A fist thumped against something hard.
“And he’s not the only one,” Ms. West simpered. “Ayaz Demir has been working awfully hard on a history project. They’ve been studying in his room. Every night. With the door firmly locked.”
Something made of wood splintered.Geez, someone’s having a tantrum.“What kind of bordello are you running here?” Vincent boomed. “Ayaz should not have been paired up with her. This is ridiculous.”
“I have it on good authorityTreywas the one who allowed her and her two friends to take the initiation and wear the mark,” Damon added. “There are students who wish to see the old order restored but are too afraid of Trey to cross him. Now, if Quinn were allowed to—”
“Yourson is an even bigger problem.” Gloria Haynes spoke for the first time. From her husky voice, I guessed she kept that slim figure of hers by eating nothing but drywall and smoking a couple of packs a day. “Quinn Delacorte has been telling other students this Hazel is hisgirlfriend.”
“He wouldn’t!” Damon’s voice boomed. “I’ll tear his throat out with my own hands.”
Quinn tensed. I squeezed his hand.Not if I stop you, you fucking abuser.
“Silence!” Ms. West boomed.
A chair scraped back. I imagined the Deadmistress standing up to her full height, her black skirts sweeping around her ankles, looking every bit a villainous Morticia Addams. “I have been the steward of this fine establishment for twenty-three years. I gave my life to babysitting your spoiled brats in the name of our god, of our mission. I have sat in this very room more times than I can count and listened to you undermine my every decision. I must ask, when am I to receivemyreward?”
“You of all people know the greatest reward is service to our deity,” said Damon.
“I do, and I’ve been serving faithfully inside this prison while you’ve all been enjoying your power in the outside world. I was promised that after ten years I would be able to leave this place,” Headmistress West leveled. “That deadline has come and passed, and yet I am still here, still repeating the same infernal lessons and chaperoning inane Halloween parties. What good is this power if I am cannot wield it?”
“You’ll have no reward if you don’t rein in the students,” Bloomberg said. “Starting with my son.”
“And mine,” added Damon. “And sort out the Turk while you’re at it. He never should have been allowed here in the first place. If I’d known my son would be schooling with a terrorist—”
“Watch your mouth,” Vincent warned.
“What’s up, Bloomberg? Can’t deny you’ve got the Middle East on your payroll?” Damon smirked. “But back to the topic at hand – those boys cannot be allowed to ruin this for all of us because they can’t keep their dicks in their pants. I expect swift and decisive action.”
My fingers tightened around Quinn. He squeezed back.
“As much as I hate to admit this, the boys are not the problem,” Gloria Haynes said. “It’s the girl, Hazel. She’s a boil infecting this whole school. Hermia, I demand that something be done or I’ll be removing my generous patronage from Derleth Academy.”
“Good. We don’t want your kind here, anyway,” Vincent snapped. “This place turned to the dogs as soon as we let innewmoney.”
“My money is just as good as yours, Vincent,” Gloria shot back. “In fact, it’s better, sincemyheir hasn’t squandered my fortune on a failed startup.”
“You take that back!” Vincent thundered. “It wasn’t Wilhem’s fault the market shifted—”
“Sit down, Vincent. Now, Gloria,” Ms. West cooed. “Let’s not get carried away. We greatly appreciate your donations to this school, and—”
“I’lldeal with Hazel Waite,” Vincent’s voice dripped with menace. “I’ll find leverage. She’ll fall into line.”
Ms. West snorted. “You’re not equipped to deal with this. She’s an orphan. She has no family. Over the first quarter she has shown remarkable resilience to the torments of her fellow students. She has no attachments, no weakness to exploit.”
“You underestimate my resources. There’salwaysleverage. You just haven’t been looking in the right places.” I imagined Vincent standing up, buttoning his immaculate suit jacket and indicating the meeting was over. “You focus on regaining control of this school and making sure those boys of ours toe the line.”
Chairs scraped. The Eldritch Club members left the office, murmuring their secret plans to each other. Quinn and I remained in the dark tunnel, clinging to each other as the weight of their words locked us in place.
Vincent Bloomberg was coming for me, with the entire force of the senior Eldritch Club behind him. How the fuck was I going to deal with that?
Chapter Twenty
I found Trey in an empty locker room, the same place he went to collect himself after his father yelled at him on the lacrosse field the day he’d injured Quinn’s eyes. He sat on the same bench, staring at a row of empty lockers, his cruel mouth set in a firm line, his hands clasped so tight the knuckles had turned white.
I sat down on the bench beside him. “Hey.”
He grunted.
