Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“You told him I’m a human?” Tobey has been pacing around our dormitory for an hour and shows no sign of stopping.
Trusting Jun may be a mistake, but I’m confident about it. I may have been too confident, which led me to tell him about Tobey’s humanity.
Jun had no clue, which proves there was more going on with Amelia. She claimed everyone knows that Tobey is human, but that’s clearly not the case. Instead, I’m hypothesizing that a select number of people know.
Including my father. Including whoever is involved in this so-called secret society that Jun has been chirping about.
Unless Jun is lying to me, but I can’t wrap my head around the idea. His response to the body seemed genuine, as did his desire to help. After a month of waiting for a clue, a move, or anything… we only have Jun.
I’ll have to take any help I can get.
“Jun is going to work with us,” I say. “It’s important for him to know you’re not a werecat. He would have found out eventually. Isn’t there a full moon coming up?”
Tobey is impossible to convince, but it’s only a matter of time before they have to stop pretending.
“Since when do you trust Jun? You don’t even like him.”
“I don’t see why that matters right now. Besides, you like him. You sat with him on the first day of school.”
And that’s something I won’t forget. Tobey didn’t know what they were doing, but, in that moment, they betrayed me by befriending my nemesis.
I’m over it now. Really, I am.
Their chin trembles. “No, you don’t get it. You don’t even trust him, but you gave away my secret.”
Damn it all. They have a point, and that look they give me—it pulls at my heartstrings, as it always does.
“Please. Don’t do that.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
I knew this would be a serious conversation, but I didn’t expect it to hurt them this much.
I stand up, taking cautious steps closer.
“I didn’t mean to betray your trust, and I know this isn’t my first time doing so, but this is different.
I got ahead of myself. This is the first big movement we’ve had in the case since Amelia died, and I’m antsy.
I’m so sorry. I just wanted to do something right. ”
Between my failing acting career and friendship, it seems as if I’m the problem. I’m the loser.
They avert their gaze. “It hurts that you can keep a secret from me for years, but you can’t keep my secret for a month.”
“I know.”
“You should have asked me first.”
“You’re right.”
I don’t have an argument, and I don’t want to argue with Tobey. They’re the stubborn one, not me. That’s one crown I can happily give up to them. We’ve spent a lot of time bickering, but they’re the only person I have left; if my father is involved in the murders, that will be especially true.
“What now?” they ask.
I press my lips together. “Jun gave us a lot to think about. Not only does he believe Strode is involved, but he suspects my father is as well.”
“Unsurprising. After everything, I’m disappointed in him, but we were already discussing how suspicious he is.”
“I suppose.”
Tobey may be stubborn, but they’re also quick to hop on accusations. I expect them to do the same with my father, and they don’t disappoint.
“How are you taking the news?” they murmur.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. You can talk to me.”
“I’m… I’m numb, I think.” I pull a blanket over my shoulders and lean into my pillows. “I don’t want to believe it, but I don’t want to pretend either. We have to take any path and, right now, this is the only one we have.”
“It’s okay.” At last, they sit, plopping onto their bed. A sad smile tugs their lips down. “We’ll figure it out together.”
The last few days have been a whirlwind.
Between finding the body, the suspicions of my father, and the flashbacks of Amelia…
I don’t know what to feel. I can’t tell Tobey about half of these things.
Or maybe I can, but the words don’t want to come out.
They’re stuck deep in my chest, and as I stare at my best friend, it feels like there’s a wall between us.
It’s a barrier I created, and I’m the only one who can take it down.
Does Tobey realize I’m drowning? The mask I wear has been cracking lately, with bloody tears streaming down my face whenever I’m alone. They must know. I can’t be this lonesome.
“There’s so much more about my father,” I say. “I haven’t scratched the surface. He might run some kind of… secret society or whatever. That’s what Jun-seong called it. He thinks it has to do with the immortality ceremonies and maybe with the murders as well.”
Tobey narrows their eyes. “And where did Jun get this information?”
“One of his friends told him.”
“Have you considered that this friend was likely Amelia?”
“…No. I hadn’t considered that.”
Dammit.
It’s embarrassing to say, but the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. Amelia and Jun were close, but only during the last few months of her life. I’ve known Jun for years, and I never saw them together before.
“It would make sense,” Tobey says. “Which means Jun may not be trustworthy. What if he’s trying to hurt you? He could want to finish what Amelia started.”
“I don’t think that’s the case. You should have seen how scared he was of the body.”
“But—”
“Stop jumping to conclusions. This got us into trouble last time.” I fix them with a stern look.
“You did it with Caldwell, and no matter how much he annoys me, we’re better off with him on our side.
We’re not doing that with Jun. I think he wants to help.
For once in his life, he’s being genuine. I can feel it.”
Tobey can’t know that my trust in him is still wavering. It will be difficult to get someone as suspicious as them to agree in the first place, and if I seem anything less than confident… forget about it.
“He admitted to being the son of Strode,” they say.
“And?” I lift a brow. “Are my father’s downfalls mine as well?”
“No, of course not—”
“Precisely.”
“Fine.” They raise their hands in surrender. “I’ll drop it. But why would your father and the immortality ceremony be involved? It doesn’t add up.”
“It doesn’t have to add up yet. That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Well…” I know they won’t like the answer. “I’m joining the society.”
They groan. “Margaux. You can’t be serious.”
“I am. You dated an assumed murderer to get information. Now, I’m doing this.”
“That was different.”
“You’re right. This is my father. No matter how dangerous he is, he won’t hurt me. I’m the best person to do this. You know that.”
For the sake of my sanity, I must believe my father won’t do anything to put me in danger, but time may prove me wrong.
“There has to be another way,” they say. “We can go to the library, do research, and—”
“It’s a secret society! Whatever they’re doing is a secret. I need to be on the inside if we want to get any actual information from them.”
Their jaw is tight, and they shake their head—but they must know I’m right. If there were another way to fix this, I would do it.
“This sucks,” they say. “I thought your father was a good guy. I thought he wanted to help us. Or at least, that’s what I was hoping.”
“I thought so, too. Instead, we’re stuck looking to Jun-seong for help. It feels like a downgrade, doesn’t it?”
“If we’re working together, you should be nice to him.”
“Oh, trust me. I’m trying.”
“I hope you’re right about this. Hell, I hope he’s right.”
If Jun is right, my father is the reason for the murders on campus. He’s the reason for the death of students. This will destroy my relationship with him and the rest of my family.
In a quiet voice, I say, “And I really, really hope he’s not.”
I step outside of our dormitory, inhaling the frigid scent of decaying fall leaves. There I stay in the moonlight, with the occasional student passing. None of them is of any consequence to me. I get exactly what I need: a moment away from Tobey’s watchful eye.
Until someone I recognize approaches.
Caldwell, with a cigarette dangling from his lips. I see him before he can see me, easily spotting his lanky figure in the dark. Finally, he stops in front of me, nodding as a greeting.
“You shouldn’t be outside alone,” I say.
“Neither should you.”
Yet here we are.
“You’re here for Tobey, I assume?”
He nods, taking a drag of his cigarette.
“You know, I’m surprised she kisses your ashtray mouth.”
He chuckles. “And I’m surprised at your commentary, considering yours likely tastes of iron…”
I press my lips together, searching for a rebuttal, but nothing comes to my fogged mind. “Touché.”
We’re quiet, as we often are when we’re alone.
Caldwell and I wouldn’t be friends if we had a choice, but I have to put in the effort.
We accept one another’s presence for Tobey, and maybe someday we’ll find common ground.
For now, we spend most of our time in silence.
His lingering at all is an effort, and I appreciate it.
It would be easy to go our separate ways.
Caldwell isn’t looking his best these days. There are dark circles under his eyes and wrinkles in his clothes. In another circumstance, I may point these things out, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing does.
Eventually, the sound of silence wears me down.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask.
“The same thing that’s wrong with everyone on campus, I imagine.” He answers the question without hesitation or offense, as if he’s expecting it.
“Yeah…” I frown. “That’s what is wrong with me, too—not that you bothered asking.”
“My apologies.”
“You’re forgiven if you tell me why you’re so morose.”
An unhappy Caldwell will lead to an unhappy Tobey, and I can’t have that.
He leans against the stone wall. “Are you offering free therapy?”
“I suppose I am. You wouldn’t want to waste that in this economy.”
“Good point.” He chuckles and looks up at the sky. “I’m stuck. My mother left me with one task—to avenge her—and it’s at a standstill. I should do more.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.”