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“Uh, sure?” I unlocked the door and pushed it open, heading for the kitchen. After chugging three glasses of water, I walked toward my room. “Razai, I appreciate your worry, but I don’t think the closet is going to eat me alive right now. You can probably just—”
Three black bags lined the floor in front of my bed, and a long, irritating angel stretched himself across the mattress.
I looked at the bags.
And then at him.
Then once more at the bags.
“Did you just move yourself in?” I demanded.
Chapter Fifty-Two
“Caution is key. You should know that, with all your hiding and skulking about. What if you find the urge to fling yourself off a tower? Huh? Then what? Azra would find me and smear my organs across Times Square.”
“I see. So this is about you.”
“Isn’t it always?”
Gods, give me the strength to actually be upset with him. I really, really wanted to be.
But the truth was more terrifying. The truth was that I didn’t mind the idea of Razai staying in my room. And that in itself scared me worse than any nightmare.
Was I being reckless again? Did it even matter at this point?
I’d put myself in countless situations that put my safety and identity in danger. And now, where this should be a huge deal, it just seemed insignificant. What was Razai going to do next? Sneak into my brain and snatch thoughts from my head?
Unlikely.
So, what was the harm? We worked all day and saw each other at night already. This really wouldn’t change much, would it?
I sighed, accepted my fate, and asked, “What did you tell Castile about my absence?”
“The truth and a few lies. Said you were attacked and hurt and that I took you to get patched up. And you’re ready to come back. He was very interested about what happened but lost curiosity when it had nothing to do with finding his kid’s killer.”
“Makes sense,” I said, pulling out work clothes from the closet. Having Castile poke around the events in that creepy room would be too dangerous. Now, I just had to follow my leads and…
The closet fell away as I ran through my thoughts, my plans, and what I’d learned. The clothes fell from my fingers.
I had no leads.
None.
Not even one.
Everything had been run through with a blade. Clave? Seemingly innocent. Cole? Just a used plunger of a person who deserved all the bad karma and probably a dozen lawsuits. Benjamin was definitely the one attacking the students, but I was no closer to finding out who killed him.
And then there was the matter of President Castile. How was I supposed to give him the news that his son had been a little bit of a psychopath? Was it even wise to tell him?
I sensed Razai the moment before he touched my arm. “You feel stuck, don’t you?”
“I am stuck. All of this shit in the last two weeks has been wasted time. Nothing more.”
“That’s not true.”
I turned on him, not caring that he was so close. Not caring that I wanted him to be. “Then what am I? I’ve solved half the fucking mystery, and it’s not even the most important part. Chances are, no one’s going to get hurt on the first of the next month. Benjamin’s sick little game is over because he’s dead. Someone didn’t like what he was doing, and they took him out.”
Razai leaned down just an inch. When had he grabbed my waist? “You’re frustrated. That’s understandable. But I don’t believe you’re the kind of person to give up while a murderer is still walking around free. Doesn’t justice matter to you? Or even the need to complete the puzzle?”
