“Fuck off, Brentwood,” Darika threatens in a low voice. “Come near my girl and I’ll hex your balls off.”
I silence Darika with a jerky shake of my head, staring down at Jaime Brentwood. At my feet, he clutches his chest with a hiss and lets out a howl of anguish that will haunt my dreams for weeks to come.
But above that howl, echoing in my head, sick delight in the words, is Andrew Radcliffe.
Traitors must suffer.
* * *
The answers Jaimeso desperately sought at my feet are slow to come, even slower to trickle back to the omega residences. The five of us left huddle in the omega lodge, our honor guards all at the door, talking in low voices.
“You don’t think she’s… she’s dead, do you?” Alyssa ventures, slumping against the counter.
I shake my head. “Saints, I hope not.”
Alyssa considers this for a moment. “What was up with Jaime Brentwood the other day? I thought for sure he was going to hex you, but instead…”
“They’re mates,” Bridget says quietly. “Trinity and Jaime.”
“No way she’d mate that prick,” Bitsy protests. “He’s part of Rad’s gang!”
“Jaime’s not… he’s not who he appears to be,” I hedge. “Not at all. But Andrew Radcliffe, well, he’s worse.”
“Trinity told you, then?” Bridget asks, her voice hushed.
“You knew Heather,” I realize.
“We were… we were the best of friends.”
“Oh, saints, Bridget. I’m so sorry.”
“Who’s Heather?” Ellie asks, drifting around the kitchen behind Alyssa, picking up pots and pans as the other omega finishes using them, each trying to stay busy in their own way.
“We were in the same freshman class,” Bridget says quietly. “Rad took a liking to her—more than that, really. He was obsessed with her. And… and she ended up dead because of it. The news claimed it was a suicide but…”
“But Pack Radcliffe lined some pockets or threatened some mage inspectors,” I finish. “Jaime managed to get close enough to Rad to learn some of his secrets and tried to tell me this one. When I pulled my scribe on him, I guess he thought I’d be more receptive if Trinity told me. So, she showed me her mating bite and she explained…”
“Because she thinks you’re next,” Ellie realizes, setting a pot down with a heavy clang.
“Leigh was right.” Bitsy stops pacing and throws herself down onto the stool beside mine. “Everything is fucking bullshit.”
Everythingisfucking bullshit.
And I know, without even a sliver of doubt, that it’s all going to get so much worse.
* * *
I’m summonedto the headmaster’s office early Saturday morning, escorted by both Marcus and Ian.
My Casting professor looks even more haggard than he usually does by the time our evening lessons roll around.
He scrubs at his face and the shadow of dark stubble around his jaw. “Professor Cadigan and I were checking the wards around the omega residences late into the night.” He slants a look in my direction. “What have you heard?”
“Trinity is missing,” I say, dully.
And it could be all my fault. If Rad did take her, he as good as told me he planned to. Moreover, Trinity told me about what Rad did out of concern for me.
“The mage inspectors think she went missing from within the omega residences.”
