Page 91 of Wicked Ends
I’d just check he was okay and that his wound was taken care of, and then I’d go. I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I knew.
The lower floor of the dorm heaved with people. Given the money that flowed into HHU for the team from sponsors and alums, it was no surprise how nice the accommodations were. It seemed even a college dorm could put my room at the Night Owl to shame.
I walked through the sitting room and communal spaces on the ground floor, sliding around people dancing and playing pool. Others participated in a lively game of strip beer pong. I lowered my eyes and kept going. I didn’t belong here.
Even when I’d been a student myself, I had never belonged at carefree, wild parties like these. I’d lived at home, for a start, under my brother’s watchful eyes. He was more controlling than my grandparents had ever been. Sure, I’d managed to date here and there, guys from my program who I could see during the day while I was out and steal some time with… but no one had ever lasted after meeting Dale. Our relationship would get to the point where they wound up bringing me home, and then, itwould be over. Dale would strut around and intimidate them, and not a single one was invested enough in me to put up with it.
I couldn’t blame them.
Talk badly about my favorite teacher one more fucking time, and I’ll put you across my knee and make you scream.
Marcus’ determined, casually confident words ran through my mind, never far away, honestly. Here, in Hade Harbor and with him, was the first time in my life I’d ever reflected on the litany of crap I talked to myself, about myself. It was pretty shitty… but it had taken moving across the country to see it. It had taken breaking free of the man who had controlled my life with a cruel, iron fist.
I reached a stuffy, hot room and immediately recognized a couple of Ice Gods. Beckett Anderson and Cayden West. They had no masks on, and no hockey jerseys either, which made sense considering they played a hard game and had no doubt changed after. They were playing poker with a couple of other guys from the team. I also recognized their girlfriends, Lily Williams, the coach’s daughter, and Eve Martino, Asher’s sister, sitting behind them, gazing out over the backyard, talking animatedly between them.
“He’s not in here,” a deep voice said behind me.
I jerked and turned. Asher Martino. He had his arm slung around the shoulders of a beautiful girl with icy-blonde hair. She eyed me curiously.
“Who?” I heard myself ask.
Asher smirked. “The guy you’re here for. Don’t worry, Professor… your secret is safe with us.”
“Stop being so obvious,” the girl said, elbowing her boyfriend lightly in the ribs before holding out a slender hand to me.
I shook it, and she smiled.
“I’m Winter, and I saw Marcus in the basement a little while ago.”
“In the basement?”
“There’s a rec room down there,” she explained and pointed toward a staircase at the end of the hall.
“How did you recognize me?” I wondered, before turning to the stairs.
“You kind of stand out, and I mean it as a compliment… you’re like the school celebrity.”
I shook my head. “I’m really not. I’m just someone who likes to play the piano.”
“And is good enough at it to get hired to teach at HHU at twenty-five,” Asher interjected.
“Covering leave,” I corrected.
He shrugged. “Still, without your musical talent, there’d have been no shot. Don’t be shy about it, Professor.”
“You have a talent, it’s a gift,” Winter said. “Own it.”
I swallowed down another protest. I could tell these twenty-year-olds that gifts didn’t mean much when life had beaten you down and crushed any youthful, hopeful dreams, but what would be the point? It would just be an excuse, at the end of the day, for why I’d let my own dreams slip away. My issues weren’t their issues, and I hoped against all hope that they’dnever experience the special kind of heartbreak that comes from knowing that you could have been something… but you never will.
The stiffness in my fingers was a constant reminder that I’d never truly be great at performing again. That was gone forever.
I left Asher and his girlfriend with the rest of the Ice Gods and made my way along the hall. I kept turning around, as it felt like eyes were on me. Had others recognized me? I didn’t see any students I knew from music classes, and besides, everyone was deeply absorbed in partying, it seemed like.
But still, the feeling of being watched remained.
I reached the top of the stairs and turned around one last time to scan the crowd. I couldn’t make out anyone in particular. I turned and quickly hurried down the stairs, nearly missing a step thanks to my mask obscuring my view of my feet.
At the bottom of the stairs, a long hallway stretched out. There were several closed doors on either side, but the sound of music was coming from farther down the hall. I drifted in that direction, still feeling the prickling sensation of being watched.
