Part One
Onyx Night
1
Rayne
I know I’m being followed as I run across campus.
My feet hit the cobblestone path that curves toward the meticulously cut grass of the quad.
A place that should feel like home.
A place that doesn’t feel like fucking home at all right now.
When things feel too perfect, I get a feeling deep in my bones, like a certainty that the other shoe will drop, or that I’m in the calm before a devastating storm.
Too perfectis bad.
Dangerous.
And I’m letting myself dwell and dwell andfucking dwellon the one thing I shouldn’t, a person who has clawed his way back into my psyche like a fever I can’t shake.
The way Hunter Knox absolutely fuckinglovesto do.
A twig snaps under my shoes on the path.
My vision darts all around me as I run beneath the canopy of trees.
Look behind.
Look in front.
Glance right, glance left.
When a psychopath is around,youfeel crazier, too.
I’m out on a jog with Weston, but I’ve been gaining on him for a few minutes now. I pull in a lungful of air and hang back a little, waiting for Wes to catch up.
My best friend isn’t a slow runner.
He’s just a lot morechillabout the whole Hunter situation than I am.
“Think he’s here yet?” I mutter to Weston as I match his jog.
Weston is silent for a moment.
“Quit thinking about him.”
“He’s your brother,” I say. “If he’s going to be on this campus, I’m going to talk about him, especially if I have to be his fucking roommate.”
The sound of Weston’s footsteps falls in line with mine.
For a moment, I listen to the sound of his breath. We cut off onto a small gravel path that curves onto the main quad, jogging at a steady pace.
“You’ve asked me about Hunter three times today. Pretend not to be obsessed, Rayne. I don’t know when he’s getting here, and I don’t care.”
Look behind.
