Chapter 6
Chapter Six
No one is safe. During the upcoming days, the school and stage are abuzz with nervous whispers. As always, the professors and headmaster keep the students in the dark. They tell us someone found a body with no cause of death, and we’re told nothing more.
I’m not like the others. I don’t have the pleasure of ignorance.
Before Amelia, it was easy to write off the deaths as accidents, but that’s not the case anymore. Now, when there’s no cause of death, I know it was a murder. The professors tell us to stay quiet and focus on our work, but their scolding does little to stop the whispers.
If Strode were an ordinary school, someone would shut us down. We’re not, and the powers attempting to control the chaos of the rest of the world have no authority here.
They can’t keep the students bound to the school, either. It’s been three days since we found the body, and my peers are leaving in droves. Strode’s already small population shrinks by the day, and they’re right to go.
There are other schools they can study at, schools that don’t have a fresh death every month. Evacuating isn’t an option for me—for more than one reason. My father would never allow it. His loyalty to Strode is stronger than any fear of losing me.
More importantly, I need to be here for Tobey. They’re no more likely to leave than my father is, and it’s not the school spirit keeping them bound, but their thirst for answers… answers we still don’t have.
Jun has hardly looked at me since we last saw each other, huddled in my dormitory. If a single redhead reminds me of Amelia, I can only imagine what I remind him of now. We’re not bickering anymore, and while I should be happy about it, I’m not.
He’s always been a wonderful distraction from the horrors. I just didn’t notice until it stopped.
After practice, on my way backstage, something in him appears to have changed.
Jun grabs my elbow, stopping me before I can slide past him. His horns are out again, and they perfectly match his red top and the scarlet spark in his eye. “We have to talk.”
It’s nowhere near the way we usually greet each other.
I inhale slowly, giving a slight nod. “I suppose we do. So, you can have your people call my people. Sound good?”
Can’t we go back to hating each other? I long for the days when losing my preferred part in the play was the worst thing happening. He may not be interested in bickering, but it’s my only comfort.
I jerk my arm out of his grasp, hold my head high, and march forward. I don’t need to look back to know he’s chasing after me—another thing that would have once made me all too smug.
Now it fills me with apprehension. Why does he want to talk to me so badly?
“Please. Listen. I’m not the one who told the investigators. Someone else must have reported it.”
I freeze—and it’s not because Jun begging has to be one of my top three favorite sounds. Well, that may be a part of it, but no, it’s because the plea in his voice is earnest.
Hell. I think he’s telling the truth.
“You’re not?” I ask.
“No. Someone else found the body and reported it. I went right back to my dormitory. It scared me shitless, but… fuck.”
I turn to face him, speaking in a whisper, nearly impossible to hear. “Why didn’t you report it if you were so terrified?”
“Because I started thinking.” His face is severe. It’s nothing like the Jun I know. His cocky smirk, his shit-eating grin—those things are gone, replaced with a scowl. “And the more I thought, the more my doubts piled right up.”
“What you mean to say”—I move closer, a smile dancing on my lips as my heels click against the hardwood floor—“is that you realized I was right?”
“I realized the investigators are useless.” His lips twist as if he’s chewing on the words. “And for whatever reason, last time we were going through this, you weren’t useless. I know, it’s surprising. It may be the first time in your life.”
A little taste of the banter I’m used to. Thank hell.
“Don’t act surprised. All this shows is that you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
“How so?”
“I’ve been reading murder mysteries since I was old enough to visit the library on my own. I know more than you, and perhaps more than Tobey.”
Sadly, there is a separation between fiction and reality. What I read in my books hasn’t been useful—yet.
“I’m not here for you to help me solve a mystery. I already solved this shit, and I did it faster than you could.”
There is no way he solved what we’ve been trying to figure out for a month, but I’ll humor him.
I smile, more condescending than friendly, joined by the lift of a single eyebrow. “Did you, now?”
Tobey and Caldwell—mainly Caldwell—are the only ones who ever know what’s happening. I can’t claim I’ve been in the right myself in these situations, but Jun doesn’t have the gift of sight, and that is the only reason Caldwell has gained any information.
I’ll take Jun’s opinions with a grain of salt.
“I do.” He has more certainty than most could muster.
“Are you going to share with the class, or…?”
“Stop looking so smug, princess.” He rolls his eyes. “If you want to stop this thing for real this time, you’ll need my fucking help.”
My smile flickers. Going to Jun for assistant is unthinkable, and I still can’t fathom how he’ll help in this situation. But he looks earnest, and I want to trust him.
“Hell,” I mutter. “What help could you possibly offer?”
He looks around the area and then back at me. “On second thought, let’s find somewhere else to talk. You never know who’s listening around here.”