XV
Syn
A nybody who says appearances are not important is a liar.
Looks are the first thing that everybody sees, and how one presents themselves is the first thing to be judged. As my mother says, attractiveness is nothing more than a checklist, and each point can—and should —be checked off before a person even graduates high school.
Had either me or JP needed it, she would have booked us with her plastic surgeon when we were in middle school. As it is, the most we’ve ever needed is an annual tooth whitening appointment.
As for health and fitness, my father insisted on at least thirty minutes of exercise every day, and wasn’t against using exercise as punishment. Since my brother was murdered, I’ve had no trouble ensuring his standards are maintained. Some nights, the exhaustion is the only way I can fall asleep.
When I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep, I headed down to the gym and jumped on a treadmill.
My brother, James Patrick Keyingham VI, was murdered in cold blood by Cole Reynolds.
Cole Reynolds was arrested, and he confessed.
Cole Reynolds pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Three facts I had never questioned.
Not until Victoria Reynolds turned up at my university.
I never questioned any of it because there had never been a reason to.
Angry as I was, I’d accepted things because JP’s murderer was in prison, and justice had been served. And everything would have stayed like that if it wasn’t for Victoria having the nerve to even attempt enrolling at my college, never mind under a fake name.
That action had sparked a burning desire for revenge.
I’m certain I’d come close to breaking her. And when she started to make me question everything I believed, I’d nearly used my own bare hands to finish the job myself.
But instead, I’ve been unable to stop myself from doing what she wanted.
The rage that burned through me when I discovered that somehow, she was right, has been blinding.
Only, now I realize that anger is directed at everyone but her.
At the police, for not investigating properly.
At my parents, who insisted on pushing to get everything wrapped up so quickly.
At Cole, for not only confessing to something he didn’t do, but for continuing to lie about his guilt.
At the real murderer, who got away with killing my only brother, and is still out there somewhere.
And at myself for being so stupid for not seeing the truth…
I’ve not slowed my pace since I jumped on the machine. My clothes and skin are drenched in sweat, and my body is starting to ache in a way that it hasn’t for a long time. Yet I don’t feel any different than when I started.
I jab the stop button, and the machine quickly comes to a halt.
“You’re supposed to cool down after every workout.”
As I haven’t caught my breath to be able to answer, I raise my hand and flip Royal off before I jump off the treadmill and walk over to the bench where I’ve left a towel.
Royal walks into the gym carrying an electrolyte drink. His eyebrows shoot up his forehead as he walks past the treadmill. “Training for a marathon?” He stops in front of me, offering me the bottle.
Ignoring his question, I take the bottle and focus on drinking.
“You’re not sleeping again. Is this because of JP?”
“What else could it be?”
Royal crosses his arms. “Look, I know what I currently feel is nothing compared to you, and I know that you think because I like Tori, it means I suddenly don’t care about JP, but he will always be like a brother to me, just like you are. We—Gemini included—want to find out what really happened. But the only way we’re going to do that is if we work with Tori.”
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you think I know that?”
“I do,” Royal says with a shrug. “But what I also know, what Tori knows, and what every other fucking person on this campus knows, is how much you hate her. If you don’t stop being a dick, she’s going to leave and never look back, then we’ll never get any answers.”
Grabbing my towel, I stand, forcing Royal to take a step back. “If she does that, she’ll never get her brother out of prison.”
I take a step to leave, but Royal sidesteps in front of me, pressing his hand against my chest. “Don’t be a dick, Synclair. We made it perfectly clear to her that even if we do find out who really killed JP, the chances of her brother being released are slim to none, because of his guilty plea. Think about it: how much more of your bullshit behavior do you think she’s willing to put up with?”
With a grunt, I shove his arm aside. He doesn’t get a response as I walk around him and leave him in the gym.
Neither the scalding hot nor ice cold shower is successful in removing the bad mood that Royal has put me in. It’s too late to attempt to get some sleep now, not that I’m feeling remotely tired, so instead, I get dressed.
In the giant vivarium on the other side of my bedroom, my basilisk, Basil, is standing on a particular branch to let me know that he’s hungry. Welcoming the distraction, I walk over and open the glass door to the enclosure. Unfortunately, he’s more interested in being fed than climbing onto my arm, so I add some mealworms to his bowl, and instead, watch the tongue of my bright green lizard as it spears its breakfast.
Right now, I’d like to stab something too.
As I close the door to the vivarium, my bedroom door opens, and Gemini walks in. “How many times do I have to tell you to knock first?” I ask, despite the fact that the answer to that question is probably in the high thousands, and I should therefore stop wasting my breath by asking him.
“What the fuck did you do?” Gemini snaps at me.
“Gemini, there are a dozen answers to that question, so either give me some specifics, or—”
“Our little Vixen is meeting with the dean right now.”
“I gave her explicit instructions to not leave Bergmann’s room until we came to get her.”
“Which she probably would have done if she hadn’t received an email summoning her to a meeting with the dean this morning,” Gemini tells me in a tone that implies he thinks I know exactly what he’s talking about.
Gemini hacked Victoria’s accounts months ago, and he’s had access to her college email since it was created, so I’m not the least bit surprised that he’s reading her emails.
But I have no ideas about this meeting.
“This has nothing to do with me,” I tell him. “Whatever you know, it’s more than me.”
Gemini’s expression turns to one of suspicion. “Are you sure? Because this has Synclair Keyingham written all over it.”
I walk over to him. “Even if you mean that literally, I have no idea what you’re talking about. So, stop wasting time, and tell me what this is about, so I can fix it.”
“Inappropriate conduct,” Gemini tells me.
Inappropriate conduct can cover a multitude of things. In this instance, it’s really only going to be about one. It was only going to be a matter of time before the sex tape came under the dean’s radar.
Which is precisely why I’d already called the dean and informed him that if there was even a hint of action towards Victoria, the only person leaving this place would be him.
The man is too much of a simpering fool, used to living in an easy life of luxury, to ever even consider going against anything I say.
“I want to know exactly what this is all about, before I arrive at the dean’s office,” I tell Gemini before I walk out of my room.
Before I get close to the administration building, I spot Victoria’s friend walking in the direction from where I’m headed. I steer the golf cart in her direction, cutting her off. “Where is she, Bergmann?”
Bergmann tosses her ponytail over a shoulder as she crosses her arms and glares at me. “Tracking device not working?”
Now I’m even more irritated at the fact that I hadn’t even considered a tracking device.
I’ll rectify that later.
“Is she still with the dean?”
“What do you even care?” she asks. “I don’t know what game you’re playing now, but no one buys this change of heart. You wanted Tori gone from the moment you found out who she was, and you wanted it done by inflicting the most pain and humiliation as possible.”
My hands grip the steering wheel tightly. “If you don’t want me to inflict pain and humiliation upon you, you’ll answer my question: where the fuck is she, Bergmann?”
Fear flashes through her eyes, and then Bergmann shrugs. “Fine. She wanted to be alone. She went to the church.”
Ignoring the urge to mow Bergmann down with the golf cart, I point the cart in the direction of the small church on campus and then put my foot down. The church, the oldest building on campus, is probably one of the furthest points from where I am. I’m driving up the final slope, the small spire already in view, when my phone rings.
“What?”
“Why don’t boomers know how to organize anything on a computer?” Gemini asks me.
“I don’t have time for your jokes,” I snap at him.
“It was a genuine question, not a—”
“Gemini, I don’t care.”
Gemini tuts. “Late last night, the dean received an anonymous email. Attached to the email was the video of our little Vixen getting hot and heavy with the professor.”
My foot slips off the accelerator. “What?”
“You sound surprised.”
I swear to God, Gemini’s sole purpose on this earth is to test me.
“Gemini…” I warn.
“Wait… You really don’t know anything about this?”
There’s a strange knot of pain in my chest, but I ignore it. “She’s fucking the professor?”
“Looks like it. Well, no. Not in this video. I mean, she’s still wearing a bra, unfortunately. I’ve been deprived of the pleasure of seeing her tits… In this video, at least.”
“Gemini,” I snap. “Focus.”
“The video ends before he starts ploughing her, but it’s pretty clear what happens next. Are you sure this wasn’t you?”
“Why do you keep asking me that?”
“Because you told her to fuck him, and because just getting him fired wasn’t going to be enough. Remember?” Gemini asks.
Screwing the professor was one of the challenges I gave Victoria as part of her initiation. I wasn’t entirely surprised that she had achieved this, given how determined she was to pass her initiation. What does surprise me is that she’s continued to pursue this after we agreed that the contract, and all subsequent instructions, are null and void.
“Who sent the email?” I ask.
The sound of Gemini’s mechanical keyboard fills my ears. I arrive at the church and instantly turn the cart around.
Even though the groundsmen have cleared the snow from the path to the church gates, they’ve not touched the strip to the door.
The only prints in the snow are from birds.
Bergmann lied.
“Lissa Carmichael,” Gemini says, eventually.