Page 15 of Of Angels & Absolution

“Fine,” I say, not even able to put up the pretense of an argument. “Since you did me a solid with all that information. Seriously. Thank you.”

He holds out a hand to give me knuckles. “Anything for you, Red. Who knew you were such a softie behind the mask?”

“Don’t tell anyone,” I say, glowering at him. “You’ll ruin my reputation.”

“I don’t know,” he says, pulling out his cigarettes. “A baddie who can’t say no to a stray kitten? I like it. I bet it’d sell tickets.”

I just shake my head. “I’ll call you.”

“You always do,” he drawls, closing the door and strolling around his truck to climb into the driver’s side.

I stand in the lot holding the kitten for a minute, until he mews and rubs the top of his head against my palm. Cupping him between my hands, I lift him to my face to see into his eyes again. “You’re going to need an important name if you’re going to help me solve a murder.”

five

The Merciful

I crouch at the edge of my bed and lean down, peering under the dust ruffle.

“There you are, you little devil,” I mutter.

Dr. Jekyll stares out at me with wide eyes, like he’s afraid I’ll reach in and grab him by the tail. I won’t even reach under to touch him—when I tried petting him under there before, he clawed the heck out of me, and I still have the marks to prove it. Dynamo said he could tell me who to trust, but I didn’t expect him to say I couldn’t trust myself. He was so sweet when I held him the first time, but the moment we got back here and I let him out of his crate, he turned into a hissing demon-kitty.

Hence the name.

“Come on, you have to use the litter box eventually,” I say, wiggling his little cat toy at him. Maybe he doesn’t like it because he can smell the other cat on the old toy that Dynamo got from his sister.

At last, I give up and climb to my feet with a sigh. I put some food into his dish and grab my jacket to head for the dining hall for my own dinner. Jekyll comes out to eat when I’m not in the room, and he even used the litter box once, so I guess he’s doing okay, even if he hates me.

Like usual, I check my reflection in the mirror before going out, but I don’t linger. My strawberry blonde hair is plaited into two tight braids, and I wear my usual clogs, knitted tights to keep my legs warm, a flowered skirt that skims my calves, andmy puffy jacket with a hat I crotched my first winter with Aunt Lucy. Satisfied that I look adequately sexless, I leave my room.

The moment the door opens wide, a grey streak shoots past my legs and down the hall, disappearing down the staircase.

Crap!

I race after him, cursing Jekyll and Dynamo and myself for taking him. Pets are not allowed in the dorms. I could probably be kicked out for having one. At the very least, they’ll make me get rid of him, and since I don’t know anyone who will take him, I’d have to bring him to the shelter and hope someone adopted him. Then again, maybe that’s what he wants. He’d obviously be happier with anyone else. Maybe he’ll be Mr. Hyde for his new owner.

I step onto the stairs and spot the little fluffball on the landing for the next floor. He looks up, his blue eyes round, and then disappears like a wisp of smoke down that hall.

I grit my teeth and clatter down after him, cursing my clogs now. I’m going to need a confession after all the swearing I’m doing in my head over his cat. But it’s evening, when everyone is home, or coming and going from dinner, and the chances of someone seeing a forbidden cat running around in the hall are higher than at any other time of day.

I’ve never been on the second floor, since I don’t have any reason. I don’t have any friends, and my room is on the third floor. I glance up and down the hall, but it’s the same as mine. A few doors have decorations, some left from the beginning of the year when the sisters put our names on each one, some signifying that the girls are in the one sorority on campus. A few are decorated with personal touches by the craftier girls. One that looks like they left up their Halloween theme swings open ahead of me, and suddenly, I’m standing face to face with the white-haired boy from the lecture hall.

I’ve never seen his face up close before, since I’m usually staring at the back of his neck as he gossips with Annabel Lee and Ronique. But now he stares back at me, as startled as I feel, and I realize how beautiful he is. He looks like a K-Pop star, with a slender, elegant build that towers over me, white hair tousled in a casually cool way, as if he just ran his fingers through it, chiseled cheekbones, pouty lips and bedroom eyes, and smooth skin that has a radiance most girls would kill for.

“Did you just see a cat?” I ask, halfway convinced that Dr. Jekyll ran into the room. He’s so fast, I don’t even know if I saw him dart in or not.

“A cat?” he asks in that purr of a voice he uses in class.

“I—I saw a grey cat,” I stammer, trying not to blush, trying not to give away that I’m the one with a contraband animal. “It went this way. Not that it’s mine, I just thought… Maybe you’d seen it.”

The K-Pop idol cracks a smile as he saunters toward me, so we’re within normal conversing distance. “Oh, don’t worry, the girl down the hall has a bunch of rodents.” He waves lazily behind him. “I’m sure your pussy is not a problem.”

“I—It’s not…”

He looks me up and down and cocks his head to one side. “What are you supposed to be?”

“What?”

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