My phone vibrates in my pocket for the fifth time in an hour.
It’s not Mara, because she blocked me sometime last night. Clark Black can try to keep his daughter away, but we’re not about to let that slide.
I slip around a knot of gossiping underclassmen. They’re chattering about the murder, voices high with morbid excitement.
“… heard they think it’s Levi from Delta Sigma…”
I tune them out. The details of Asher’s death aren’t my priority right now, Mara is. Where is she? Is she safe? Why the hell would she block our numbers?
Once I reach the meeting place near the liberal arts building, I find Talon casually leaning against a pillar, thumbing through his phone. Dredyn is pacing a short line beside him like a caged panther. He’s still seething from Mara being taken, and all the fallout from Asher’s death. I stride over and fall into step at Dredyn’s side. He doesn’t look at me—his stare is fixed on the doors of Hastings Hall—but he gives a brief nod of acknowledgment.
Talon slides his phone away. “Our boy should be out any minute.”
A cluster of students spill out of the doorway, laughing and chattering after their lecture. Among them, I spot a head of artfully-styled chestnut hair and a flash of a bright, patterned bomber jacket.Zane Beaumont. He’s walking with his eyes on his phone, oblivious.
In two long strides, Dredyn intercepts Zane’s path. Before Zane can react, Dredyn’s massive hand fists the front of Zane’s bomber jacket and slams him back against the brick wall of the hallway. The remaining students skitter away with startled gasps.
Talon is right behind. “Private conversation, folks. Move along,” he barks. The curious onlookers scatter; no one wants trouble with Omega Chi Kappa’s infamous trio.
Zane recovers from the surprise quickly. To his credit, he doesn’t shriek or cower. Instead, he sneers up at Dredyn. “If you wanted my attention, Steele, you could’ve just sent a text.”
Dredyn bares his teeth in something like a grin. “Keep yapping, Beaumont,” he growls. “See what happens.” He doesn’t loosen his grip. At five-eleven, Zane isn’t small, but Dredyn holds him, pinned one-handed, like he weighs nothing at all.
I step in silently, glancing once down the hall to ensure no professors or campus police are watching yet. In one smooth motion, I shoulder open the nearest door—an empty faculty office—and jerk my chin at Dredyn.Inside.He understands immediately, frog-marching Zane through the doorway. Talon slinks in after them, and I slip in last, quietly closing the office door behind us. The lock clicks under my thumb.
Zane straightens his jacket with a huff as Dredyn finally releases him, then he backs up against the desk, smoothing a hand over his chest where Dredyn grabbed him. “Jesus. All this fuss just to talk? You boys really know how to make a guy feel special.”
Talon steps forward, flipping a chair around to straddle it casually. He rests his arms on the chair back, eyeing Zane with alazy grin. “We aim to please,” Talon says lightly. “Now, how about you return the favor and answer a few questions?”
Zane rolls his eyes dramatically. “Ugh, twenty questions with the Sinful Trinity? Lucky me.” He flicks his gaze in my direction and adds, with a mocking pout, “Though I guess it’ll be more like nineteen questions, since Jasper here doesn’t exactly do the talking thing.”
Dredyn takes a menacing step closer, but I swiftly raise my hand in a small gesture. “Hold.”He halts instantly. One subtle sign from me is all it takes to rein him in. Dredyn trusts my read on a situation, and right now, I want Zane to keep talking, not choke on his own teeth. Zane notices my intervention, and I see confusion ripple across his face. He was expecting Dredyn to throw the next punch, but instead, the big guy stopped on my silent command. That realization makes Zane swallow hard.
“Listen, Zane,” Talon says, “We’re not here to play around. Mara’s gone MIA—blocked our calls, vanished. We know her father had a hand in it, we just need the details. And you’re going to give them to us.” The pleasant lilt of his voice only heightens the underlying threat.
Zane crosses his arms over his chest, lifting his chin. “Even if I did know something, why would I tell you?” He sniffs. “So you three can go storming the castle? Please. Haven’t you done enough damage? Her dad’s livid, in case you missed that memo, too.”
Dredyn bristles, planting one huge palm on the desk beside Zane, leaning in. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snarls. “We didn’t do a damn thing to Mara.” Well, not in the way Zane’s implying, at least. Not yet.
Zane doesn’t back down, which is either brave or stupid. Probably both. He glowers up at Dredyn. “No? You nearly broke one of her father’s security goons last night trying to stop them from taking her. And let’s not forget the other chaos you kings of campus manage to cause on a weekly basis.” He ticks an invisiblelist on his fingers. “Public scandals, underground fights, some lovely hazing incidents?—”
Talon snorts a laugh. “You say that like you’re not impressed,darling.”
Zane aims a withering look at Talon. “The only thing that impresses me is that Mara put up with you psychos.”
I catch Zane’s eye and hold it. My stare doesn’t waver. I say nothing—I never do—but I let him see the promise in my gaze. We will not leave here without answers.
Zane’s defiant facade falters. He wet his lips, the first real crack in his composure. “Look, guys…” he starts, shifting on his feet. “I—I don’t know what you want me to say. Mara’s gone. I’m as in the dark as you are.”
He’s lying. It’s subtle, but I spot the tell: a flicker of his eyes toward the door, a reflexive twitch as he saysin the dark. Zane knows something.
Talon sighs, a dramatic, put-upon sound. “Zane, Zane, Zane…” he muses, shaking his head. “You’re a terrible liar. Cute, but terrible.” He drums his fingers on the back of the chair. “Let’s try this another way. How about we list what we do know, and you can fill in the blanks?”
Without waiting for permission, Talon begins ticking off points on his fingers in a parody of Zane’s earlier gesture. “Point one: Yesterday, after class, Mara’s dear daddy and his goons swooped in. Dredyn, here, attempted to intervene in his… diplomatic way.” Talon smirks as Dredyn grunts. “Didn’t work out. Mara was taken away in Daddy’s armored car. True so far?”
Zane presses his lips together but gives a small nod. True.
“Point two: The night before, Asher Blackwood, was conveniently murdered on campus. Big scandal, everyone’s on edge. Now Mara’s father—presidential hopeful and notorious control freak, Clark Black—is extra spooked. So he decides to keep his little girl under lock and key for a while. Perhaps until things cool off… say, after the election in three weeks?” Talon cocks his head. “Am I warm?”
