“You can say the words, but you can’t make me believe them. I know all about murder. I know how it twists you up inside.” Andre tapped his pen on the spine of his pad, thinking about his next words. “I know that it leaves a mark on a person’s soul. It makes sense that if you were a creature that devoured souls, you’d find that murderers tasted different. Brussels sprouts instead of chocolate.”
Loretta laughed as she read the words over his shoulder. I hadn’t heard that sound… ever. Her laugh twinkled with mirth and melody – sweet and lifting. Too soon, she reined it back in, drawing into herself and wiping her features clean of mirth. “I like Brussels sprouts,” she said stubbornly.
“Gross.” I wrinkled my nose. “You’re weird.”
On the corner of his pad, Andre doodled a monster with seven eyes poking its tongue out at a plate of Brussels sprouts. I shifted a laugh. “If only it was that easy to be rid of the god’s influence.”
“What will work?” Andre asked.
“It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything to you. Tobothof you.”Everything except the fact that Loretta’s right – the god wants me, and I’m going with him in exchange for your freedom.“Our first step is to make sure every student knows exactly what’s going on and exactly who’s behind it. Then, we need to get Ms. West to tell us how to reverse what’s been done to them, and somehow make sure the Eldritch Club doesn’t come after us and the god doesn’t eat any more souls. It shouldn’t be a problem. Easy peasy.”
Andre scribbled, “Whatever you need me to do to help you to break this, count me the fuck in.”
Chapter Thirty
“There’s an Eldritch Club meeting immediately before the performance,” Trey announced as he slipped in that night.
I looked up from the circle on the floor, where Quinn, Andre, Loretta, and I were putting the finishing touches on our decorations. “How do you know? I thought you weren’t part of the club any longer.”
“I overheard Tillie and Courtney whispering about it. Senior members only. No students allowed—hey, what are you in doing here?” Trey narrowed his eyes at Andre. “Hazel, you know he can’t be here in case he learns too much and the pact—”
“He already knows. He found out the secrets of Miskatonic Prep today,” I said. “Not my doing. I had to talk to Loretta about something, and he snooped on our conversation.”
Trey lunged forward, grabbing Andre’s collar and yanking him to his feet. “Do you know what you’ve done?” he growled in Andre’s face, an impressive feat considering Andre was at least half a head taller than he was.
“Trey, stop it!” I grabbed his wrist, twisting until Trey was forced to let go. “It’s not Andre’s fault. Even if he hadn’t overheard us, he’d put most of it together from things Sadie told him and what we said. There didn’t seem any point keeping the rest from him.”
“Now you’ve lost your protections, and it’s open season on all the scholarship students,” Quinn sighed.
“We’ve survived worse.” I glanced at Loretta and Andre, who both nodded. “If we stick together, we’ll survive this.”
“What was this conversation you two were having, anyway?” Trey narrowed his gaze at Loretta. “I thought you were Courtney’s new BFF? What changed?”
Because we’re the murderers. I smiled at Loretta, who gave me a shaky smile back. “We realized we both want the same thing. Now we have Andre and Loretta on our side, so I call that a win. We can stop worrying about it and focus on the production.” I hoped Trey wouldn’t fixate on the fact I avoided his questions. “Will Ms. West be at the Eldritch Club meeting?”
Trey shook his head. “No teachers are ever invited. The Eldritch Club wouldn’t allow anyone from the middle-class to be privy to their secrets, even if the teachers of this school did sacrifice their lives for the club’s ends. There was enough of an uproar when Gloria Haynes wanted to become a member.”
Andre scribbled on his pad and handed it to Trey. “I don’t understand the old money/new money thing. All money is the same.”
“It’s not,” Trey said, with a hint of bitterness. “Gloria could buy and sell this school and everyone in it. But she lacks something money can’t buy. Respect. A family name. Power. What good is money if you can’t do anything with it? If she wants power and influence, she needs to have people like my father and Quinn’s parents on her side.”
Which is exactly why the teachers chose her as their kidnappee.
“That’s the whole reason I was dating her daughter,” Quinn shrugged. “Daddy said so.”
“But why?” I asked Quinn. “It’s not like you’ll ever grow up and get married.”
“Because our parents have always treated Miskatonic Prep like a chessboard, using us as pawns in their own game.” I’d never heard Quinn sound so bitter. “That didn’t stop just because we died.”
“If there’s drama here, it’s reflected in their machinations out there,” Trey added. “And vice versa. That’s why us shagging you was such a big deal.”
“What about Loretta?” I threw my arm around my new friend. “Surely Courtney befriending her counted as major drama.”
“Oh, it was. But right now everyone wants a piece of Courtney’s mother’s fortune, and they thought allowing Loretta back into the student body would further weaken you, so they had to let it slide. Not that any of it has helped. From what I’ve heard whispered around the school, my dad isn’t the only one losing his youthful good looks and power.”
“This meeting is probably about you, since they think you’re responsible,” Trey glowered at me. “And now you’ve escaped and they can’t find you… you’re not the club’s favorite person.”
I held up my hands and flashed an innocent smile. “I’m just over here, innocently trying to help my friends. If they happen to be suffering because of it, that’s no problem of mine.”
