I waved the paper in Trey’s face. “If you were trying to find me, why didn’t you just ask Greg and Andre? According to this, they knew where I was well before you did.”
Trey bristled. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. I didn’t need to hear. I knew what he was going to say.
It never occurred to him because even when someone dear to him was in trouble, people of his status didn’t associate with people like Greg and Andre.
Well, that was going to fucking change.
Andre tore off his second paper and handed it to me. “Greg was making plans to leave school and look for you. He found a map of Dunwich in the library. He was stashing food and water in case he had to go the whole way on foot. He was going to leave that night when they took him away. Sadie says she can’t find him anywhere, and she’s looked in all the dark corners of the school. She even checked Ms. West’s ‘laboratory,’ whatever that means, but she says it’s been cleared out. Nothing left.”
I shoved Andre’s note into Trey’s hands and turned to my friend. “I’m here now, and we’re going to find him. They can’t have sent Greg to Dunwich. That place is toast, literally. So he must still be on the grounds somewhere—”
BANG. THUMP.
I froze as sounds came from the hallway. The door handle rattled.
“Open this door!” A muffled voice commanded.
Chapter Seventeen
Trey yelped as I shoved him to the floor. “Shut up,” I hissed, crawling under Greg’s bed and gesturing at him to get under Andre’s. Trey indicated the cold floor, the smudges of filth and unidentified particles – as if he had to worry about sullying his already filthy clothes. I made a slashing motion across my throat. This was no time for his pretty rich boy concerns. He wasn’t too good for the floor if it would save his life.
BANG BANG BANG.
The door rattled on its hinges. Trey’s eyes widened. He scrambled under the bed, coating himself in even more dirt and grime. I wished I had a camera to capture the moment forever. Andre yanked down the covers on the beds to better hide us from view. Then he flung open the door.
A figure barged past Andre and strode inside like he owned the place. The door slammed shut behind him.
“I heard voices from this room, which means you’ve either listening to contraband beat poets or you’re hiding a lover. Please tell me you’re getting some tail, because a guy with your physique is going to waste being celibate.”
My heart skipped.That familiar voice. That jocular tone. That complete disregard for the brevity of the situation. It has to be, but it can’t…
“Quinn?” The word escaped my throat before I could stop it. I clamped a hand over my mouth. I didn’t know if Quinn had been turned like Ayaz, if he was still on my side. If he’d ever been on my side to begin with.
In an instant, the figure dropped to his knees and flung back the blankets. The smile that broke out across his face melted my heart. “Hazy, you sly minx. I knew you’d be back to save us all.”
Quinn reached under the bed and grabbed my shoulder, dragging me out and wrapping me in his arms. The warmth of his embrace told me everything I needed to know. Quinn Delacorte may not know how to take anything seriously, but he had my back.
After not nearly long enough, Quinn broke the hug, holding me at arm’s length and twirling me around as though we were waltzing. “Let me take a look at you. No broken bones, no missing limbs. What about that delicious brain of yours? Still intact?”
I rubbed my head, a smile playing over my lips. “Still intact, but it was a close call.”
“What am I, chopped liver?” Trey poked his head out from under the bed. Quinn reached down and gripped Trey’s arm, pulling him to his feet.
“Sorry, Bloomberg. I didn’t see you down there in the dirt. I was starting to think they’d caught you, too.” Quinn said it in his usual jokey manner, but the way he gripped Trey’s forearm betrayed how worried he’d been.
“What are you doing down here?” I asked.
“Didn’t Trey tell you?” Quinn pointed over his shoulder at the door. “The Kings have fallen. Trey and I have been disowned. Our parents are no longer supporting our fine education, so we can’t keep our fancy dorm rooms upstairs. We’ve been stripped of most of our merit points for helping you escape out the window. We’re bunking in your old room, which is a complete rat-infested shithole, if you don’t mind my saying.”
I glanced at Trey in surprise. “You didn’t think to mention this?”
He shrugged. A flash of something passed over his features for a moment. Hurt. Even after everything his father had done, there was still that little boy inside Trey who hungered for his dad’s approval and who was mortified to fall from favor.
Well, too damn bad. This was about so much fucking more than wounded pride.
“Trey hasn’t adjusted well,” Quinn said. “That’s why he volunteered to go after you. It was the best of our shitty options.”
Quinn’s voice bounced off the walls. I grabbed Andre’s towel off the hanger and stuffed it under the door. “Can you keep it down? I don’t want our voices to carry.”
