Page 20 of Saint

Except, my bed is the last place I want to be after last night. All I see is Saint behind my closed eyelids, taunting me.

He deleted the picture he sent me through the app, but I can’t stop seeing it when I close my eyes. Him standing over me in my bedroom. Those blue Xs watching me while I slept.

And I can’t shake his comment about Liam.

Right after he deleted our messages, I searched my phone for any news of Liam’s death or disappearance, but I couldn’t find anything. I don’t have any calls or texts from his family or friends. No one seems even slightly worried that something might have happened.

It’s any other day in Bristal, when that’s not the case.

No one is panicking but me, and it’s just one more way Saint is tormenting me.

An unsettling shiver spreads through me as I stretch my fingers out beneath my desk. I can still feel Liam’s warm blood spurting out of his neck and coating my hands. I can still see his eyes fading out as he stared up at me. I can still feel Saint’s amusement at my distress.

And I’m left alone in these memories—in this truth.

No one knows he’s dead except for Saint and me, and that’s how he wants it.

The classroom starts to fill, and each body adds weight to the pressure building at the center of my forehead. Every shadow. Every unexpected movement.

I think it’shim.

That’s assuming Saint is a student at Briar Academy. He admitted to our online connection, but that’s the extentof what I know about him. He could be another student or someone who saw me at work. He could be anyone.

“When did you start wearing turtlenecks?” Mila’s gaze drops to my blue sweater.

I dug it out of the back of my closet when I realized it was the only way to cover the marks Saint left on my neck—finger grips and scratches from when I tried to fight him off.

“I don’t know.” I tug the neckline higher. “I was cold.”

I brush the collar and then smooth the long sleeves of my sweater, making sure the mark Saint carved into my wrist isn’t showing. He made a point to leave me with constant reminders I can’t escape.

“Well, it’s cute.” Mila spins in her seat and powers up her laptop, waving to Teal, who is walking into class. “Teal, over here.”

Teal’s multicolored hair is tied up in a ponytail. Bright as always, even if she’s donning her signature frown. Her green eyes find us, and her shoulders relax at the sight of familiar faces. She’s worse than I am about being in crowds, preferring to stick to pencils and paint. When she isn’t locked in her room at the dorm, she can usually be found hiding in her studio.

She makes her way toward us, clutching her books to her chest in discomfort, and Liam’s friend Declan notices. He stops her halfway into the room by slinging an arm around her shoulders and whispering something in her ear. Her face turns bright red at his comment, and she elbows him in the side before storming over to us.

“Asshole.” Mila glares at Declan, sticking up for Teal, even if neither of us heard what he said.

“I hate him,” Teal grumbles, dropping into a chair next to Mila.

“Don’t we all,” I agree, watching Declan as he makes his way toward us with a smug grin stretching his face.

There’s nothing friendly about Declan’s smile, and there’s nothing good about Declan Pierce. He’s the president of Liam’s fraternity, and they’ve earned their reputation for a reason. In the college listing, they might be Sigma House, but everyone at Briar calls them Sigma Sin.

In order to pledge, you have to be sick, disturbed, and immoral. That should have been my first warning with Liam.

I wanted to believe he was above it because the side he showed me was the opposite of what I’ve seen from the other members of the House. It turns out, he was just better at hiding his true nature.

Slowly, I was starting to see it. Like when we were driving through the forest, and he snapped. He was beginning to reveal glimpses of how much he was holding back.

“Vi, where’s our man?” Declan stops at my desk and plants a hand on it, leaning too close.

“Don’t know.” I shrug, not sure what compels me to lie.

I know where Liam is—buried in the forest wherever Saint, no doubt, disposes of bodies. And I should have called the cops the moment Saint’s messages came through this morning. But something about what he saidfelt like a threat, and since I’m the one who brought this upon us, I haven’t yet figured out what to do about it.

After all, nothing can bring Liam back.

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