He doesn’t want the guys to know he threatened me, and I’m not sure what exactly he meant by the rest of what he said. Obviously, he thinks I know something I don’t, and now I’m very determined to figure out exactly what that is.
CHAPTER 52
SABLE
Cillian may be an absolute freak,but I’m not going to let him ruin my day. Though after that interaction, I might be willing to let the guys ruin his. Cillian’s words stay in my mind as I make my way through the castle and the anxiety he hoped to sew inside my blooms in Technicolor. My Uncle Carl also said something about my mother at Bellthorn before he died, and I fear that everyone who wishes me harm knows more than I do.
A few things are obvious. He hates me. When Lex pulled off that exhibitionist shit in front of Cillian, I thought for an egotistical second he might be into it. A lot of guys have been into me in a superficial way. After a couple of times of him playing nice, I seriously convinced myself he wasn’t that bad, but this interaction has violently corrected my opinion. There’s no faking the kind of hate I saw in his eyes.
He also obviously knows that my mother came to Bellthorn, and it makes me wonder again why this is such a secret. It’s understandable why my parents kept me away from Bellthorn. This place is unhinged and lawless, but why did they lie about Dad being the only one attending? After Nina’s remarks about me not asking many questions, this feels like salt in the wound.I need to learn much more than what I know. The time of preservation is over. I can’t enter a snake den and wish for the best.
Besides that, I can’t do much about Cillian. He’s obviously respected and trusted to teach in his professor’s name. Something tells me taking him on wouldn’t be as physical or as open-and-shut as the boys would like to convince me. In fact, I’m pretty sure Lex has been a bit negligent in dealing with him. Too trusting, I decide, and then laugh aloud because I never thought I would think that about Lex of all people.
Cillian’s little stunt makes me late for my next class, and I don’t have time to cross the castle in the normal fashion. Keeping my head low, I push through the med students, finally making a turn at the west wing. I reach the door I’m searching for, slipping quickly inside and turning left. Lex dragged me through this passage several times last semester, and I remember the turns well. The path requires me to backtrack, first going all the way to the top floor and then back down. Despite the fact that I’m doubling back, it will cut through the whole castle in no time.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I jump halfway out of my skin when someone yells my name.
I turn, with my hand at my throat, heart pounding, and find Nina leaning against the stone wall between the second and third floors. She has an oversized bag of popcorn like you would get from a club store and is happily munching.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask.
“Hi, Nina, how are you?” She mocks my lack of politeness.
I roll my eyes back instead.
“Are you enjoying your bedroom?” she asks, offering me some popcorn.
“No, thanks.” I almost chuckle. “It’s been nice, but I wish you would tell me how you got that key.”
“I wish for fifteen minutes alone with Keanu and Angelina.”
I laugh. “Is this where you’ve been hanging out?”
She lifts a shoulder. “Eh, I don’t like the crowds.”
She’s clearly no longer a student here, not taking classes, and not eating in the cafeteria. So what is she up to?
“Are you hiding?” I ask straight up.
“I’m passing time,” she replies carefully, starting to walk down the stairs. I follow her. “After your boyfriends’ little stunt, people seem to realize I’m not exactly who I say I am.”
“You mean everyone knows you’re a lying cunt?”
My wording doesn’t ruffle her feathers at all. She throws her head back in a laugh. “It made people look my way, so I’m buying time until I know where to go from here. I have many options, money train and all.”
A thought pops in my head, and it’s out of my mouth before I can think better. “What do you know about Cillian, Lex’s little helper?”
“Hmm,” she says. “Not much.”
Nina has proven many times that she knows a lot about this place, so I can’t stop myself from feeling disappointed that she doesn’t have anything juicy to tell me. We move in silence until I see the exit, thankfully still in time for my next class. I know she’s not following me to the main hall, so I turn over my shoulder and send her a smile that surprises even me.
“It was strangely nice bumping into you, Nina.”
My words seem to catch her off guard, and I chuckle at the surprise taking over her face, even when she quickly curses too, destroying the almost nice moment.
“Sable?”
“Yeah?”
