Nolan let out an annoyed sigh. “Gorgeous yes. But beauty is only skin deep, new girl.”
I frowned. “Maybe you should explain that statement. Tell me why you guys hate Alex so much. He’s only ever been nice to me, which is a hell of a lot more than most people at this school.” Like their other friend.
Nolan stared back at me for a moment, seeming to debate my request, but then shook his head and patted the bed beside him. “Doesn’t matter. It’s Friday night; we have fun to be had. Come watch movies with us.”
“I brought snacks!” Mattie added, reaching over the side of the bed and hauling up a huge bag full of snack food. “And look, we set you up a projector, seeing as you didn’t already have one.” She indicated to the small cube of technology attached above the head of my bed. It was aimed to project onto the wall opposite so we could all watch from the comfort of my pillows. So cool.
“Fine,” I sighed, climbing onto the bed and taking the gap between the twins. “But no funny business, you two.” I meant it as a joke, but only Mattie laughed.
Nolan just gave me a thoughtful look, then nodded and settled in close enough that we were practically snuggling.
Mattie was first to fall asleep, somewhere around a third of the way into our second movie. I doubted I was far behind her, seeing as my lids were drooping hard when I noticed her soft snores.
It wasn’t until the mattress shifted that I even knew I’d been asleep at all. Then again, having spent my entire life sharing a room with up to twenty other girls, I slept better with others than I did alone.
My lashes cracked open, but I immediately froze.
It’d been Nolan moving off the bed that had woken me, but he wasn’t the only male in the room. Mattie was still curled into my side, snoring softly, so who the fuck was standing near my door? It was definitely a guy, based on height and build, but he was all in black and my room without the projector playing held very little light to illuminate his face.
“Come on,” the shadowed dude hissed, “we’re late already.”
I knew that voice. It took me a moment because he was whispering, but that was definitely Jordan. Why was Jordan in my room in the middle of the night? What the hell were they—
Oh.
Oh, I knew what they were doing.
Forcing my body to relax, simulating sleep so as not to alert either boy, I listened carefully.
“I know, I know,” Nolan whispered back, his voice thick with sleep. He must have dozed off along with us. “Just give me a sec.” He was fumbling around on the floor, searching for his shoes in the dark. Dude had all the stealth of a baby rhino. No wonder he’d been tagged by someone’s blade at their last secret rendezvous.
“Okay, ready. Let’s go.” Nolan’s whisper sounded a bit more awake, and I already knew what I needed to do.
The second Nolan and Jordan had slipped out of my room, closing the door behind them with a soft click, I was out of bed, slipping into a black hoodie over my black leggings before tugging on a pair of sneakers. If my suspicions were right, Noles and Jordan were on their way to a royal throwdown that involved blades of some description. If I was wrong, then no harm done. But if I was right… I wanted in. No, scratch that. I needed in. My one and only regret about leaving my old life behind for Arbon Academy was the prospect of never being able to use my hard-learned skills again.
I debated for about eight seconds if I should take my well-concealed weapon, but just in case I was wrong, I’d leave it tonight. Plus, I had to haul ass or those fuckers were going to disappear on me again.
It felt right to be dressed in the style of clothes from my old life, all dark and formfitting, because you didn’t take a cape to a knife fight. Quietly I opened the door and slipped out, making sure to lock it behind me because Mattie was asleep and vulnerable.
The hallway was dark—only a few dim lights up high illuminated it at all—but it was enough for me to catch the back of Nolan’s shirt as he moved around the corner. Moving fast, just short of running, I hauled ass after them, determined to finally find out what the hell was going on in the middle of the night at Arbon Academy.
It was big; I could feel that in my gut. It would have to be to hold the attention of the royals like this.
When I got around that first corner, the guys were quite a distance ahead of me, and they were moving in the general direction of the library. When they paused, a few yards from the library entrance, I halted as well, wondering if they’d heard me.
My heart pitter-pattered hard in my chest, and I all but held my breath in an attempt to limit my noise. There was no light above me, meaning the shadows and my dark clothing hid me almost completely, but if they looked hard enough, they’d find me.
Neither turned my way, and I strained to see what they were actually doing.
Then they were gone.
What the…
Racing now, my feet were soft and sure as I stepped through the darkness, stopping right where I’d seen them last. It looked like an ordinary wall, smooth up high, with shoulder height wainscoting on the lower half. For many long minutes, I searched along it, trying not to panic because I could not lose them again.
Running my hands slower, I started to feel panel by panel to see if there was some sort of mechanism that hid a doorway.
It took me ten minutes, but I finally found the smallest of grooves on one of the side panels. My little fingernail scraped it just as I was about to give up, and I managed to wedge that same nail in under it. There was a small click, and a larger panel popped right open. Ducking my head slightly, I pushed on the panel and it spun inwards. As it turned, depositing me into whatever was on the other side, it clicked shut again, effectively locking me inside the wall. It had happened so fast there had been no chance for me to wedge my foot in like I’d planned.
Shit.
Panic swelled almost instantly as the darkness completely engulfed me.
When I was seven, a family had taken me in for three months. At first they’d seemed like the best thing that had ever happened to me. True Christians on the surface, they’d wanted to pave their way to heaven by helping as many children as they could. Only there was nothing good or godly about them. They were evil assholes who wanted the recognition for their do-gooding, but without the work of actually being good people.
They’d locked me in their bedroom closet every day for hours and hours. It had been dark, damp, and tiny, and I’d scream and cry until eventually I’d fall asleep, tears streaking my face and arms wrapped around my legs.
The claustrophobia that I’d developed from that experience had lasted many years, but I’d managed to conquer it, like so many other hurdles in my life. Right now, though, for a brief second, that old panic flared to life.
Maybe it was the damp scent that washed over me or the absolute darkness.
How could I move when everything was this black? It was beyond dangerous—I could walk right into a damn hole.
Pushing back on the door I’d just come through did nothing. I dropped my head into my hands in despair, and the palm reader smacked against my forehead.
Light. The palm reader had a light. Mattie had shown me where it was, but I couldn’t remember. My brain was too panicked, not to mention it was already worn out from all the school and drama.
Think, Violet. Use that freaking brain.