No one gasps, but silence impregnates the room and we sit collectively as the driver follows the first car.
“They said her specifically. I’m guessing they’re talking about Rimbaur.” Which brings me to Midas. “Your father was looking for you, Lux.” Turning to Colt, I see her visible fear. “You too.”
From what the twins explained, Colt missing is putting the Vestige on edge and they’re planning something.
“Fuck,” Ten hisses from behind us. “It makes sense why Colt was on the TV as a missing person.”
“I was what?” Colt hisses, apparently not knowing this information. Her expression goes from curiosity to anger. “We all talked about this. No more secrets.”
“That was before the twins became a part of the equation,” Bridger musters. “They’re dangerous.”
“And you’re a goddamn saint?” Lux hisses. “They aren’t the kids who left us for Tennessee, but they’re our friends.”
“Are they?” I question. “Pru basically threatened me, if I mentioned the conversation they had. Whoever they killed, it was for the Vestige and my guess on the “him” they mentioned, it’s either Elijah or Roderick.”
They nod and I notice Jordan isn’t here.
“Where’s Jordan?” I question, wanting to know why Lux’s fuck buddy isn’t joining us.
“I asked him to watch over my dad,” Colt mentions.
“Is that all?” I prod, feeling like this has something to do with my admission. She smirks at me. Her face glowing in a way I haven’t seen since before Cass died.
“I mean, watching you two duke it out naked would be nice, but I’ll wait for a more proper time.”
“Wow, you’ve gotten bold,” I joke, feeling like I’ve missed an entire stage of her recovery somehow. It’s only been days. How does so much change in days?
“Maybe I’ve always been this awesome and you guys just talk too much.”
With that, we’re catching up on what has been amiss. Rimbaur being dead, his dad looking for him. Erasing before the League showed up, and the fact that Lux is being talked about according to the twins but the media is being paid off.
“Of course it is,” he grumbles. “Dad can’t have his image ruined.”
“Did you kill her?” I question honestly.
He narrows his eyes. “Do you not know me?”
Shaking my head, I respond. “No, actually. I don’t.”
“No, I didn’t fucking kill her,” he scoffs. “She was dead when I went to her office, trying to clear up the fact that the rugby season was canceled.”
“It hasn’t even started…” I bring up.
“Exactly, yet someone sent out an email, garnering outrage from the students. Whoever sent it knew I’d go to her office and talk with her.”
Then silence envelops the vehicle. I pull Colt halfway onto my lap, making sure to have any sort of comfort for the ride, however long it may be.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tennison
Tension controls every part of me. While Ross was gone, I’d let Jordan inside me. I’d kissed Lux. I’d had a fuckfest with three guys and the girl we all hate to love.
The drive is nearly silent. Colt whispers in Rossy’s ear, him responding in kind while the rest of us act like complete strangers.
Anxiety overwhelms me to the point that I can’t do anything but cradle my head and rock back and forth. No one notices. Why would they?
I’m the sinner of Arcadia, the one whose hands are as muddied as the rest. The problem is that if I told them what I’ve done, finally spilling all my truths, would they forgive me?
Misguided Tennison—that was me before all went to hell.
No one knows, not even Cassidy.
He’s the one I’ve betrayed the most.
“Think we can eat pizza when we get back?” Colt says aloud, and I can’t find a smile within myself to offer, not that she notices me, anyway. I’m inconsequential. The one who broke her heart, the fucker with a past, the player who got played.
“I’m sure your dad would find a way to get you Venus if you asked, Starless. Pizza would be the simplest of his reach.”
“When are we going back to school?” I perk up then. How can she possible think of school?
“Can’t,” Ross answers. “They think Lux killed our principal and they think you’ve ran away.”
I peer over the seat to see her expression. It’s unnerving noticing how different she is from even a month ago. The growth, her strength, and the way she handles situations is mature and no longer misguided.
“You can’t anyway,” Lux adds. “They want you dead.”
She shakes her head, placing several strands behind her ears. “What if they don’t? They might just be scared,” she tries.
“Absolutely not,” Ridge confirms what we’re all thinking. “You’re not walking into a fucking hyena clan, expecting to come out unscathed. They’re dangerous and the sooner you realize this, the easier it’ll be to overcome and destroy them.”
“How are we supposed to destroy a group that’s been around for ages? One full of misogynistic men who take and take and take?” Colt presses, her voice louder. She’s brave, so goddamn brave.
“We can have that conversation when we get back and can talk to everyone,” Ridge explains. “You act like this isn’t everything I’ve planned for. What we have planned for.” The way he enunciated “we” explains Cassidy’s involvement. It’s up to Cass to tell Ross that he’s alive. With the speculation on the twins—not even this moment—he might stay unalive.
“What about Noah?” Her voice softens then. I didn’t have a single fucking clue who Noah was until recently.
No one told me she and Cass and Noah were triplets. Fuck, I’d only met Noah at the Estate, and somehow, Ridge knew everything.
It’s like he knows more about every situation while the rest of us have been too busy sitting on our asses.
While I couldn’t save Cass or even be there for Colt, he was. In hiding, but still there. He did so much and I’m just a fucking waste of space.
“What about her?” Ross doesn’t hesitate to ask. He’s not privy to the information of her. Hell, only Jordan, Lux, Ridge, and people at the Estate even knew Noah existed. Lux because of Maxim and Ridge as a result of what he’s been hiding.