“You don’t sound nearly concerned enough about this.”
“Whoever you chased either had help,” he said while typing on his multi-slate, “or he doubled back while we were—”
“Fighting.” Rin crossed his arms, eyes narrowing when the corner of Kel’s mouth tipped up.
“Yeah. While we werefighting.” He finished with the device. “We can go, unless you want to continue looking for clues. Madden and the others will be here shortly though. They can take over.”
“Did you not call the police?”
Kelevra shook his head. “There was an attempt on my life. I wouldn’t trust Vitality police. Would you? If so, we’ll have to remedy that. Remind me to read you into all the seedy business half the higher-ups are into. It’ll change your mind. My Retinue will handle it. It’s what they’re for.”
“Does this…happen often?” Rin wasn’t a fan of how casually he was handling all of this. “You were livid a half hour ago, but now you’re…calm? Someone tried to kill you.”
“I’m the Imperial Prince, Flower. It’s bound to happen now and again. For the record, no, this is probably only the second or third time in my life. Don’t worry. Madden won’t be alone, my sister will send a senior officer on her staff to help assist. Whoever took a shot at us won’t get away.”
Rin contacted Calder, a thought crossing his mind. They’d chased after the killer, had a huge blowout—both figuratively and literally—in the woods, and returned and yet…no one else was here. Where was the rest of his class?
“What’s up?” Calder’s voice came through the speaker on the side of the device since Rin hadn’t bothered with the earpiece.
“Hey, where are you?”
“Dorm, why?”
Rin frowned. “Didn’t you receive the alert about the new crime scene?”
“What? No.” The sound of rustling sheets and papers came and then, “Hey, Brenn. Did you get any messages about another crime scene?”
“Let me double-check,” Brennon answered.
Rin spared a glance in Kel’s direction. The Imperial Prince was staring at him, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He’d seemed pretty upset last night about the kiss…
“No,” Brennon finally said. “Why?”
“Neither of us knows anything about that,” Calder told Rin. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll fill you in later. Thanks.” Ending the call, he rested his hands on his hips as he thought through what they knew. “If it was just sent to me, that means we were exclusively targeted.”
“I was,” Kelevra reminded. “They didn’t shoot at you.”
That was true. Rin had been standing closer to the shooter, so it was safe to assume if the plan had simply been to kill anyone who arrived, they would have aimed for him instead. This was a direct attack against Kel.
“They had to have known we’d come together because we’re partners.” That didn’t help narrow down the list of suspects, or even help to formulate one. Rin felt a prickle of frustration and breathed through it. He needed to maintain a clear head. “The number shows up as belonging to the Academy. There was no reason for me not to trust it.”
Now that he’d calmed some, he could sort of see why Kelevra’s initial reaction had been so suspect him. It wasn’t like the two of them had partaken in many civil conversations either.
“Since we’re already out, let’s go get lunch,” Kelevra suggested then, clearly not understanding the reason when Rin frowned at that.
“What about Nila?”
“What about her?” Kel slipped his hands into his front pockets.
“…Aren’t we going to report her at least? She’s dead. Her family and friends should be made aware.”
“I suppose.”
Rin stared at him quietly for a moment. He recognized that empty expression on Kel’s face. His brother wore it whenever he thought no one was looking. “You’re not remorseful.”
He quirked a brow. “You know I don’t feel things like that.”
