Page 10 of A Taste of Torment
I don’t want to be part of this world, his world. I don’t want to feel like a meaningless bug next to a commanding prince, but I’m not here for what I want. I’m here for what I need. And I need information.
“Did you hear about what happened to Elizabeth?” The words come out as a whisper.
He pauses. “I heard something. I wasn’t sure exactly what happened. Is she okay?”
“No.” I’m barely able to force the word from my lips. “She’s dead.”
Jarron freezes, and so does the entire room. Literally. A chill washes over everything. Ice crackles, inching up the walls. When I breathe, it comes out in a puffy white cloud.
I force my gaze to meet his. “And I’m here,” my voice becomes more sure, more determined, “because the person who killed her goes to this school.”
4
Suspect Number One
“Who?”Jarron growls.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” I don’t tell him what I do know—that it was almost certainly a demon that killed my sister.
He glances over his shoulder to the cafeteria, where the entire school watches us curiously. “How do you know it was someone here?”
“She died in the Forest of Nails, three miles north of campus. And her journal says she was seeing someone here. Someone powerful. I’m going to piece it together and find out who did it.”
Even if it means facing the devil that was once my friend. Even if it means killing a being a thousand times stronger than I am.
He nods slowly, his shoulders still slumped. “I’ll help.”
I blink. “No.”
“Yes,” he says. “I’m not going to just sit around while you search out someone who killed your sister. Someone who could just as easily kill you. You need an ally. Someone to protect you. I can make sureno onetouches you.”
I shiver at the power in his voice. The demand. He wants to protect me?
Or at least, that’s what he wants me to think.
My lips part, but I can’t tell him that he is my first suspect. Elizabeth had a big crush on him until we found out about his magics and he hunted her, hurt her.
Then, years later, she started dating a demon at this school and wound up dead? Yeah, I don’t believe in coincidences.
It’s still hard to imagine Jarron hurting her. It’s hard to picture the boy who used to climb trees with me, and left dandelions on my front porch, as the demon capable of remorselessly killing my sister. But I sure as hell can imagine the monster inside of him committing a terrible crime like that.
He hurt her once before, after all. It may have been a minor injury, but it was purposeful.
I shiver as the image of Jarron’s true form pops into my mind. Scales dark as night, horns that curl over his head and bat-like wings. It doesn’t even sound that bad when described, but seeing it…
No human can stand up to creatures like that. Their magic slices into your very bones and whispers how weak you are. How insignificant.
It was the face of a monster that could kill a human without a second thought.
“Let me help you,” he says, so low it’s almost a growl. “I swear not to get in your way and only to protect you. Besides, if you suspect someone powerful is to blame, then you’ll need access. Access a new human will not have—but I will.”
I mean, he’s not wrong. Here, we’re sorted into halls based on our strength levels. I’ll be in the Minor Hall with most of the freshman and weakest supernaturals. The most powerful are in the Elite Hall. Which is where all of my suspects will gather and party and bathe and do pretty much everything except attend classes and eat lunch. “You can get me access to the Elite Hall?”
His eyebrows rise, a shadow falling over his face. “Yes.”
My lips part as I consider him.
“I’ll get you access and make sure the most powerful trust you. They’ll want to be your friend and tell you all of their dark secrets in only a matter of days.”
