Page 31 of The Revenge

I arch an eyebrow. “Are you going to accompany me to the bathroom too?”

“Depends on if a golden shower is involved.” Gemini’s eyes go wide.

“Gem, do we need to have another conversation about discussing kinks in public?” Syn asks in a low tone.

Gemini gestures around us. The campus isn’t exactly buzzing with activity, but the closest people aren’t in earshot. “Is this public?”

“When I’m near you, it’salwayspublic,” Syn growls at him.

“I can walk to Dr. Wright’s office by myself,” I say before Gemini derails the conversation completely.

“You can.” Royal agrees.

“But you’re not going to,” Syn finishes. “Regardless of how much you think this is an inconvenience to you, it’s more of an inconvenience to me. So, suck it up, Princess.”

While I’m initially irritated, as we walk away from the main path to between the academic buildings where the only light comes from the streetlights that line the path, and the only sound is the four of us breathing as the salt crunches beneath outshoes, I’m secretly grateful that I didn’t have to walk this empty route by myself.

At the door to the Sterling building, Syn stops. “You won’t be returning here again. I don’t care whatimportanttasks that professor has for you; we will be waiting outside to collect you after we’ve eaten. You have an hour. Do not make me wait.”

Without acknowledging Syn, I head inside. He can bark all the orders at me that he wants, but even if he’s right, and I won’t be back here as a student once I leave, I’m not allowing him to dictate how much time I’m allowed to spend anywhere.

I’m not going to feel the slightest bit guilty if he has to stand in the cold for an extra ten minutes.

The door to Payne’s office is closed when I arrive. I knock gently, and when there’s no response, I try the handle. Locked. Payne gave me a key for emergencies, and while I don’t think having to wait in a cold corridor for the professor to arrive constitutes an emergency, I’m alone, and I don’t trust Lissa not to follow me. despite Syn’s earlier warning.

So, I let myself in and turn the light on, then close the door behind me. Payne’s office is large, with tall windows behind his desk. Outside, in the little light that shines out of his office window, I can just about see one of the trees in the center of the quad. Inside, the office is immaculate, but there’s little about the dark wood features that make me think Payne’s made much effort to personalize the place.

One small section of bookcase which covers an entire wall has books related to the Mass Comm course he teaches, but the rest of the shelves are sparse, and the few ornaments on them look like they came with the room.

Curious, I move behind the desk and sit down in the enormous leather chair. Aside from his monitor and docking station, everything else feels old-fashioned, from an actualphone with a cable that plugs into the wall, to the desktop clock with gold numbers and hands.

For someone who demands attendance and punctuality in his classes, he’s already five minutes late.

With the desktop giving no clues about the professor’s location, I turn to the desk drawers, pulling them open, one by one. In the bottom drawer is a bottle of bourbon, a third of the amber liquid already missing.

The normal response would be to close the drawer and stop snooping, but I would have happily had somebeforeI took into consideration Payne’s earlier expression. I’m here now so that he can yell at me and tell me I’m doing a terrible job of finding out what happened to Lucy, and while he might be right about that, it doesn’t mean I won’t find this a little less painful with a little bit of liquor to take off the edge.

I unscrew the lid and drink a few mouthfuls straight from the bottle. I’m not really a bourbon drinker, but the way the liquid burns my throat as I swallow is both welcoming and warming. Gulping instead of sipping has me drinking more than I intend, and I’m rewarded with a pleasant dizzy feeling as I set the bottle down on the desk in front of me.

Settling back into the chair, I feel myself smile as I close my eyes.

My blissful moment of peace is cut short as the door opens, and Payne stops in the doorway, eyes locking on the bottle before they move to me.

“Oops,” I say with zero remorse.

Payne steps into the room and closes the door behind him, a click echoing around the room as he locks it. His lips twitch, but he doesn’t say anything as he walks over to the desk.

“Oops? You disappeared, and I’ve been worried sick, and all you can say is oops?”

XII

Payne

Biting her lower lip, Tori moves the bottle, resting her hand on the desk in front of her. “I’m sorry,” she says, softly.

“Sorry?” I scoff. This morning, I’d received a faculty email about the death of a student on campus. My relief at the student not being Tori was short-lived when all my calls to her were instantly sent to voicemail.

ThenI’d been sent a link to a porn site with her begging to be gang-banged by three guys. Even if the voice was dubbed over the top, there was no denying that the person enjoying every moment in that video was her.

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