“Says the guy in the fancy outfit,” Rin mumbled, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue, still too mentally and emotionally drained.
Not to mention internally freaking out over how to deal with this new development regarding the Royal doctor.
Chapter 27:
“Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to set this up in the middle of the forest?” Rin shoved a low-hanging branch out of the way, following the small blinking light on his emblem-slate that told them where the mock crime scene was located. They’d parked on the edge of the Academy campus and had been walking for a good ten minutes already.
It was a lot different from all the other scenes which had been in relatively public, though more off the beaten path, areas.
“Someone’s cranky,” Kelevra noted, following a few feet behind, clearly not in any sort of rush to get there.
Rin flipped him the middle finger over his shoulder and kept going. So what if he was in a bad mood? Who was there to blame for that?
“How are you feeling, Flower?”
“Fine.”
“You’re tense.”
“Can we just get there and get this over with without the running commentary?”
“I liked you better last night,” Kelevra said. “You were softer. It was almost endearing.”
He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from snapping something stupid back, sighing in relief when the scene entered his line of sight up ahead.
Like with the others, there was a female student propped on the ground, fake blood painted across her neck. It’d been made to look like she’d been out here camping, a small tent meant for a single person built a few feet away, still intact. There was a fire panel, turned off, but clearly ready for use, and a zipped backpack dropped on the ground. There were no obvious signs of blood splatter like at the one in the alley, or even any signs there’d been a struggle. If not for the body, Rin would assume they had the wrong place.
“Hey, Nila,” Rin absently greeted the student who was resting against the thick trunk of a tree. “No, no, don’t get up, it’s fine.”
She hadn’t so much as twitched.
“Flower.”
“I don’t see anything suspicious, do you?” He turned a circle, growing more confused by the second. Why was he out here wasting his time when he should be finding his brother and planning their next move? Who cared about this dumb assignment? If he did end up marrying Kelevra, it wasn’t like he was going to be able to pick his future position in the I.P.F anyway.
They hadn’t spoken about it, but he doubted he’d be allowed to become an agent. That would entail traveling to other planets in the galaxy. With how possessive the Imperial Prince was, there was no way he’d approve that.
“Flower.”
“Seriously, do—”
“Rin,” Kelevra stated tightly, finally drawing his attention. His face was pinched. “She’s dead.”
“Of course she is, that’s the whole point.”
“No,” he shook his head. “She’s really dead.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Rin stepped closer to Nila. “Hey, I know you’re not supposed to break character but can you—” He froze. The slice across her throat was clearly stage makeup, but… He dropped down next to her and leaned in. The makeup covered bruising. Real bruising. “Someone strangled her.”
What the actual hell?!
Rin flicked open his emblem-slate, about to report it when a knowing feeling tingled up his spine, giving him pause.
He was in the process of turning toward the right when the sound of a blaster going off ripped through the air, causing his hackles to rise. The bullet zipped past him, a wave of warm air gusting across his face a second before he heard Kel grunt.
Spinning around, he gasped when he saw the Imperial Prince clutching at the side of his right arm.
“Were you just shot?!” He rushed over to see, but whoever was shooting fired again. This time the bullet slammed into a tree nearby, sending bits of bark splintering. “Get down!” Rin shoved Kelevra to his knees and positioned himself in front of him, desperately searching the trees for any sign of the attacker.
