Page 128 of Saint

I’m not sure anything is safe right now.

Shutting the car door behind me, I make my way up to the front door. Teal peels down the driveway, and I really wish I hadn’t had that second drink because with her gone, I’m stuck here even if Kole’s not around. But I didn’t want to tell Teal to wait since I need the girls to think what Mila assumed was true.

Stopping at the final step, I ring the doorbell.

Unlike at the Christiansen-Evans estate, I don’t hear the bells through the door. Nothing that enters those walls escapes. Not even sound.

When it’s quiet for a moment, I pull out my phone again and try to dial Kole, but a message flashes on the screen saying I don’t have service.

Of course not. Why would anything go in my favor right now?

“Hey.” A hand lands on my shoulder, and I scream, spinning around.

Declan doesn’t bother taking a step back as he smirks down at me, crowding me against the door.

“Well, there goes my hearing.” He reaches around me with an amused grin on his face.

I pull to the side, thinking he’s aiming for me until he sticks his key in the door, unlocking it.

Declan pushes the door open then steps back and motions for me to go first. “After you.”

“Thanks.” I step inside, and Sigma House is eerily silent.

There’s only one light on in the large foyer, and it’s dim. The moon offers more light through the tall windows. The space is spotless, and the opposite of how it looked every other time I’ve been here. Empty and filled with nothing but echoes.

Without a party filling the space, the house seems larger. Nearly endless as it splits off into hallways and rooms at every turn.

“You here to see Kole?” Declan asks, walking past me as he tucks his keys in his pocket.

He strips off his jacket, and I don’t miss the claw marks trailing down one of his arms. When he catches me staring at them, he grins, and I don’t dare ask how they got there.

“Yeah. Is he in his room?”

Declan shrugs. “Don’t know, I was out. Does he know you’re coming?”

I nod, even if his steely gaze tells me he doesn’t believe me. It doesn’t matter as long as I can get to Kole.

“All right, well you’re welcome to check.” Declan tips his chin up to the empty staircase. “You remember where you’re going?”

“Yeah.” I think.

Swallowing hard, I turn toward the staircase.

“Hey, Vi?”

I pause, glancing over my shoulder at Declan.

“You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

My blood chills, and I swear I hear haunted whispers tickle my ears in the silence of the foyer. Those are the same words the person texting me used. My face drains, and every muscle in my body is rigid.

I stare at Declan, waiting for him to say something else, but he doesn’t move as he looks at me. If it really was Declan sending me texts from Liam’s phone, would he have made it that obvious?

Maybe I’m imagining things.

He smirks at me, his gaze dropping to my hands, which are balled into fists at my sides. Ticking his head, his eyebrows pinch.

“I’m fine.” It squeaks out. “I’m just going to go find Kole.”

---