“I don’t have a good feeling about this.” I whisper.
Lacing his fingers into mine, he squeezes and gives me a sympathetic look. “Dont worry, I’ve got you, Wife.”
’You two are taking this too seriously.” Cardinal hisses.
We follow the hanging lights through the trees to the back garden, each brush of movement in the wild growths making me pause. Even at night there's no relent from the last heatwave of summer, but the wind shakes the branches with a promise of change.
She wastes no time and calls everyone from their search, waving the piece of paper in the air. “Can everyone come to the dining room! I have a secret to reveal.” Her voice, to my surprise, travels far across the gardens. Most of the guests are in the pool house as suspected, Phoenix barges out of the facility pouting, shoulders hunched in defeat. The guys trail behind him and I bet he made each of them hunt every crevice for the clue.
I stay with my team as we climb the patio steps and enter the house, Cardinal pushing the loose drapes aside for us—Willow glides past him without as much as a thank you.
“Thanks, big boy.” I say walking under next, earning me a grumpy huff from him. The dining room is still dimly lit like before, but the table has been cleared of plates and our empty glasses. The stillness of the room is what makes the change in the room so obvious—theres a body laid on the floor, and it takes me a brief moment to see that it’s Aya. Her eyes are closed, strands of hair splayed across her face and she’s laid just beside the head of the table, where she had been sitting earlier.
My heart stops, but then Bran's warm laughter breaks the sickening silence. “The first murder! I didn’t expect it to be Aya.”
Her brother scowls. “It doesn’t surprise me. She probably wants to get out of playing the game.”
None of us move closer to the staged scene and I can’t take my eyes from her. She’s doing a really good job at remaining still.
“Quickly, take everything in! That’s what they do on detective shows.” Jay says, causing a genuine laugh to bubble up in me. We share a friendly smile with each other and I remind myself to try to make an effort to get to know everyone.
I don't see her slide in from outside, but Lily clasps her hands together with excitement. “Great idea Darling, no one touches a thing!”
“No one’s dusting for prints, Lil.” Phin claims, clearly annoyed he didn't find the secret first.
Moving closer, I scan over the scene, noting the red line along Aya’s neck, but nothing else seems out of place. Maggie did a brilliant job tidying up the dinner party, so the room looks sparse.
Corbin strides into the room through the door into the actual house itself, taking us all in and stopping when he notices whatwe’re looking at. His expression of indifference doesn’t change as he looks over his fiancée, laid on the floor.
“I hope he’ll murder himself off next so they both can leave the weekend early.” Merle whispers in my ear and I nod, because I’d love that too.
Sliding both hands into his pockets he stands straighter, giving the crowd of guests a smile which I know is hisbusinessexpression. “Let’s all go out onto the patio.”
Assuming this is where Aya will finally get up and make her escape before we see her, we all trail back outside. We’re all bathed in warm light from the hanging lanterns, but shadows circle on the floor from the twisting mirror balls—the gardens are now a ghost party.
We wait a couple of silent minutes, before Corbin and Lily finally come out, and Willow wastes no time in taking center stage, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she unrolls the paper. “Looks like our dear Phoenix has been a very, very naughty boy.” My head snaps to Wren because I feel his body stiffen to stone, my stomach dropping when I then look to my best friend, finding terror swirling in his usually soft eyes. He’s staring at Wren too.
“Master Buchanan has been on a secret cocaine binge and depleted most of his savings.” She reads out loud, the only other person who seems to share her enjoyment is Corbin. He leans against the bifold doors with his ankles crossed, a smug smile on his lips.
Already tears build in the back of my eyes, a shaky breath escaping me as I take a step away from the small crowd, desperately needing space. Phin gets a moment's reprieve before all eyes fall on him, letting out a soft whimper.
I can’t grasp how Corbin could be so cruel to his own blood, sharing this at an event that was meant to be for their businessopening. Merle looks horrified and starts to slowly shake his head.
“You fucking bastard.” Wren vibrates with anger and I realise he must have already known. That's why they were looking at one another.
Phoenix is as still as a statue, but his eyes bounce around everyone in a panic. He doesn't look up at his brother, or his boyfriend, instead he frantically pings from both myself and Wren.
“Phin?” My voice is too hoarse to say anything more, and tears finally spill onto my cheeks. I knew deep down something had been off. The badly timed trip to the coast seems so obviously suspicious now in hindsight.
I’d kept the worry to myself, not wanting to cause any unneeded stress for Merle, he was already pissed that he'd taken off and opted out of helping launch the hotel. Phin had been clean when they met and it took a long time for him to open up about his past drug problem.God. I'm such a fool for ignoring the red flags. How had I not noticed?
Ripping my eyes away, I face Corbin. “He’s your brother! Why would you do this to him?”
I don’t know what shocks me more, the fact he laughs or when he wiggles his fingers in a goodbye, spinning into the house. The betrayal of being left in the dark cracks me open like he used a butter knife, lodging it in my chest and slowly digging it in. He didn’t trust me to help, but for some reason he found solace in Wren.
Phoenix flings himself at his boyfriend, but he pushes him back and slams his palm loudly on the table. “No!” Merle shouts, pointing a finger in an attempt to keep him back, before bounding into the dark house too.
Visibly shaking, he finally turns to face me. “Wren helped me get better. He. Fuck. Robin—” Wren’s broad frame wrapshimself around him, tucking his blonde head under his chin, as his body continues to shake. I meet guarded green eyes, ready to protectmybest friend from me. Narrowing my eyes, the familiar feeling of blaming everything on him comes to the forefront of my stupid, naive brain.
