“We don’t have to tell him,” I shot back. “Ayaz kept all his notes and translations hidden inside Parris’ skin book, and you’d better believe it’ll be more useful to us than it is to Ayaz right now. I know we can’t take photographs of the pages – they just come out blank. So all we have to do is sneak into his room and steal it.” I stood up, but Quinn grabbed my arm.
“That’s not going to be as easy as you think. Ayaz is in Trey’s room now. Vincent gave it to him.”
My heart sank. Whereas Ayaz’s old room was down a corridor without too many other students, Trey’s old room was on the top floor of the dormitories. We’d have to walk through practically the entire dorm to get there… without being seen by a single student. “We don’t even know if the book is still there,” Trey added. “He could have given it to Ms. West, or back to my father.”
My hands balled into fists.I’m doing this for them. They don’t have to fight this so much. If they knew what I agreed to—
“We have to try,” I said through gritted teeth.
Trey and Quinn exchanged a look that said there was no use arguing with me. Which was true. I was doing this, with or without them.
“I’m always down for a suicide mission,” Quinn grinned. “When do you want to pull this ridiculous stunt?”
I turned to Trey. “Next play rehearsal is tomorrow night?” He nodded. “Good. Make sure Ayaz doesn’t leave early. Do whatever you can to keep him there as long as possible without it looking fake. Quinn and I will sneak up to his room and find the book.”
Trey shook his head. “That’s a terrible idea. Students are going to be back and forth at that time of night. If anyone sees you upstairs, they’ll march you straight to Ms. West, and we’ll lose you again.”
I glowered at him. “I’m going. Help or don’t help, I don’t care.”
“She’s not kidding, mate.” Quinn grinned at Trey. “Hey, if you don’t help, that means it’s my job to distract Ayaz. Do you think if I put MC Hammer’s ‘can’t touch this’ on repeat during his monologue, that would do the trick?”
Trey sighed. “Fine. I’ll help. Only because Quinn will turn this into a disaster. But I want it on record that I’m not happy about it.”
“Right. Because you’re usually Mr. Chuckles.” Quinn punched him in the arm. Trey grabbed him around the neck and pretended to do some kind of wrestling move that looked vaguely homoerotic. The boys fell onto the bed laughing. The sound was like an arrow through my heart.
I’d fallen for the Kings of Miskatonic Prep. Totally and utterly. I needed Trey’s possessive protection, Quinn’s boisterous enthusiasm. And Ayaz… my whole being ached for him to be mine again.
In order to save them, I had to leave them forever.
* * *
It was tough waiting a whole night and day before we could sneak into Ayaz’s room. I hated standing still when I knew there was something nearby that could help us. I paced the room, tapping my pen against the desk and bouncing my foot on the edge of the bed while I waited for Quinn and Trey to return from their classes. Above my head, the rats mirrored my jitters.
Finally, the clock ticked over to 4PM and Quinn dashed back into the room, shrugging off his satchel and running his hands through his rumpled surfer hair. Andre followed soon after. He dropped a key in my hand along with one of his handwritten notes. It read, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I hope so too, Andre.
Trey went straight to rehearsal after class. The production was now in dress rehearsals, which meant Ayaz would be occupied until at least 10PM. Theoretically, the dormitory was supposed to be lights out by nine, and teachers would occasionally come through the dormitories in some half-hearted attempt to enforce the rules, but few students obeyed. This was a problem for us because if I was seen in the halls, the whole plan would be ruined.
Which was why Trey had pilfered a couple of black robes from the drama department costume room. Mine had a stiff Dracula collar sewn in, but after ripping that out and adding a hood torn from one of Greg’s old hoodies, it looked identical to the robes the teachers wore. If anyone saw us in the hall, they’d hopefully scamper before stopping to look too closely at our faces.
Quinn went up the stairs first, then called down to me. “It’s clear.” I threw the robe over my shoulder, tugging the hood low so it covered as much of my face as possible, and flew up the stairs after him.
Quinn and I dashed down the hall, past the dorms to the grand staircase that led to the top story, where the richest students had their private suites. As we passed the dorms, I flicked my gaze to the noticeboards hanging outside the students’ doors, where they’d pinned the pictures and notes that offered clues to their past lives, their lives when they thought they had families and futures.
We ascended the staircase. I was just about to step out into the hallway when the sound of a door opening and voices talking reached my ears. Quinn shoved me against the wall, his chest pressed against mine, our hearts pounding together as we strained to listen.
A door slammed. The voices disappeared. Quinn grabbed my hand and yanked me down the hall.
Trey’s suite was the grandest of them all, located right at the end of the hall to take full advantages of the high stained glass windows on both sides. I slid Sadie’s skeleton key into the lock and turned. It clicked easily. I shoved the door open and Quinn and I stumbled inside, pushing the door closed behind us.
Quinn fumbled for the light, but I flicked it off again. “If Ayaz steps out the stage door, he could notice the light on. We don’t want to give away that someone’s in here,” I said, feeling my way along the wall until I reached the bathroom door. Ayaz used to hide the book in his bathroom cabinet. He said when the cleaners wiped down the bathrooms they never looked in the cabinets. I tugged open all the drawers in Trey’s bathroom, trying to ignore Ayaz’s distinctive scent rising off every surface.
The book wasn’t there.
“Shit,” I breathed.
“What?”
