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The walk out of the arboretum was a blur. My feet hardly touched the ground for all I knew. Passing through the protective barrier didn’t phase me either, and the dark night welcomed me in a chilly embrace far, far away from the warmth of the party.
Benjamin was the attacker.
But someone killed him.
Had it been a client he’d pushed too far?
Someone he’d been buying from?
I’d already cleared the organization that night at the strip club, though, and I didn’t feel any direct pull toward it anymore. My new intuition sense wasn’t perfect or even consistent, but for some reason, I had a feeling that whoever killed Benjamin was still at this school.
Someone right under my nose.
I pulled out my phone. There were too many connections in this fucking problem to go through on my own tonight. Razai was probably sleeping, but maybe he’d stayed awake tonight since he knew about the meeting. His windows had been dark earlier, though, and we’d planned to meet tomorrow anyway.
Me: Meet me in five mins. Urgent.
I watched the screen, waiting for the reply bubble to appear while my boots ate up the wet grass. C’mon, Razai. The only night I really needed you to show up for me and you—
A prickle of heat at the back of my neck shocked me out of my tornado of a mind and stopped me in my tracks.
“Razai?” I asked, voice as bold as I could make it.
No teasing reply. No soft breath of wind as he landed behind me. But I hadn’t really been expecting either of those.
Just hoping.
Nervous sweat dampened my skin. A sick sort of anticipation made my heart stutter and pound.
They were watching me, weren’t they?
The killer.
I resumed walking, painfully aware of the gaze on me. Wondering how they would attack me. Would my guts get ripped open too? My fingers, chopped? Where would they find my body?
Gods, I want to turn around so badly.
Betty came into view in the distance, and I increased my pace just a little. The awareness of being watched lessened, and just when I began to feel relief, the sound of footsteps rose behind me.
“Here we go, fucker. Ready or not,” I murmured, and then whirled.
Professor Clave paused and loomed over me, a dark glare marring his beautiful face.
“You,” I said as a way of accusation.
His snotty, well-bred words oozed with haughty satisfaction. “You are in grave trouble, Miss Valence.”
“Is that so?” I replied lightly, hand dipping into my pocket and curling around my small blade. Like anything would actually protect me from an archangel with a plan. “What for?”
He took a step forward.
I took one back.
The valley between his brows deepened. “Out late. Cavorting with the students in ways unbecoming of a faculty member, no less. Not that that you belong on these grounds.”
“Cavorting?” I scoffed.
“A woman like you with such a… background… should understand her place in this world. Castile is a fool for bringing you here, but you are a fool for accepting so baselessly. For aligning with Razai and poking your nose in archangel business. Either way, you will live to regret it,” he promised with a creepy smirk. “Though who can say for certain?”
