1
“Cass, I’m so happy we can count on you.”
“What can I say? As soon as I heard about this project, I just had to be involved.”
I beam sweetly at Mr. Campbell, and he returns my smile before resuming his tour of the campus.
He’s changed. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve been keeping regular tabs on him since I last saw him, I wonder if I would even have recognized him. Gone is the jovial, chubby man who always seemed at odds with his job of leading Devil’s nefarious scientific experiments.
He still doesn’t look the part, but at least, he’s no longer so maddeningly cheerful. He looks exhausted. His smile is strained, his face has grown gaunt, there are dark bags under his eyes. I guess losing your only child can really have an effect on you.
Good.
“This is the science department,” he continues. “Top notch facilities. State of the art. You’re going to love the graduate program here.”
“I’m sure I will,” I agree, looking around at the large gothic style building that houses the science lecture halls.
“It’s impressive,” I add as I follow him inside, admiring the various classrooms and laboratory equipment, “how you managed to outfit this place so quickly. What has it been… less than a year since you bought the building? And you’re already welcoming your first students?”
“Well, I didn’t buy it, of course,” chuckles Campbell. “I’m only the dean. We have the founders of Devil to thank for this college.”
He lets out one of his old cheesy chuckles that still make me cringe.
Damn it, is the guy healing already? The thought makes my stomach clench. He’s not supposed to heal. He’s supposed to suffer for the rest of his life.
Maybe I should move his wife to the top of my…
No.
I think back to Daddy’s golden rules, as we used to call them. There are many, but the main one is: Never deviate from the plan.
I wrote that list for a reason. I put them in that order for a reason. The only change I’ve made since Daddy died was to move Mr. Campbell to the very end of it. I want him to live a little longer so he can experience as much terror and pain as possible. Otherwise, where’s the fun of it?
His chuckle dies in his throat when I blink my icy blue eyes at him.
I’m glad my eyes have an effect on him, at any rate. I still have the ability to make people wet themselves with one cold glance.
He clears his throat nervously. “They took that old warehouse.. You know the one. It was where…”
His voice tightens.
Yes, I remember. That’s where his son died. That’s where I killed him.
I stifle a yawn and try to look upset.
“Over the years, that warehouse became a real hazard. Bound to fall apart. So Devil finally acquired it and had it transformed. You know, it feels like that company owns everything in the state. A snap of the fingers, and their will is done. They didn’t lose any time; they built a number of buildings right here, in this vacant lot where the old warehouse stood.
Three full acres of land now house five buildings—science, math, language arts, the administrative building, and the gymnasium.
And that’s without counting the three dormitories.
When Devil wants to do something, it really does it, you know? ”
“Uh huh.”
Devil is the reason I’m back—of course I know everything they’re capable of. I’m not after its founders, though. I don’t believe for one second I would stand a chance against them.
Never bite off more than you can chew.
Another one of Daddy’s golden rules.
But I’m going to finish what I started five years ago. I’m going to kill every single person who’s responsible for my parents’ deaths.
“I’m glad in a way,” sighs Mr. Campbell. “That place only served as a reminder of what happened. And I feel like I’ve finally started to move on…”
Goddammit.
“Though the killer’s release definitely reopened the wound.”
“The killer’s… release?” I snap my head up. “What do you mean, Mr. Campbell?”
I try to keep my nerves out of my voice, but for once, I don’t manage.
“You haven’t heard? Where have you been?”
In the Arctic Tundra, getting trained so I never allow some idiot to get away with breaking my wrists again.
“I guess… I guess I must have missed it.” I suck in a deep breath, willing my nerves to settle. “I thought he was locked away for life. No chance for parole. Tried as an adult, and all that.”
My voice sounds far too anxious. I felt invincible coming back after those four years of training, but clearly, Finn Austen still has the ability to make me nervous.
“I understand how worried you are.” Mr. Campbell’s voice is soothing. “But the police found just a tiny bit of DNA on the scene, and it’s a woman’s. There is no proof that Finn did it. You even said you didn’t see him commit the crime. Everything was circumstantial.”
Yeah. Yeah, I did say that.
Yet another one of Daddy’s golden rules: Only lie if you can get away with it.
I wasn’t sure I could get away with this lie.
Finn wasn’t on the scene when Mr. Campbell’s son died.
What if he had an alibi? Some airtight explanation that proved he didn’t do it?
I hadn’t had time to figure that out before the police started their questioning.
If they found evidence that he hadn’t done it, they would have realized I lied, and maybe they would have started to wonder about me.
Too dangerous.
But Finn being free is also dangerous. I haven’t forgotten his promise.
Cass Henley! I’m going to kill you!
If I regret anything in my life, it’s the Synaptrex injection I gave him back then.
I knew he was already participating in a clinical trial for another drug, Valeron.
I was the one administering the doses, after all, as the science intern at Devil.
I knew mixing those two drugs was the worst idea possible.
I can only assume some part of me was either masochistic or morbidly curious, to have wanted him to suffer from the effects of that interaction.
Or maybe I thought about him a little too often after I made the mistake of going to that high school party.
Maybe I was kind of jealous after Hannah Jenkins, that bitch, told me they’d made out.
The side effect—the hyper-fixation—sounded pretty tempting at the time.
Even though I knew it was a violent obsession, the kind that could only end in death.
But what can I say? I was eighteen at the time, and I thought I was on top of the world.
I broke a whole lot of rules that day.
“I can’t help but think of Finn as my son’s killer, despite the fact that his appeal was accepted,” admits Mr. Campbell. “I know it must be the same for you. But, Cass, you’re in no danger. The justice system doesn’t make mistakes.”
I stare at the naive idiot, though this time, he’s at least partly right. His son isn’t the killer—but that doesn’t mean I’m not in danger.
Mr. Campbell led the clinical trial for Valeron, but he doesn’t know I injected Finn with Synaptrex.
The only other person who was injected with both went on a rampage that killed thirty-six people before she was finally shot down.
“I think I… need to go,” I tell Mr. Campbell, doing my best to flash him a sweet smile that I know only partially disguises the panic that is slowly building in my chest.
“Sure. Coming to the ball tomorrow night?”
“The… ball?”
“Yup. The masked ball. We want to inaugurate the Devil College in style.”
“Hmm. Sure.” I push my sunglasses over my eyes and step out of the science building, following Mr. Campbell into the sunny afternoon. “I’m going to settle into my apartment first, and, uhm… go shopping for a dress. And a mask.”
Not a lie.
Always dress the part.
But that’s only the beginning of my to-do list for today.
“Okay.” He smiles, and I’m glad to see the old sadness slip back into it. “Oh, and Cass!” he calls after me as I turn and slowly head toward College Road. “Don’t walk around alone at night! Devil College is very safe, but, uhm… I do have to tell you. There’s a killer on the loose.”
I’m glad I’m turned away from him so he doesn’t see me smirk.
Yes. I know.