Chapter 3
Aiden leftme to set up my room on my own. He said something about having to meet his thesis professor, but I think he was just avoiding decorating.
Maybe I was being too harsh. It’s not like he has ever lied to me before.
Why start now?
“Oh my god, can you believe it? A murder? In our school?”
The Texan drawl of our third roommate, Lilia, preceded her into the room.
I looked up from my purse to greet the brunette. “How was your flight? Are your highlights… pinker?”
“I’m trying a vibrancy potion. It’s working well.” She tossed her long brown waves tinged with pink over her shoulder, and Pinkie Pie, his little eyes wide and glowing, scrambled to get back underneath the locks, snorting his indignance at the rude disturbance. “I slept through the entire thing. So did Dip, the darling.” She crooned to the little iridescent green dragon she held in a cat carrier at her side. “You want to be let out?”
The dragon chirped and swooped out of the carrier the instant it was opened, breathing pink flames into the air in celebration.
“Poor thing,” I said sympathetically. “You’ll have fun with your friends now.”
Dip landed on the bed frame of Lilia’s bunk and chirped happily at me.
“I’m just setting up,” I said. “If you want to join me?”
“Sure thing.” Lilia dumped her things on her desk. “Where’s Hazel?”
I dropped the stack of books I’d picked up. “You haven’t heard?”
“No. Heard what? Did y’all have a fight? Do we have a new roommate to deal with? I hope not. I thought you were close!”
“She’s vanished,” I interrupted before Lilia could come up with more possibilities. “She arrived last night, which is why her section of the room is decorated, but she was gone this morning.”
“No way!” Lilia gasped. “Well, we just got to find her. What are our leads?”
I beamed. It was nice to have someone so enthusiastic about finding my best friend.
“The only lead we have is that she fought with the victim last night,” said a new voice. A nondescript brunette of medium height entered the room.
I bristled. “Who are you and why are you in our room?”
“I’m Paige. I was coming to see you because I’m investigating the murder of Richard Smith for the school paper. She was seen with him, you know. Right in the main hall.” She pushed her glasses up her long nose and stuck her pencil behind her ear.
“So I’ve been told,” I said noncommittally. “Not sure what help I can be. I wasn’t here until about an hour ago.”
“You’ve got the insight into the murderer’s mind. You’ve been her roommate for two years now. What can you tell me about her?”
I glared. “This doesn’t sound like an investigation. This sounds like you’ve already made up your mind! Hazel wouldn’t kill anyone!”
“So you admit that you know I’m talking about Hazel!”
“Yeah, because you said I’ve roomed with her for two years! There isn’t anyone else who fits that description!” I seethed. “Stop putting words into my mouth that I would never say in a million years!”
Paige shrugged. “Hazel was in an argument with Richard. The next time anyone sees him, he’s dead as a doornail and Hazel is missing. The evidence seems pretty conclusive.”
“Or the killer took Hazel and is biding their time before they kill her, too,” I snapped. “I am going to find her before that happens. If you don’t have anything useful to tell me, like what happened after the argument, you can leave.”
“Is that a threat?” Paige asked, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not supposed to cast magic against other students outside of the supervision of a teacher.”
“Dip?” I said pointedly.
The little green dragon blew out a large stream of pink fire, just barely missing Paige’s head. But only because the girl ducked with a scream.
“Get out,” I snarled.
“You’ll be sorry,” Paige replied, running from the room.
“Thank you, Dip,” I said, rubbing her snout with my forefinger. The tiny green dragon chirped and leaned into the caress.
“What do you think she meant by ‘you’ll be sorry’,” Lilia asked, arching an eyebrow.
“She’ll probably misquote me in her silly little paper,” I replied with a sigh. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll get Hazel back before she can even go to print.”
“How? We have no idea where she might be.”
“I’ll start by going through her things. Maybe there will be a clue there.”
I hope.
I quickly set up my bed and clothes, leaving the decorations until later, and started methodically searching through Hazel’s belongings. There were no loose pages in her books, nothing hidden under her mattress, and no unexpected items in her closet. I frowned, at a loss.
“Why don’t we try to find the students that witnessed the argument?” Lilia suggested. “Who all was here last night?”
“Aiden was. He should be able to tell us a good number of names.”
“Why do you need names?” Aiden asked, strolling in the room at that moment. “Names of who?”
“Students who were here last night, who might have witnessed the argument,” I clarified.
“Hmm,” Aiden said, rubbing his chin. “Well, Bruce was here. I ate with him and then we went up to our room. I went to work out in the gym. I saw a bunch of others not from our year. I think Chuck was here…”
I wrinkled my nose. Chuck had thought we were destined to be together last year. I shivered. He was a racist prick.
“And I think your friend, Una, was here. I saw her with Hazel briefly at dinner,” Aiden finished. “Were you hoping that one of them might have seen which direction Hazel went?”
“Yeah. She didn’t sleep here. Her bed wasn’t disturbed. So she must have vanished before curfew.” I bit my lip. “I think I need to make a timeline of events.”
“Do you need to do it now?” Aiden asked. “I was hoping to ask you to dinner in Wellspring.”
I hesitated, unsure.
“We can talk to the other students that we see while we’re there,” Aiden offered.
“And I’ll grab the ones who stay here. I’ll enlist Brom’s help,” Lilia suggested. “Divide and conquer!”
I smiled at my friends. “That’s a great idea. We can discuss what we’ve discovered before bed.”
Lilia blushed. “I’ll be staying over in Brom’s room tonight. We can talk at breakfast?”
“Have fun,” I said, mildly disappointed but understanding the need to be with her mate.
Aiden wrapped me in a bear hug. “I can stay with you tonight so you won’t be alone. Whatever do you think we could get up to?” he murmured in my ear.
My knees wobbled slightly with desire. “I think I have a few ideas,” I replied.
“Shoo, then,” Lilia said to Aiden. “She needs to get ready for her date. Give us twenty minutes.”
Dropping a kiss on the top of my head, Aiden said, “I’ll meet you in the common room. Love you.”
“You two are such saps,” Lilia said, shaking her head.
“Like you’re any better with Brom,” I teased back. “Can you do my hair?”
“Sure thing, honey.”
I was out in the foyer in fifteen minutes, and I looked hot, if I do say so myself. I was wearing a leather-looking skirt that didn’t quite hit my knees, and a wrap-around crop top embroidered with flowers.
“You look beautiful,” Aiden said admiringly, standing up from the cream-colored chair in the common area.
“Thank you,” I said graciously. “What’s the plan for tonight?”
“I’m going to take you bowling.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Bowling? They have bowling here?”
Aiden chuckled. “It’s got a bit of a twist to it.”
“Of course it does.”
We made our way outside the castle, to where the mirror travel would work, and it was a matter of seconds before we were in Wellspring. The sun hadn’t yet sunk below the horizon, and the people who lived in the town were still out and about.
“This way,” Aiden said, leading me away from the main street where Buckie’s pub was.
We’d shared many nights there with our friends, playing pool, darts, and drinking.
Instead, he brought me to a smallish building almost tucked away like an afterthought.
“This doesn’t look big enough for bowling,” I said, suspicious.
“I said it had a twist to it. Trust me.” Aiden grinned at me over his shoulder.
The lights were dark when we entered, but I could still see clearly, thanks to the fluorescent lighting making neon colors bright against the darkness. “Oh, this is cool,” I said.
Aiden’s normally white teeth glowed blue. “Wait until you see the best part,” he said.
“Lead on.” I couldn’t stop myself from staring at the garish lighting as we walked through the space. With each step, the slashes of color got bigger until they were filling my vision entirely.
“All right. We’re here,” Aiden said.
I looked away from a giant orange light to see that we were standing in front of a series of bowling lanes. “Wait, what?”
“It’s a shrinking filter,” Aiden explained. “The further in you walk, the smaller you get. It means they can squish a bowling alley into a regular-sized house.”
“No way! That was seamless. I didn’t feel it at all. I’m really impressed,” I gushed.
“Thank you,” said a man. “My wife and I worked very hard to get it just right.” He bowed slightly. “Welcome to The Bowl! My name is Jim, my wife is Everly, and if you have any questions, just holler.”
“I think we’ll start with grabbing a bite to eat?” Aiden said, raising his eyebrow questioningly at me.
I nodded eagerly, and we headed for one of the small tables off to one side.
The menu was simple; the options ranged from soup, chili, rice, noodles, or shepherd’s pie, all in bowl form.
“I think I want a rice bowl,” I said, looking at the images that moved beside each item. “It looks delicious.”
Aiden looked up at the woman who had appeared. “We’ll get one rice and one noodle bowl, please, Everly.”
She beamed. “Excellent choices. I’ll be right back with those. Anything to drink?”
“Just water for me,” I said.
“Me as well,” Aiden added.
Everly nodded and left us, disappearing behind swinging doors.
“Can I try a bite of yours?” I asked.
“Of course.” Aiden’s thumb traced an invisible pattern on the back of my hand. “I’ve missed this. Being able to touch you and talk with you in person. Summer has never felt so endless before.”
“Couldn’t wait to get back to school?” I teased.
“I couldn’t wait to get back to you,” he said emphatically.
“Aww, aren’t you sweet,” I cooed. “What would your friends say if they heard you?”
“That I’m whipped,” he replied cheerfully. “I think it means something else to us beasts, because that’s a compliment.”
I laughed. “You would think that.”
“Don’t you?” His eyes flared with heat as he looked at me across the little table.
I shivered at the promise in his tone. “Well, I’m not keen on whipping, but if that’s what you’re into…” I trailed off suggestively.
It was Aiden’s turn to chuckle. “I’ll stick to the metaphorical whipping, thanks all the same.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.” I glanced around the mostly empty room. “When do you think more people will show up?”
Aiden brushed his sleeve away from his watch. “Probably about half an hour, after dinner at the academy. We got here a little early because I wanted you all to myself before you start asking around about Hazel.”
I opened my mouth to argue that I should have stayed behind to help Lilia, but I saw his point. There was only so much that I could do in a day, and it was already evening. It’s not like I could continue the search through the night. Re-entering the nexus point boosted my energy, but not by that much!
“You win,” I said. “You’ll help once people get here?”
“Cross my heart,” Aiden replied solemnly.
“Here you go,” Everly said, depositing steaming bowls of food in front of each of us. “Enjoy!”
I breathed in the heavenly aroma coming from my rice bowl. There were hints of spicy chilies, cool cucumbers, and mouth-watering roasted chicken. I took my fork and speared a bite, chewing happily. “Oh my God, this is delicious!” I groaned, my tastebuds singing at the flavors. “I’m not sure I want to give up even a bit of this.”
“Not even to try a bite of mine?” Aiden teased.
I hesitated, glancing over at his bowl of noodles. They were coated in a white sauce, bits of ground beef, zucchini, and mushrooms visible. It smelled amazing, too.
“Okay,” I gave in. I loaded another bite onto my fork for Aiden, and fed him while he returned the favor. “I think yours might be even better than mine!” I gasped.
Aiden chuckled. “Variety is the spice of life.”
“How about this,” I offered. “Every second bite, we feed to each other. Then we can each have half of each bowl.”
“I don’t know…” Aiden hedged.
“Please?” I begged. “I’ll do anything.”
His eyes flared with heat. “Anything?”
I hesitated, wondering what he had in mind. He wafted the steam from his bowl toward me, and I caved. “Anything.”
He grinned like the cat who had eaten the canary and gotten the cream. “All right then. Take your bite.”
“What are you going to have me do?” I asked anxiously, humming with delight over my mouthful.
“You’ll find out after bowling is over,” Aiden promised. “I don’t want you so anxious that I’ll surprise you with something naughty in the middle of the game.”
“So instead, I have all game to be anxious over whatever it is that you’re going to make me do afterward?” I said, raising my eyebrow.
“You’ll be quite willing to do it, I have no doubts,” Aiden said confidently. He held up his fork. “Now open your mouth and eat what you bargained for.”
I shivered at the promise in his tone, but obligingly wrapped my lips around his offering. It really was incredible food. Whatever he had in store for me would be worth it, especially if it was something related to sex with him.
We took our time over dinner, and three lanes were already full of people by the time our bowls were wiped clean of sauce with the soft and buttery bread rolls that Everly brought out.
“You take lane one, I’ll take lane two?” I suggested.
“Whoever finishes first gets lane three, and the other will claim lane four for ourselves,” Aiden agreed.
Unfortunately, none of the people in lane two or three had heard of the argument, the missing student, or the murdered one.
I rejoined Aiden in lane four. “Ugh, second years. Were we as self-involved as they are?” I asked bitterly.
He laughed. “Do you have any idea what the gossip is in year four? What second year students were caught in flagrante delicto this afternoon?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” I admitted. “Do you know?”
“Maybe.” He picked up a bowling ball and balanced it in one hand. “If you beat me, I’ll tell you.”
“You’re on.”