I lift a brow. “Doll masks?”
Astrid nods. “Yeah. I’ve never seen anyone without the mask.”
“How many people?”
“Six people, including the person who started it all.”
I take a deep breath, then sit on one of the desks, crossing my legs and crossing my arms in front of my chest. “There’s somethingyou’re not telling me. You’re either going to say it of your own volition, or I’ll get it right out of you, one way or another.”
Astrid’s entire body goes rigid, and I know I hit the nail in the coffin. She takes a small breath, eyes never leaving mine, as if she’s trying to gouge out the sincerity of my threat.
“The only person I can say with full confidence that is a part of Sinners and Saints would be Cassia Greyson.”
“Of course,” I laugh, but the sound lacks genuine humor or any positive emotion. It’s filled with bitterness, and my jaw clenches so hard that I almost chip my tooth. “How do you know?”
“I can recognize that annoying voice anywhere,” Astrid scoffs.
“Fine, then,” Grace says. “Cassia’s one, you’re the second person, that means there’s another three people, and the big boss, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And I do have a question,” I say. “Did she leak that nude of mine?”
“Yes,” Astrid nods, and rage builds inside of me.
“Where are all the meetings happening?”
Astrid bites the inside of her cheek. “The basement. There’s a hidden room in the old lab classroom, behind the cabinet next to the teacher’s desk.”
“A hidden room?” Avalon asks, and it’s the first time she speaks. She’s baffled, looking at Astrid as if she’s grown a second head.
“The academy’s full of them. It was built on the principle of a castle, and there are at least twenty hidden rooms all around.”
“How the hell did we not know about this?”
Astrid rolls her eyes. “Please, Sophia is always too busy trying to kill my brother, or studying. Lila’s always in the damned church, Grace’s busy making people’s lives a living hell, and you’re just… well… boring as hell. You don’t seem like someone who’d be able to figure out there are hidden rooms, anyway.”
“Why, you little—” Avalon mutters, standing abruptly from the chair and moving toward Astrid, ready to strike. Before I can get off the desk and stop her, Grace pulls her back by the wrist.
“I’d watch my mouth if I were you,” Grace says, the threat obvious. “We’re on the third floor. It’d be a shame if you just so happened to fall out the window, right?”
“You’re all bark, no bite,” Astrid says, but her voice cracks a little. “You wouldn’t kill me, would you?”
“Oh, trust me, if I ever decide to go down the road of a criminal, you’re number one on my hit list,” I sigh. “And just because you married Sawyer doesn’t give you any leverage here. I hate you even more.”
Astrid scoffs. “As if I care if you hate me.”
“Oh?” I lift a brow. “Then why is your dorm a replica of mine? Why are you constantly trying to be like me? Is it your insecurity? Or are you simply my biggest fan?”
“That’s not—”
“I don’t care,” I interrupt, lifting my hand and silencing her. “You’re irrelevant to me. I promised I’d ruin you, and I haven’t even started yet.”
“There’s nothing you can use against me, Sophia. I made sure of that.”
“Perhaps,” I shrug. “But you and I both know I excel at playing the victim. All it takes is a couple of tears, a sob story, and some lies, and boom — everyone’s on my side. Everyone is always on my side, Astrid. That’s what you’re so jealous of, isn’t it?”
She doesn’t respond, and I chuckle, hopping off the desk and approaching her. I stop only when I’m close enough that she has noother option but to look up at me, caging her between a desk and my body, my hands gripping either side of the desk.
