutu,” Noah adds, and the two of them find that very amusing.
“Do you know how making babies works, Ollie?” I ask. “Because I think you might need a few lessons.”
He shrugs. “All kinds of things are possible nowadays. And I obviously meant cum babies, anyway.”
“Don’t ask him what he means by that, Rayne. I’ve learned that Oliver has a very active imagination by now.”
I smooth out the front of the baby blue tight long-sleeve shirt.
We’re in my room, and Hunter’s currently out and about, probably quietly losing his mind about what we’re going to do this evening.
We’re going on our first date.
A real date.
A date like normal people have, people who aren’t fucking their best friend’s brother and aren’t in the crosshairs of some demented, violent threat.
Fall break just began, and I’m glad that some of the other Onyx guys stayed on campus for the week off of classes.
I’ve always liked having people around me, but it feels even more necessary these days.
“Can’t believe I’m worried about what color I’m wearing on a date when all of our fucking lives are in danger.”
“Life must go on, even if we’re being threatened,” Noah says, finally closing his planner and coming over to my side, looking in the mirror. “Maybe all of the threats are just a prank.”
I cut him a glare. “If someone’s idea of a prank is a needle in my neck and a gunshot grazing James’ head? They deserve hell.”
“Fair point.”
“I think the person, or people, have backed off,” Ollie says.
“I’ve been wondering about that.”
“By the way, Royal,” Noah says, lifting an eyebrow at me. “Does Wes know… about this?”
“The date?”
Noah nods.
I stand a little taller, looking back in the mirror. “He does. I’m never keeping a goddamned secret from Weston again, ever, in my life. I know it’s going to be tough for him to accept certain things at first, but I really think we’ll be okay again, someday.”
“He really seems like an understanding person,” Oliver says with a nod. “He’ll get there.”
“But he probably won’t ever want to hear us joke about his brother putting cum babies in Rayne, so keep your mouth shut about that,” Noah says, reaching over and giving Oliver’s shoulder a little smack.
With every passing day, Wes has also been closer and closer to his normal self.
It does seem like the only silver lining of the dark cloud over this semester is that Weston and I are going to come out of this better friends than before.
Hopefully.
Eventually.
“Wes was cool about it today,” I explain.
“I saw him in the reading room and he asked me what was up, and I gave him full transparency. Told him I was going on my first real date with Hunter. Told him I was nervous. I know Hunter isn’t really the dinner-and-movie type of guy, but I told Weston I was going to try to show him a good time anyway. ”
“I’m guessing he didn’t fist-bump you and tell you to have a good time getting your dick wet?” Noah asks.
“No. But Wes was honest, too. He said it feels fucking weird to hear about it, and he still thinks I need to be on my guard with Hunter at all times. But he said he trusts me, too.”
“That’s a damn good best friend, right there,” Oliver says.
I pull out my phone to check the time, and I have a text from Hunter.
Hope you’re ready for the best fucking date of your life.
I’m intrigued.
If you’re willing to actually be with me, one thing I can promise is you’ll never be bored.
You only left our room a couple of hours ago and I already miss your presence. Pretty sure I’m willing to be with you.
I don’t deserve you. See you soon.
“I’m going to be late. I have to leave now,” I tell Noah and Ollie as I turn to leave the room.
“Where are you guys meeting up?”
“Earlier today he told me the date will have two parts, God knows what that means. But he said to meet at the far end of Red Row, and we’re going to walk somewhere.”
“Have fun,” Noah says with a pat on my shoulder. “You lovebirds make me sick, which probably means you’re perfect for each other.”
“What are you guys going to get up to?” I ask as they follow me down the staircase.
“Ollie says he has a spooky video game that’s perfect for fall, so I assume I’m going to be passing out from terror pretty soon.”
I snort, and Oliver grins.
“It’s my favorite horror game. Noah gets scared when a freaking leaf falls in front of him on campus, so I’m going to show him Misty Hill for the first time.”
“I think Wes and I played through that in high school. Good fucking luck, Noah. I pray for your blood pressure.”
“Enjoy your date throwing knives or walking around graveyards with Hunter,” Ollie says.
“Later, guys.”
They duck into the living room and I head out the front doors.
The sun hasn’t set yet.
The sky is grey outside, casting everything in a muted light.
Red Row is usually calm in the daytime, but right now most Crimson College students are back at home.
And it’s fucking peaceful outside.
I start off down the sidewalk.
Leaves blow past me on the road ahead, gently scraping the pavement.
The air has that far-off campfire smell, and for the first time in a while, I have a glimmer of renewed hope about this semester.
So many good things have happened, even in the bad.
And never in my fucking wildest dreams did I think I’d be going on a date with Hunter Knox by the start of fall break.
I make it past the edge of Onyx House gate and go past the quiet front of Luros House.
I’m almost past Luros House when I catch a glimpse of something.
It’s a bright, orange-red light coming from the far side of the Luros backyard.
Fire.
The pleasant scent isn’t coming from far off, apparently.
Someone’s got a little bonfire lit in the Luros House yard.
I thought all of the Luros girls had gone home for the break.
But there is someone back there in the yard, far off.
Briar.
I recognize her hair, shiny and black.
I stop walking for a moment as I overhear her voice.
She’s staring at the fire, facing away from me. The yard is wide, and I’m still in the front near a thick row of green hedges, but there’s a narrow arch cut into the greenery where I can see through to the back.
But I’m just close enough to overhear her voice.
I don’t intend to eavesdrop, but she’s alone, on the phone.
And I can’t help but catch something strange.
“We’ve got one,” she says as she adds more wood to the fire, prodding at it, making the flames leap high. “He’s ours now. Just need the other and we can end this.”
My heartbeat ticks up, and suddenly my skin breaks out in goosebumps. I watch her movements past the row of rose bushes that line the edge of the house.
What she’s saying is odd.
Even stranger is how she’s saying it.
Because Briar Zhang is new here, and I’ve only spoken to her in passing a couple of times on campus.
But…
Briar’s talking in a pitch-perfect British accent.
And Briar Zhang doesn’t fucking have a British accent.
Hunter told me, one night after hanging out with her, that her family is from Hong Kong.
But he also said she’d been in boarding school in the U.S. since she was a young kid, and that’s why she speaks English just as fluently as we do.
In the same accent we do.
Strange.
“It’ll be fast, and simple,” she says now, talking in the same accent the Queen had. “Bloody fucking cold here, isn’t it? Cannot wait until we’re back home.”
Something isn’t right.
I don’t know what it is, yet, but my chest is tightening the more I hear her say, and the longer I watch her prod at the bonfire with her phone clutched in one hand.
She clearly thinks she’s alone.
And it is true that no one else is currently at Luros House.
When I pull out my phone to text Hunter, my hands have started shaking. I tap out a quick message, suddenly afraid.
Briar never spent time in the UK, did she?
Nope. She said she’s never been there. I told her I lived in London, and she said she always wanted to visit.
Weird.
What’s up, king? Why do you ask about Briar?
As I start to tap out another message my hands fumble, and the phone slips from my hand.
It clatters down onto the sidewalk and the moment the noise cuts through the yard, I know it’s over.
Briar turns and sees me, and her eyes go wide for a moment, then narrow.
“Get him, and get here, now,” she says in the British accent to the person on the phone. “We have a problem here.”
I move to take off in a sprint, but I trip on a loose stone and lose my footing.
When I hit the ground my palms scrape the ground, a smear of blood streaking across the stone.
Briar has already made it over to me.
And she’s standing above me with a matte black pistol in her hand, pointed right at my head.
“Inside the house. With me.”