A low murmur builds as the girls shuffle up the stairs, and Tucker shakes his head before angling it toward the hall and moves away. Darius is clenching his fists as we follow behind, and he still won’t let the others get too close.
We walk into the assembly room and Tucker locks the door behind us, before he leans casually against the wall, and crosses his ankles.
“Why would you need to protect her from us?” he asks. He may seem calm and detached, but his eyes, and the way his finger taps against his arm, give him away.
“Your little maze strangler just made his move. Seeing as we don’t know who it is, means it could be any of you. Arthur doesn’t want her harmed, and I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
“It wasn’t me and an entire mess hall can verify that. The same goes for Tom,” Tucker says before his eyes narrow on Emmet.
“Why would I do it? Everyone knows that I’m interested in Luna, why would I try to kill her?” His face is red and there’s a vein throbbing in his temple, I can’t stop staring at it, at him. Could he have done it?
“You hate rejection, and she’s done nothing but reject you since you gave up your farce of being a poor little cleaner, plus if we consider the other victims…” Tom’s voice trails off, and the air is rife with tension as the room goes silent.
“This is fucking ridiculous…” Emmet starts, but Tucker wastes no time in interrupting him.
“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘wait until my father hears about this’ I will fucking end you. We’ve gone against each other enough times for you to know it’s not an idle threat.” There is so much heat between them, I can feel the hatred oozing from their pores, and I don’t know what to do?
A loud bang sounds on the door, Tucker growls as he pulls it open, and Aeron strolls in without a care in the world.
“You fuckwits are causing quite the stir, what’s…” His eyes land on my neck, and he’s in front of me in seconds.
Tucker and Tom move to stop Darius from pulling him away, which is weird in itself but not as weird as Aeron pulling me into his arms, and whispering nonsense in my ear.
“Luna, are you okay?” Concern is etched in the lines around his eyes, on his forehead, and I have the strongest urge to smooth them away with my thumb. In reality, I’m just standing here, arms limp at my side as I let him hold me.
“Not really, I’m still trying to process it all,” I say weakly before pulling back slightly. He doesn’t let go of me, but I shift enough so I can look at the others.
“If you’re going to lie, then don’t answer.” I pause, giving my throat a second to rest. “How many have died, other than Ms. Vanderbilt?”
Aeron tenses beside me, his arms tightening around my waist, and I lift the one closest to him to rest over his shoulder. Tucker rubs his chin, Tom stares at the floor, and Emmet sends daggers into Aeron with his eyes.
“I can’t tell you, Miss, but I would if I could,” Darius says into the silence, but it isn’t needed. Emmet gave it all away when he said about killing me. It just made my suspicions become more tangible.
“We can’t say, not until we know you won’t tell anyone else. It doesn’t matter what we think, we need to know.” This comes from Tucker, and I can respect the answer, even if I hate it.
“Back to Emmet, did you do it?” Tom has no hesitation in accusing his, well whatever Emmet is to him.
“No, I did not try to hurt Luna,” he seethes.
“What about the others?” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but it’s out there now.
“Work it out for yourself, Star, I’m sure you’ll come to the right answer.” His tone leaves me feeling cold, and my mind is whirring with possibilities.
“Hang on a minute, Five. Why were you even out there?” Tucker asks and my eyes flick to Emmet, but he doesn’t even look worried.
“I had a n-n-note, it said it w-w-was from Emmet. I was ordered not to tell anyone,” all eyes are on him and he just shakes his head.
“As if I would leave a paper trail.” His eyes are dark, menacing, and it really feels as though someone is trying to set the Prince up. I’m not sure it’s much of a surprise, but why?
“My throat is really hurting.” My voice is becoming tired, croaky, and I just want to go to bed.
“Let’s get you to your room. Can I stay with you?” Aeron asks, not caring what anyone else thinks and honestly, I don’t even know what to think.
My eyes drift to Tucker and Tom and the latter gives me a reassuring smile, almost as if he’s telling me to say yes. The fact that he’s asking is what makes my mind up for me. The reason can wait for another day.
“Okay.” He sags against me before lacing his fingers with me and leading me to my room. Too much has happened and I can’t process it. The minute I hit the bed, I’m out like a light and I’m only vaguely aware of Aeron climbing into my bed and wrapping me up in his arms.
The day of the claiming is here, and it’s the first time I’ve been alone since that night in the pool house. I don’t know if it was two, three, maybe even four days ago. All I know is that it’s haunting my dreams and I don’t want to think about it when I’m awake.
Aeron has been oddly affectionate, not overly so. But holding me at night and stroking my face before I leave him to go to class. It feels like something has changed with him, between us, and I don’t know what it is. I still don’t want to question it, but I don’t know if I can allow myself to care for him, not right now; not more than I already do.
I get through the day with D and Maddox keeping me distracted, but it’s as I run on the treadmill in the gym that I finally allow myself to feel everything. With everything that’s happened, I’ve reevaluated a few things, and I know when Cole comes back on rotation that I need to see him. I need to clear my mind and explain to him how I’m feeling, about us and everything else. I can’t keep allowing myself to feel as though I’m being split in two. If I’m being honest with myself, it’s slowly killing me.
“There’s my favorite little whore.” I haven’t heard or seen anything of Shane in weeks, so the fact that he’s in the gym with me right now is worrying.
We’re not alone, but the only other people in here are a couple Harkwrights that I’ve never really encountered before, and a few girls. I doubt any of them will come to my defense.
“Everyone out, I need some alone time with Five,” he says with a snake-like smile, and they rush to do as he says. My eyes connect with Caitlyn’s before she ducks her head and leaves. I hadn’t even realized she was in here.
I don’t like this. I don’t feel safe, and there’s this mass surge of panic swimming through me.
The treadmill comes to a shop and I stand here, scared to move, breath, or even think. His hand skims down my side and across my hip until he pulls me hard enough to knock me off my feet. My chin connects with the belt, and I taste blood as my teeth bite into my tongue. I’m a pro at keeping my pain hidden, and I don’t think he likes that.
He flips me over and straddles my hips and I can see it in his eyes; he wants to destroy me. He wants me to cry, beg, something. Anything other than my stony silence.