Rafe was staring at his phone screen, the light casting an ominous glow across his handsome face. He blew out a breath while he slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“I’m getting updates about the attack on the academy. They found one of the missing. She…” He trailed off, looking right at me. “I don’t want to trigger you.”
“You won’t,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I believed it. Aiden moved closer to me, not touching me, just offering his warmth.
“She’d been obliterated,” Rafe said quietly. “They only found a few pieces of her. It took a while to identify.”
“Who?” Aiden asked quietly.
“Sarah Steven,” Rafe said with a sigh.
“Fuck, I knew her.” Aiden said. I turned to face him, but he only shook his head. “I knew her when we were kids.”
Rafe nodded grimly. “I’m going to pay a visit to her parents tomorrow to deliver the news.”
“Since when is that your job?” Aiden asked as we began to walk again.
“Since I punched an investigator for leaving dead students out in the rain,” Rafe muttered.
Aiden and I went quiet.
I hadn’t known that.
“I hadn’t meant for it to happen, but…well, whatever. I’m in charge of this whole situation now.”
I gazed out across the water, the dark shadow of the next island barely visible in the moonlight. There was a fine mist of fog obscuring the details of the outline, but I knew the shape well. I’d been there many times.
“Too bad you couldn’t have been in charge of the massacre,” I said quietly. “They just threw all the unidentified parts together in a mass grave.”
Rafe and Aiden stopped walking. I turned back, taking in their matching expressions of horror.
“And who was responsible for that?” Rafe asked darkly.
“Who do you think?” Aiden sneered. “Your grandpa sucked, dude.”
He wasn’t wrong. The King hadn’t given a single shit about the massacre. Hadn’t spoken up about it, hadn’t come to visit. The visit from Rafe and his mother was more about appearances than anything else.
Rafe tapped away at his phone. “I’m going to fix that.”
“You’re going to dig up dozens of body parts?” I asked in disbelief.
“With the proper permits, yes.” Rafe put his phone away. “Those people deserve a proper burial. I can right that wrong.”
“Your mom would agree to that?” Aiden asked.
Rafe went quiet, then shrugged. “I’ll figure it out.”
The walkback to the apartment was nearly silent. Aiden was lost in thought over how someone he’d known was dead, Rafe was feeling the weight of managing the academy disaster, and I was thinking about how many dead people were on that island, forgotten to time.
Aiden slipped into my room before me, giving Rafe a simple manly slap on the arm in farewell.
Now, Rafe and I stood outside my bedroom door, both awkwardly shuffling back and forth on our feet.
“I guess I’ll head out,” Rafe said slowly, giving me a chance to invite him to stay.
I didn’t know if I wanted him to stay.
The kiss earlier had been nothing short of perfect, but now in the light of my hallway…
