Page 73 of Endless Anger
“Don’t let your guard down just because Bauer is easily swayed.Avernia still sees us as antagonists.” She drops her chin, staring at the sink. “And they aren’t fans of the Wolfes, either.”
Blowing out a breath, I lean against the porcelain bowl next to her, nodding. “What’s that about, by the way? Everyone I’ve spoken to on campus so far is pretty much acting like Lucy doesn’t even exist. Or they hate her.”
“How should I know? This is my first semester teaching, and they definitely didn’t tell me shit when I was a student. I spent most of my time trying not to cause trouble and getting Dad to donate lots of money so I’d be invaluable.”
“Well, did the dean seem off at all when you told him Lucy’d been with you?”
“I told him she was working as a Daughters of Persephone initiate and that I had her doing grunt work all night after she left the party. He doesn’t usually ask questions when I mention the group because organized women scare him.”
My expression flattens.The student organizations on this campus are so goddamn weird.This wholeplaceis weird. “Your ego’s really inflated since you got this professor gig.”
“Mom always said I was destined for great things.” She tosses me a grin, pushing up on her tiptoes to ruffle my hair.
“She says that about all of us,” I say, spitting out the toothpaste. “Speaking of—have you heard from Noelle?”
Quincy shakes her head. “Not a peep.”
“That’s concerning.”
“You know how she likes to make her grand entrances. Enrolling in school would be no different.”
My mind wanders back to the last time I saw her, during a quick pit stop between Foxe’s West Coast shows, and how strangely subdued she’d seemed. Still her upbeat self, but like there was something dark hidden beneath the surface of her skin quietly trying to claw its way out.
The memory of her after our trip to Avernia nearly a decade ago floats to the forefront of my brain, and I think about how cryptic she’sbeen. In the seven years she’s been trying to make it in Hollywood, no one’s been allowed to even visit her.
Something’s off, but she’s not the kind of person you can ask. If she isn’t willing to tell you outright, she’ll clam up and never speak to you again.
I’m sure our parents have it handled either way, and that when she finally joins us here, she’ll spill the details.
But I don’t like the silence.
“And don’t try to change the subject, asshole. I want to know what went down Friday night. Avernia’s faculty is in a fucking frenzy, and I want to believe your timely reappearance is a mere coincidence, but…I know better. Did you have anything to do with the girl who’s missing? I know we’ve talked about the disappearances from before you got here, but…”
“Don’t read into it, Q.”
She lifts her chin. “Kinda sounds like a threat.”
“Maybe it is.” I snatch my stuff, cradling the shower caddy under my arm. “As long as you’re helping me keep Lucy safe, you have nothing else to worry about.”
I can tell she wants to keep pressing. As the oldest sister, she’s always taken on the role of protector and investigator for me and Noelle, and it’s likely killing her that I won’t let her in enough to do either of those things.
Especially since she’s here, and sheknowswhat kind of shit happens at this school. She’s seen it firsthand.
But the less she knows aboutthis—Celeste’s demise and the latest attack on my life in the forest before that—the less trouble it’ll cause for her too.
At least that’s my hope.
“You know, you promised me an adventure.”
I toss Foxe a dirty look over my sketchbook. “No, I did not. I didn’teven tell you to fucking come to New Hampshire with me. You just insisted because you’re a goddamn parasite.”
“Yeesh,” he grumbles, squeezing Keats’s face between his hands. “Can I assume by your heinous attitude that you’ve yet to fuck Lulu?”
“I’m not trying to fuck her, you troglodyte.”
Which is true, on the surface. Fucking her isn’t my main goal, but I wouldn’t say no to a little tension relief in the form of her pretty, spiteful tongue either.
But after screwing up more than once over the last few years, I doubt I’ll get that chance.
