Page 6 of Malice in e minor

And then he got up and left. JaToya and I just stared at his empty seat.

“Did that just happen?” I asked.

“Apparently. I couldn’t find your benefactor’s actual name, but I swear, I didn’t find anything about them being related when I was digging into Gadreel. Think he’s lying?”

“Not your fault. And how could he have known to be on this train unless someone told him? I haven’t had time to tell anyone but Mom and you that I was going to Blackvale. All my landlord knows is that I paid my rent through the end of my lease and then I’m not renewing.”

“Want to call it off? You’ve got a decent nest egg now. He’s weird, but that video helped you. You could monetize your account and someone would notice. Do you need Blackvale, babe?”

“Ugh, yeah. I still have loads to learn, and the faculty there is world-class. Some of them are tenured because they do research, are retired, or they are working artists after class lets out and enjoy teaching. A lot are rotating. Someone is burnt out and wants to remember why they love it, so they teach for a semester or a year. It would be stupid to say I don’t need Blackvale.”

“Yeah, but no one needs whatever that was.”

“No, they don’t. Which is why I’m not going to make up my mind until I get there and see what kind of security they have.”

“Good. And if you decide to stay and then change your mind later, just call me. We can burn them to the ground together for not protecting you.”

“You know I’m going to miss the shit out of you, right?”

“We did this before in undergrad and we can do it again. But you’ll have to remember to check in with my Mom because if I tell her you’re fine and she thinks I’m lying, she’s going to drive up here.”

She would. Violet Frost had the strongest bullshit meter on anyone I’d ever met. JaToya and her brothers couldn’t get away with anything. Violet was fiercely protective of me because of Mom, but I had a little more leeway with saying I was fine than JaToya did saying I was fine. Plus, I loved her family.

“Violet Frost could probably terrify that giant man who just left.”

“Just remember, you lit all those candles, and we pinky swore once that white lies were okay with our parents, but never each other. If that guy bothers you again, I want to know.”

That was a given. We looked out for each other. I didn’t know what kind of security Blackvale Academy had, but I knew my best friend could handle a lot from her living room in her pajamas.

Johann was getting sloppy. It was the beginning of November. The semester was nearly over. It was pointless and stupid to bring a new student in this late in the semester. It also wasn’t my job to greet them and show them around. That was what Topher was for. He didn’t even go here. He wasn’t officially on the payroll, but he always did what he was told.

This was punishment. It usually was. Johann hated all this as much as we did, but he had the much better deal because he didn’t actually have any talent. He got to hobnob with academics, go home to his fancy penthouse, and eat caviar and lobster for every meal. Which was what he wanted in the first place.

I was expecting one girl and got two. They were both gorgeous in completely different ways. One was tall, athletic, and black with a shaved head. The other was Latina. I only knew which one I was supposed to be escorting around the school because she was clutching a violin case like she was worried I was going to steal it.

Johann was getting lazy. The girl holding the violin case was in head to toe black, but it didn’t stop there. Thick black eyeliner and black lipstick. She was quite literally wearing a dog collar with a pentacle charm on it.

I was going to have to handcuff Azriel and Misha to the radiator to keep them away from her like that, but yeah, lazy. I could tell her exactly what this place was. I could tell her the exact loophole that would be used to completely fuck up her life. We could all warn her what would happen if he didn’t find her useful after he fucked up her life.

This one gave me vibes I could tell her all of that and she’d not only be completely on board, she’d probably want to know if the devil was hot and single. Ugh. Why’d she have to be gorgeous?

She thought I was hot too. That wasn’t my ego. She literally leaned over and whispered it to her friend in Spanish. Joke was on her. I was fluent in most of the Romance languages. She also knew who I was and was a fan.

I was the composer and piano player with Immortal Nightmare, the Bad Boys of Classical music. We’d been around for much longer than people thought. I wrote the music, Misha choreographed dances, and Azriel designed sets and costumes. Azriel also painted on the side of the stage when we performed and you could buy it when the show wrapped up.

She was a fan. She said so to her friend because she didn’t think I spoke Spanish. Gross. They always got gross. I’d sign what she wanted and take any photos. Then, I’d avoid her like the plague like the rest of our fans here. Wait, she was frowning at me. She wasn’t asking for autographs or photos. What was up with that face she was making?

“Are you a teacher?”

No, I was not. I told that idiot that cover story was going to eventually bite him in the arse. Especially this go around. It made zero sense for me to be a student here instead of a teacher. Fuck!

So, I just turned on the charm and gave her a brilliant smile.

“I’m your tour guide. Right this way.”

Damn it. She wasn’t falling for it. This one wanted answers and I couldn’t give them to her. She was trouble. I kinda wanted that, but not in a way that was going to blow back on me.

Blackvale was beautiful. Gothic architecture with marble and spires everywhere. Since this was an arts school, there were paintings and sculptures everywhere. The grounds were beautifully manicured with local plant life.