Sylvan has suddenly gone very still underneath me.
It seems as if Faust is likely the only person in the world he’s afraid of, and I can’t figure out if it’s solely because he’s Sylvan’s captain, or if there’s something else to fear. Or maybe, as Sylvan does, he’s faking it all.
“They found another body.” Faust’s words as he stands at the back of the couch.
I’m watching him. Sylvan is watching me. But he’s lost all of his smugness. None of his erection. And instead of gripping my skull so tight I can’t get up, he starts to stroke my hair.
“What?” It’s the only word that comes to my mind.
Another body? Like Jackson was just part of a chain of them? Like there’s a fucking serial killer? That can’t be true.
This will be impossible to hide.
And I should be ashamed that’s my first thought, but I’m not.
Faust’s gaze tangles with Sylvan’s fingers in my hair. His focus stays there when he keeps talking.
“On campus. In the dark behind some bushes. By House Memorial.”
The library.
I’ve spent many nights there as the sun went down and came up again writing an essay last minute. I always seem to ace them that way.
“Who?” I ask, like Faust will have the answer. But how does he know a body was found anyway? And is that what Sylvan wanted to tell me? Was he telling the truth all along? I thought it was some ploy to get me alone for reasons I didn’t understand but did Faust really want to tell me this himself and Sylvan was the bait to draw me in?
But that begs the question… Why wouldn’t Faust just text me the news? Unless he doesn’t want to look guilty? But why would he be worried about that unless he was? Then again, I never Googled these two boys for fear of the same. We don’t know the protocol for “potential murder suspect,” do we?
Are we both overly paranoid, afraid to put much in writing, or is one of us hiding something more?
I think of those ominous texts on my phone before Will came into my house. The ones I thought were from him, but he said he lost his cell. I never told anyone about those. I don’t know why it matters now, but for some reason, it’s at the forefront of my mind.
Faust’s focus slowly finds me again.
The music is loud once more, beyond the closed door to the private room, but it doesn’t really touch us.
Like we’re in our own nightmare bubble that’s getting ready to burst. I can tell, because of the look on Faust Darling’s face. His brows together, his lips pressed tight.
“Tell her.” Sylvan murmurs the words, and I feel them on my mouth.
Faust shifts his weight. Stares back at me.
Then he says, “Jackson’s friend. Will Barbour.”
My body freezes.
I don’t think I’m breathing.
Because I remember what the man underneath me said before. After he broke Will’s nose.
You can consider Will Barbour gone, Neve. He’ll never bother you or cross your path again.
TWENTY
FAUST
“So where wereyou, the past few hours, Fausty?” Sylvan’s words slide under my skin as I sit across from him in the private room of Castle’s.
Every bone in my body wants to break every bone in his.
