“I’m not homicidal,” Beckett says.
“Tell that to the three bodies they dragged out of Tenarus Cave a few weeks ago.”
“Three offive. Besides, it’s not like I was the fucking mastermind. The Curators had their personal vendetta against the Andersons, the whole town believes in that curse, and Dad’s always saying?—”
“Father’s business is his own. I’ve tried telling you that for years. Doing his bidding only gets you into trouble.”
“Yeah, well. Someone has to carry on the Dupont legacy. You’re certainly not interested.”
With good reason, but Beckett’s at a point in his life still where he thinks the Fury Hill founding families are gods. Even with the bullshit they’ve dragged him through, he believes their word is law and their superstitions are truth.
It’s an easier pill to swallow when you’ve only touched the surface of depravity. When you believe their legacy is just wealth and prestige instead of sin.
Death’s Teeth would eat him alive, so I use my membership to keep him off their radar. As long as they’re trying to recruit me for leadership, they’ll ignore his existence.
“Enough,” I tell him. “There’s no point in trying to justify yourself to me. You can take it up with the board when you contest your expulsion.”
He groans. “Can’t you wave a wand and make the charges disappear?”
“How would I do that?”
“I don’t know. Tell them I’ve been good. That I’ve been giving back by volunteering for your student group and behaving under the watchful eye of my big bro?”
“No.”
“What?” he huffs. “Why not?Visio Aternaeis the only organization open to all Avernia enrollees, so how hard could it be to fudge the membership forms and put me down for a canned-food drive or something?”
“That you find the philanthropic efforts of my students to be so frivolous they can be forged is enough of a reason,” I reply. “But I’m also not going to lie for you.”
“A good brother would.”
“Perhaps I’d be willing to do more had you not made a complete mockery of my production last semester.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Are you talking about that stupid play again? Itoldyou, I was only in your class?—”
“To terrorize the students who actually wanted to be there,” I finish, gritting my teeth. “But you realize many of my students end up as Visio Aternae members or vice versa, right? Who in turn help with the productions my classes put on as their finals. Your antics caused delays in set design and performances. Some studentsbarelyscraped by.”
He quiets for a couple of seconds. “It wasHamlet, Sutty. How much assistance did the class need?”
“WhetherHamletor Susan Glaspell’sTrifles,a play deserves the same amount of effort and respect by the people putting it on. Actions have consequences, and I’m not sure you fullyunderstand what sort of position you’ve put me in here. I want to help you, but I have an obligation to look after my classes.”
“Don’t you have an obligation to look after your little brother? Or was Bellamy the only sibling you actually cared about?”
Fire sears my throat. “I’ll put out some feelers. See if I can get a read on the board members and how they’re leaning in terms of keeping you expelled or not.”
His sigh makes the line crackle, and I move the phone away briefly.
Angelica sweeps past again, asking if I’d like a refill on my wine. I nod, even though I have no intention of drinking this one either, and watch as she swaps the glasses.
As soon as her hand disappears, another takes its place—this one pale and smooth where Angelica’s is warm brown and calloused from years of tending bar.
The pale hand holds a blue tinfoil square and the lighter I lent to a stranger mere hours ago.
My chin lifts, and I don’t hear my brother’s reply—something aboutTriflesbeing Bellamy’s favorite play and if I brought it up to guilt-trip him. Like he didn’t just pull the same shit.
Two hazel eyes blink at me, their hue a glassy mix of brown tourmaline and citrine, volatile and curious in their perusal. They’re framed by elegant brows and long, midnight lashes that strike her porcelain skin as she slowly blinks.
I stare for several beats longer than necessary, the flecks of gold and rust in her irises mesmerizing, like shattered crystal.
