Grace takes half of the notes, and I take the other half. They’re all at random times, random dates, and there’s nothing that could indicate a clear pattern. Sometimes, they would gather multiple times a week, then there would be a break, and they’d meet once a month.
“This is getting on my nerves,” I bite the inside of my cheek. “Hold on.”
Grace pauses, looking at me with a raised brow. “What?”
“If Astrid’s getting these, then we can assume all the other members are getting them, too.”
“Yes,” Grace drawls out. “We’ve been over that. What’s the point?”
“The point is that if they’re all gathering, Astrid knows who they are. It’s possible she even knows who’s behind the site as a whole.”
Grace’s eyes widen as realization dawns on her. “My God! I always thought it was one person, then we figured it was multiple, but I thought at best it would be three or four. We could be dealing with an entire team of nosy cunts.”
I laugh. “Yeah, so how do we get the information out of Astrid?”
“You can always beat her up again,” she offers with a casual shrug.
“I highly doubt it. I got lucky because I was angry, and adrenaline was pumping in my veins. I don’t think I’d be able to get her down again without the shock factor, and I assure you, she’s definitely being careful now.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Grace says, determined. “I want to know who’s so fucking nosy, and who’s behind it all.”
“We just have to figure out how.”
My phone rings, and Grace’s buzzes at the same time. We exchange a look of disbelief, then glance down at the devices. A small frown is on my face when I unlock it and open the message.
“I’m always one step ahead, bitches. Catch me if you can.”
And the next thing that comes through is the attached image of Grace and me, taken not even a minute ago, inside of Astrid’s room.
Chills run down my body, and I take a deep breath. Grace and I silently stare at each other, then slowly turn around. On the desk behind us is a photo frame with the image of Astrid, Soren, Nina, and their parents. And one of the decorative gems flicker.
“Fucking hell,” Grace sighs. “I guess we got caught.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Wait,” Grace pauses, taking her phone out, and when I glance over to see what she’s looking at, my entire face pales a couple of shades.
No one’s supposed to have those images, and now, they’re all over Sinners and Saints.
FORTY-ONE
Cassia is sitting next to me, and Kenzo’s visibly uncomfortable. She’s taken over the dorm as her own, and no matter how much I tell her to fuck off, it only seems to encourage her further. Even her smell is making me nauseous, and I’m really trying not to commit a homicide while on the campus. If we were anywhere else, she would’ve been dead a long time ago.
“Soren,” Cassia turns to look at me, then shoves her notes in my chest. “Do the assignment for me.”
“No.”
She blinks. “What do you mean by ‘no’?”
“I mean, no way in hell am I doing your fucking assignment for you. Have you not grown up mentally since high school? Because you’re acting like a stupid teenage girl.”
Her jaw clenches, and her eyes snap to Kenzo at the sound of his laughter. He tries to cover it up with a cough, hiding his face behind the book he’s been pretending to read for the past thirty minutes. His body’s trembling in silent laughter, and he becomes thesecond one I’ll murder as soon as I get the chance.
“Stop laughing,” Cassia grunts. She’s aware that Kenzo’s very much a brooding, stoic type. It’s very difficult to rile him up, and she’s not been successful thus far. In fact, it only worsens her mood whenever he ignores her, which he does all the time. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s funny because it’s true,” Kenzo drawls out, lowering the book. “What’s the endgame here, Cassia? You won’t keep Soren to yourself, and even if you do use all the information you have against Sophia, she’ll end up crushing you. This is very much a lose-lose situation for you. Why bother?”
“None of your damned business,” she snaps. “Besides, she won’t retaliate. She won’t have the guts to.”
