Page 56

I grab the empty bottle of wine, creep over near the window, and stand flat against the wall, my heart thumping in my chest.

The window slides all the way up. A leg comes through first, followed by a black skirt with chains jingling. Whoever this is, isn’t trying to be quiet in that outfit. The woman gets all the way in and smooths down her outfit. She turns to face me and takes in the wine bottle raised above my head.

Her laughter echoes through my loft. “A wine bottle?”

“It’s heavy enough to do damage,” I say, and I won’t lower it until I know why she is here.

“I’m sure it is.” She tilts her head to look at me, a smirk still lighting her face. “You can put it down—I’m not here to hurt you. If I was, I would have come through the door.”

I lower the bottle, watching her warily. Vero has been vocal about people from the island—specifically her. I have seen her around the place, and Vero wasn’t wrong that she never gets out of character. The corset she wears is tight, with a lot of black lace and chains. It’s very gothic and suits her.

“Why did you come through my window?”

“Your door was locked.”

I snort. “That’s kind of the point in having a door with a lock—to keep people out.”

She looks around the room, and I know she is judging my lack of things. I find them pointless since I have all I need, and that is enough.

“I’m Vesper.”

“I know who you are, but why are you here?”

She moves across the room, running her fingers along my table, then turns back to face me.

“Vero climbed onto the Asylum roof.”

I freeze. Why the hell would he do that? Is he still having an episode? Surely Brawley would have it handled.

“He wouldn’t come down, just sat there, dangling his legs over the edge. He was in his head about everything you said to him.”

I don’t say anything, instead tightening my grip on the wine bottle.

“He is a stubborn little parasite, so I went up there.”

“And?” I ask when she doesn’t offer any more explanation.

She turns to me and smiles, which you would think would look friendly, but it’s far from it. My gut churns knowing the next words from her mouth won’t be good.

“I pushed him off. It was the highlight of my week watching him fall.” She laughs and points to my face. “You should see your face right now. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him. Karo brought out a mat. He’s fine, though he deserved to become a human pancake if you ask me. He is a life-sucking leech.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I would run if I were you. I’m not here because I care about him—I care about Brawley. Seeing him miserable makes me want to kill the leech, but doing that would make it worse.”

“So why are you here exactly?”

She looks at me and shrugs. “I hate yellow.”

“It’s better than red.”

“Not when blood is red. Yellow was Vero’s idea. Brawley tells me it signifies friendship or some bullshit, but I have no idea why anyone would want to be friends with Vero. He’s an idiot.” She straightens up and shakes her head, as if she is having a conversation with herself. “He isn’t a bad person, but you probably already know that. He won’t come out of this one quickly, and I don’t know what you will do with that information—it’s not my business.”

She moves back toward the window and gets one leg through.

“Vesper.”

She pauses and looks back at me.