“So he’s a first gen?” I ask. That’s what we call any students who are the first of their families to attend Silvercrest. There’s usually only a handful of them a year.
“Yup. And he’s a fucking freshman.” Jace shakes his head. “Afreshman!”
“So he was working with this staffer from King House?” Felix asks.
“That’s where things get weird,” Jace says. “I don’t think he did the job willingly. I’m going to need time to really poke around in his system, but it looks like he was blackmailed into it.”
“So maybe you were right about him wanting to get caught?” I say to Jax.
“It’s looking like it. I’m going to tail him when we get back to school and keep an eye on him until Jace gets answers,” he tells me. “He might not be a threat to Felix anymore, but he’s a threat in general, considering his skills. He already knows how to bypass our security system. It wouldn’t be hard for him to do it again. We need to make sure he’s not going to share his skills with anyone else while we figure out what’s going on.”
I nod. “That’s a good idea.”
“So it’s really over?” Felix asks the twins. “There’s no death pact with some crazy hitman who’ll finish the job or some distant relative he might have been working with who’ll just take over his plans?”
“Nope.” Jace grins.
“You’re in the clear,” Jax tells him with a smile.
Felix beams at us, and it feels like I can pull in a full breath for the first time since I found him on the floor of our bathroom all those weeks ago.
I never would have guessed that the stepbrother I couldn’t stand would turn out to be the only person I’ve ever loved. It might have taken us a while to get here, but now that I have him, I’m never letting him go.
And based on how he’s practically climbing into my lap to give me a big hug, he’s never letting me go either.
EPILOGUE
Killian
Three Years Later
“Is it just me,or does this place feel different?” Jace asks as we walk through one of the quads near Hamilton House.
“Different?” Jax asks, shooting his brother some side-eye.
“Yeah, like when you go back to your old elementary school and all the desks are so tiny you can’t even squeeze into one anymore, or the sinks are so low they’re down around your knees.” He tosses us a grin. “But when you were there, everything seemed so big, and you didn’t realize how small and insignificant you were.”
Jax snorts out a laugh. “Someone’s feeling introspective.”
“Not really.” Jace grins. “Just realizing how much I’ve grown since we graduated.”
It’s my turn to shoot Jace some side-eye. “We graduated last year,” I point out.
“Yeah, and I’ve grown a ton in that time.” He offers me a shrewd look. “You haven’t?”
I roll my eyes and glance at Jax. “Have you noticed this growth he’s talking about?”
“Must be some hidden growth that no one but him can see,” Jax deadpans.
“You wound me.” Jace pretends to look offended. “After all the soul searching I’ve done, all the self-reflection and time and effort I’ve put into improving myself.” He clucks his tongue disapprovingly.
“We see you every day,” I point out as we head down the path that will take us to the main gate. “Pretty sure we would have noticed if any of that was going on.”
Jace smirks. “You might have noticed if you didn’t spend all your time on your damn phone sexting with Felix.”
“Don’t forget the video calls, voicemails, voice notes, emails, and phone calls,” Jax says helpfully.
“And all the holidays spent holed up in their rooms and making the walls shake,” Jace adds. “Plus the weekend trips to campus.”