Page 69 of Her Devil

“Oh, hey. I was just looking for Olly,” Leo says awkwardly as he looks from Jacob to Taylor, and then me, stepping in as Jacob jumps up, crossing the room towards him.

“He’s in the basement.”

Leo’s gaze flicks to mine over my brother’s shoulder, dismissing me almost instantly before raising his chin in Taylor’s direction.

“One of his handkerchiefs ended up in my washing,” he says, handing the red cotton over.

Jacob turns it over, running it through his fingers before handing it back. “That’s not Olly’s. His are embroidered in the bottom corner with his initials, and they’re a different shade.”

“But these were your tell for the masquerade, right?” Leo confirms. “And I haven’t seen anyone else with one.”

“They were,” he agrees. “But that’s not his, and I have no idea where it came from.”

Leo presses his lips together, cocking his head in question as he looks from Taylor to me, like either of us can shed light on the situation.

“Sorry, bro, can’t help you there,” Taylor says as I shrug, no idea what the fuck he thinks we can add to it. Who gives a toss about a handkerchief?

“Twenty minutes, boys,” Olly says, his hands coming down on Leo’s shoulders as he passes, a manic glint in his eye. “Masks at the ready.”

“I’m going to go check on Wyatt,” I comment, getting up from the bed, the room feeling way too small with the five of us crammed in here. “See you downstairs in twenty.”

Jacob nods as Taylor agrees, Leo moving so the two of us can get past. Irritation bristles under my skin leaving Leo and Jacob together, but part of me acknowledges that this would work in my favour. Not only would Leo bolster Jacob’s potential position in the final three, but it also keeps him away from Ivy.

It might have been the two of them fucking about in the pool when I came out earlier on, but there’s no doubt in my mind he’s been making the most of getting her attention without me or Wyatt around. It’s exactly what I’d do.

* * *

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Emmerson asks, the mask doing nothing to hide his nerves. “Taking it into our own hands like this.”

“Yes,” at least three of us reply in unison.

“If you don’t want anything to do with it, feel free to fuck off upstairs and leave us to it,” Oliver clips. “But don’t come crying to me when someone steps on your toes. You’re in, or you’re out.”

And isn’t that the feel for this entire damn enterprise?

“Let’s go, we’ll meet you all in building three as soon as you’re done. Pair up and grab a list from Wyatt,” he says.

Each pair of roommates grabs a list, heading out of the side entrance and through the marked path in the woods. I’m kind of glad to see that come in useful, but mostly, I’m just impressed nobody’s realised the other direction takes you to the pool house. Oh, for the little wins.

“I’ll be honest,” I admit. “When he said things were gonna get messy, this isn’t exactly what I was expecting.”

Wyatt holds open the door to the residential building we’re allocated as I step through, arms full of supplies.

“Yeah, well, maybe not everyone got the idea that the Angels are off limits, but there’ll be no excuses after this,” he says. “He took some talking down by all accounts too.”

“I guess that explains the limp that Jasper is currently sporting.”

“And the black eye Emmerson has, not that you can tell right now,” he adds. “Shall we start at the top and make our way down?”

Shrugging, I nod my agreement as he calls for the lift, grabbing a bunch of shit from my arms as we wait quietly. We work from apartment to apartment, sticking a picture of the girls from the masquerade party, minus masks, on each of the relevant doors with police tape.

If anyone manages to miss the fact that these girls are well and truly spoken for, I’d be surprised. No fucking excuses now. Nobody has seen us yet, and as we finish up the last door, I think we’re in the clear, until a couple of girls come out of the door we’ve just done. Their giggling stops immediately as their eyes widen and they scurry away in the opposite direction.

I suppose two guys dressed all in black with our Devil's masks on is quite a sight, especially in the middle of the night.

“I guess there’ll be no confusion over who left the messages now.” Wyatt shrugs.

“Sure,” I agree, checking over the list. “This is us done. Let’s go find Jacob and Oliver.”

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