Dylan stiffened slightly at the mention of Cherry. “Have you heard from her at all?” he asked quietly, leaning closer. “Since she was sentenced?”
“Nope. Have you?”
He shook his head, and so did the other two. “Not a peep.”
“I guess she’s actually doing what we told her, then,” I said, arching a brow. “Staying silent.”
Jeremiah’s lips pressed into a thin, grim line. “Good,” he muttered under his breath.
“Sorry to bring this up on a happy night like this, but seeing as we’re already on the subject…” Ginny hesitated and leaned closer to me, eyes filled with sympathy. “How are you doing with the anniversary coming up soon?”
She didn’t have to specify which anniversary she was referring to. I already knew. In just five weeks, it would be exactly two years since my sister’s death.
I swallowed hard and folded my hands on my lap beneath the table. “I’m okay,” I said softly. “It’s not something I’ll ever really get over. But it gets easier, day by day. Especially because I have you guys and Julian around. That really helps.”
“How about Roman?” Dylan asked, brows knitting. “How’s he been dealing with it?”
“He’s still grieving, but he’s getting better,” I replied. “He’s been spending a lot of time in California with my mom, and that’s really helping him.”
“Hold up.” Jeremiah lifted a palm. “Yourmom?”
I waved a hand. “It’s nothing weird. They’re actually really helping each other,” I said. “They hang out together and talk about Cal. Share memories and so on. It helps them with their grief. And it’s also good because I’m still so busy with school, so Ican’t get back home to visit Mom all that much. So I’m glad she’s got Roman there so often, because I think it’s really good for her to have the company right now. And at this point, Roman’s practically part of the family anyway, since I’m about to marry his brother.”
“That’s actually really sweet,” Ginny said, smiling faintly. She cocked her head. “Do you think he’ll ever fall in love again?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “If he does, it won’t be anytime soon. But I do hope it happens for him one day. He deserves to be happy, and I know it’s what Cal would want for him.”
Jeremiah nodded slowly. Then he lifted his glass. “To Cal,” he said, voice slightly husky.
The rest of us raised our drinks too. “To Cal,” we echoed, clinking our glasses together.
After we’d all taken a sip, Ginny lifted her glass again. “And now, on a much lighter note… to Violet!” she said, eyes glimmering as she smiled at me. “Who somehow survived being kidnapped by a secret society and came out the other side engaged to a billionaire.”
“I wasn't kidnapped,” I protested, laughing. “More like... aggressively recruited.”
“Tomato, to-mah-to,” Dylan said, grinning. He clinked his glass against mine. “Either way, you're getting married tomorrow, and we're all here to celebrate with you tonight.”
I smiled, warmth spreading through my chest. I was so glad and grateful that these three were still at BHU. They were all doing postgrad work now—Jeremiah in computer science, Dylan in film production, Ginny in theater tech—which meant they'd be staying for at least another year or two.
If they'd left after graduation like most seniors did, I'd have started my senior year alone, seeing as I hadn’t made any other friends on campus last year. Only casual acquaintances in classes.
I was still friends with some of the girls from my Selection cohort, but none of them had chosen to return to campus for in-person classes. They'd all stuck with distance learning, finding it easier to disappear into their new lives with their Reapers.
I understood why. Coming back to BHU had been weird at first. Random people frequently came up to me and asked questions about the Selection that I couldn't answer, and acquaintances I'd made earlier in the semester repeatedly asked where I'd been for those three months after the hunt.
I'd stuck to the cover story—internship at the Valcourt Institute, very exclusive, no outside communication allowed—but I could tell most people didn't quite believe it. Eventually, though, the questions died down. People moved on, and I settled back into campus life.
Dylan gave me a sideways glance, one eyebrow arched. “I have a question for you, Vee,” he said. “About your future in-laws.”
Jeremiah playfully elbowed him. “You know she can’t talk about the—”
Dylan cut him off. “I wasn’t asking aboutthat,” he said hurriedly. He looked at me again. “Don’t worry, Vee, I know we’re not supposed to ask about the Club. I just wanted to know what Julian’s parents are like.”
I leaned back and blew out a long breath. “Well, to put it delicately, Julian’s dad isn’t always the easiest person to deal with.”
“Hey, none of this ‘putting things delicately’, please,” Ginny said, waggling a finger. “Give us the juicy deets.”
I laughed. “Okay, to be frank, I think he’s a hardnosed prick with deep-seated anger issues who pretty much hates everyone and everything,” I said. “But he respects me now. I know that much. And with him, I’d say that’s a huge win.”
