“I heard Beckett Dupont in the Obeliskos earlier this morning talking about the quarry,” Lexington adds. “Said he had something to do there today, but I couldn’t make out what. He mentioned an attack to someone, but I figured he was just talking about the one last semester.”
Asher drifts closer to me, stiffening.
Beckett.
It was Beckett who abducted me.
Something tells me I know who he did it for too.
“What’s going on?” Meg asks as I turn in the direction of the Primordial Forest.
If he’s out there, I’d bet good money there’s a reason. Things he doesn’t want the rest of campus to overhear.
Sutton’s lack of response indicates they’re there, together, and I wonder if he knows.
I’m not going to wait to find out.
“Hold up,” Lexington says as I hand my crutches to my brother. “I’ll come with.”
“Wait! Me too. Moral support,” Sabrina says, giving the flowers to Meg and skipping to us.
“Fine,” Meg shouts. “I wanted to be Percy’s best friend anyway.”
I glance back to see Asher frowning.
“Dad’s gonna be pissed,” he calls out.
“So don’t tattle!”
We pick up the pace, my entire body blazing like an inferno as my limbs protest the movement. As we round the corner of the Lyceum, I run right into my sister, whose glasses nearly careen off her face from the impact.
Her jaw is tense as she sizes me up. “Where are you going?”
“None of your business.” I start to push past her, shoulder checking her as I move, but she grabs my hand.
“Where’s Dad? Asher? How come they let you leave when you’re in such bad shape?”
I ignore her.
“Hey,” she says, her eyebrows knitting behind her glasses. “I know you’re a bad patient, but you should beresting.”
Her touch burns. I grit my teeth, jerking out of her hold. “You told the dean, didn’t you?”
She blinks, eyes widening. “What?”
“You told the dean about me and Sutton…that something was going on between us.” I inhale, betrayal weaving through my muscles when she doesn’t deny it.
A blush crawls over her cheeks. She looks at Lexington and Sabrina, who take a step back, giving us a little space. “I was looking out for your safety, Noelle.”
“Nobody asked you to do that.”
“Asked? Of course no one did. It’s been my goddamn responsibility since you were born, you idiot.” Her nostrils flare. “Idealism was practically your middle name, and you just leaned into it without a care in the world. So long as people liked you and you got their attention, you didn’t care what it was doing to your soul, butIdid. I’m the one who had to watch you get taken advantage of time and time again, and yeah, maybe when you got here, I decided I was sick of just standing by and letting it happen.”
“Sutton isn’t taking advantage of me,” I say, my throat on fire.
“You never see it when you’re in it,” she replies.
Shaking my head, I give her a long, sad look. Tears well up in her eyes—tears I’ve never seen her shed. Not once in my life. Something haunted lives in her irises, and a part of me feels bad for not having noticed until now.
