Page 109 of Endless Anger
His shadow turns, and I see his teeth in the very faint light spilling in from the stained glass windows. “Scared, pup, or just trying to get me to a secondary location so you can fuck my brains out?”
Embarrassment fans like flames over my cheeks, though I appreciate the effort to lighten the mood. Normally, that’d be a Foxe thing to do. “I have a date to get to, you know.”
“Ah, yes. With that kid from the quad. Will you be telling him about your time with me, or should I walk you to the Lyceum and take care of that for you?”
“I’m taking this one to the grave,” I whisper.
“Oh good. In life and in death then.”
I can feel his grin in my chest, but something catches my eye through several bookcases, by a couple of old leather armchairs. Three figures materialize in the shadows, but when I blink, they’re gone.
Nausea bubbles in my gut, discomfort ringing in my bones. “We need to get out of here.”
Asher doesn’t question it; he just grabs my hand and drags me into the bathroom, putting his shirt and jacket back on quickly. The lights don’t come on in there either, so I’m convinced it’s a circuit breaker problem, although I don’t really know what that is. Old buildings like this one, though, are bound to have electrical issues.
Surely the outage was just poor wiring.
Ghosts aren’t real, and there’s no one out to get us.
Right?
The crash, however, I don’t have a way to explain. Same with the random figures.
It isn’t lost on me that there were three of them, just like that night in the forest. Since foot traffic on this floor is practically nonexistent, especially this time of day, I can’t rationalize it any other way.
I hover close to Asher as he slowly leads us toward the stairwell, keeping a hand on the wall while he navigates with the light from his phone. My skin feels pinched, fraught with nerves and the aftermath of an orgasm.
He pushes the metal door open, holding it so I can pass. A motion-detecting emergency light kicks on, illuminating the area, but my legs don’t move.
Asher’s chin tilts, and he peers down at me. “You all right?”
I stare straight ahead at the landing beneath us.
Where a pool of dark red liquid covers the entire floor.
32
ASHER
There’sa reason I had Quincy intervene when the dean met with Lucy earlier in the semester. My virtual interview, hosted over the summer with the middle-aged fuck had been more than enough contact for me.
As I watch him purposely loom over Lucy’s defiant form, I’m reminded of just how slimy and irritating he is.
The used utility knife in my pants pocket is heavy against my thigh as I make my way back over to the pair, my fingers itching to drive the blade between his veneers.
If we weren’t in public, I’d do it, no questions asked, just for the way he looks at her. Like she’s subhuman filth he can’t stand the sight of.
“Don’tyoufind it a little odd that you are consistently at the literal scene of these crimes, Ms. Wolfe?” Dean Bauer asks, hands on his hips. “One death we might be able to explain away by coincidence, but now the school is being vandalized with what we can only assume, until the lab reports back, is blood? I can’t think of a single reason you’d be so close every time, except if you had something to do with it.”
Lucy tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, cocking her head to theside. “If you’re going to accuse me of stuff, I wish you’d just come out and do it. This game is getting a little old, don’t you think?”
“I hardly find illegal activity on campus to be a game, little girl.”
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I stroll casually up to them, turning once I’ve gotten to her side. She stiffens visibly but doesn’t try to run away, and I have a flash of two hours ago when my fingers were stuffed inside her sweet, wet pussy and have to actively suppress the shot of arousal that zips down my spine.
The dean’s eyes narrow at me, but his shoulders square and he straightens slightly. “Mr. Anderson. It’s nice to see you again. How’s Erebus Hall treating you? I trust you’re settling in well, RA duties and all.”
“It’s been fine, although I must say there are a number of uneasy residents roaming about as of late. Any updates on the incident in Lucy’s dorm room?”
