“How?” I scrape out.
“I saw him on the cams about a week ago and tracked him to your room. Once I knew what to look for, I tracked him coming back almost every night.”
“You did?” I can feel the blood draining from my face, and the world sways around me. “Does anyone else know?”
“Just Liam.”
Liam is in charge of our security systems, so if Anthony saw him on the cams, then of course Liam did too.
“And you didn’t say anything?”
He shakes his head.
“Why not?”
He gives me a long look. “Do you remember back during hell week when you didn’t take me out during the Hunt when you had the chance to win?”
I nod. He knows about that? I thought I did a good job of covering it up and he was unaware for all these years.
The incident in question happened when we were both pledges, and we were forced to participate in the frat’s annual Hunt challenge. My strategy was to hide for as long as possible while Anthony and the others did the challenge properly and spent hours tracking and hunting each other to be the last man standing.
I had the chance to take Anthony out when we were the last two left alive, but I didn’t. Winning wasn’t important to me, and it was obviously important to him, so it was a no-brainer to let him have it and pretend like I never had the chance to win at all.
“I owed you one, so that was me paying my debt.”
I stare at him for a few beats. “This feels like an overpayment considering how many rules I broke and how much shit you could get in for helping me cover it up.”
“I thought about turning you in, but I decided to track him to get the full picture of what the fuck was going on.”
“And you still kept quiet even after having the bigger picture?” I can’t help asking.
He gives me a long look, and I resist the urge to squirm under his scrutiny.
“He had the ability to go anywhere in the house and could have fucked with our security or done a dozen other things to sabotage us, but he didn’t. He only ever went to your room. I figured it was better to keep an eye on things than it was to tattle on you guys. Information is the most powerful thing you can have around here, and any leverage I can get over the Hawthornes was worth the risk of being an accomplice.”
“But we broke the rules,” I say stupidly, still trying to process everything. “He got past our security. Multiple times.”
He chuckles. “I know. I was tracking him, remember?”
“How are you so chill about this?”
He shrugs again. “I could freak out if you want me to.”
“No,” I blurt. “Definitely don’t want that.”
“So,” he says, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Is that what you wanted to talk to Graycen about?”
I nod, still not fully recovered from the truth bombs he just dropped on me.
Anthony knew about Xave breaking in, and he didn’t get us in trouble. I get what he’s saying about gathering intel and repaying a debt, but I still can’t wrap my brain around any of it.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he says. “You tell me how he’s been breaking in, and I’ll handle Graycen and the others.”
“Really?”
He nods. “And we’ll keep this conversation, and me knowing about this, a secret. Kind of a you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, mutually assured destruction kind of deal.”
“Yeah, okay,” I say quickly. “He has a program that has an interactive map of the house, including access to our cams. That’s how he can get in without being seen. Well, mostly without being seen, since you obviously saw him.”
