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I knew I should, but I couldn’t seem to tear the phone away from my ear. Hearing her voice had done more to calm me than a dozen reassuring hugs from the guys ever could have. She was right, I’d been defending myself and an innocent. I’d done nothing inherently wrong, even if it had ended in the deaths of others.
“I love you, Momma.”
“And I love you, baby girl. Always.” That choked quality was back in her voice, and I could almost see the tears on her face.
There was so much more I wanted to tell her, like how much I missed her and how much she meant to me. Instead, I pulled the phone from my ear and hit the end call button. My face was streaked with tears, more forming in my eyes and making it hard to see the screen as I went through the menu to the delete option.
Erasing the record of that call felt so much more significant than I ever could have anticipated. It was like I was rewinding time and it had never happened. Or as though it had been nothing but an illusion of my panicked mind.
When it was done, I turned my phone off, tucked it away, and followed the plan.
Thirty minutes at an all-night diner, and then I was in the back of a car and on my way to the remote campus. The adrenaline crash was too much for my body to handle, and I was exhausted by the time we pulled up to the gate. Climbing out, I gave the driver a weak smile and the promise of a tip before closing the door of the sedan and turning toward the school.
The gate stood open, welcoming its residents home again after a night of frivolity. If only those welcoming gates knew what I’d been up to during my night out.
Then again, maybe they did. Just how sentient was Divinity? I was hoping not at all, considering some of the things I’d done within its halls.
A maddeningly long trudge, and I was finally on the steps leading to the front door. The facade of the school never ceased to amaze me. It was a beautiful, modern… well, castle. There was really no other word for it. The stark white of the walls stood out against the pitch of night, almost like it radiated a light from within. Yet inside the windows, all was still and silent, nearly void of life with so many of the students still in the city.
I drew in a deep breath to steady myself when I reached the top step. Time to pull my shit together. When I crossed the threshold, tonight never happened. I was tired from the party and annoyed with Illyria, so I came back. That was it. No murders, no out-of-control powers, no forbidden phone calls.
When I pushed open the large door and entered the empty foyer, nothing happened. I wasn’t sure what I expected, maybe for an alarm to go off when the castle sensed the blood on my hands or something? But everything remained silent, save for the clip of my soles on the shining marble floor as I headed for the main staircase.
I had the insane urge to run, but could there be a more obvious “I’m up to something” sign? Forcing myself to keep my pace sedate, I climbed until I reached the floor with the dormitories, not encountering another soul and glad of it.
At least, until I turned toward the girls’ side of the residence halls.
I ducked back around the corner when I caught sight of a couple locked in an embrace down the hall. I couldn’t hear what was being said, just the murmur of their conversation. Thankfully, they were too wrapped up in each other to notice me, but now I was stuck until they moved. The last thing I wanted was to be spotted and interrogated by a nosy student.
For once, fortune smiled on me. After a quick kiss, the guy separated from her and strode down the hall.
Right toward me.
So much for that smile, huh, Fortune?
Hoping my luck held out, I hurried down to the floor below and ducked beside the staircase before he reached the landing. Unable to resist my inclination to be nosy, however, I took a peek to see who was walking by.
I nearly choked on a gasp when I saw the face of the mystery man.
Professor Brodgan descended the stairs, and I forced myself to shake out of my stupor and sank deeper into the shadows.
Please, don’t let him see me…
Absorbed in his thoughts, the professor never even glanced my way, but I stayed still long after he’d gone down the next flight of stairs and disappeared from view.
What the hell was he doing in the girls’ hall? And with whom?
I had a feeling I already knew the answer, but she was still in the city, wasn’t she?
Hustling to my suite, my suspicion was confirmed in the worst possible way as I pushed open the door and ran smack into Kate.
“Thea!” Her wide eyes mirrored my own. Shit. When had she gotten back? And if she was here, who else was? Her hand was over her chest and her breathing was quick and shallow.
“Hey, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, it’s fine, I just didn’t think anyone else was here yet. Um, are you okay? You disappeared from the party after the Illyria thing. I heard you guys got into it after she saw you and Darrio, and I was worried about you.” With the mood I’d been in, she should have been worried about her roommate, not me.
“I’m fine. What are you doing back so early?”
