And her. Always her.
Violet, standing in that chamber wearing next to nothing, a flimsy gold mask doing absolutely fuck-all to disguise who she was. At least not from me.
I was sure it was her the second I saw her. Would have recognized her anywhere. Mask or no mask, makeup or no makeup. Her hair was slightly lighter than usual, presumably part of her disguise, but when she turned at one point, I spotted the telltale bruise Kane left on her back.
Fuck. What the hell had she been thinking?
I knew she was looking into the Club, but I never thought she’d be reckless enough to sneak onto the estate. Especially not alone.
I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower, letting the scalding water pound against my skull. It didn't help. Nothing was going to help except coffee and maybe punching something.
By the time I made it downstairs, I'd managed to compartmentalize the worst of it. Shove it into a box labeled ‘deal with later’ and focus on getting through the morning.
The smell of coffee hit me as soon as I entered the kitchen, rich and dark and exactly what I needed. I headed straight for the espresso machine.
“Morning.”
I glanced toward the kitchen island. My brother sat there with a mug cradled in both hands, still wearing last night's clothes. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked like he'd aged five years overnight.
“I didn’t think you’d be up yet,” I said, grabbing a mug.
He'd been absolutely wasted after the ceremony. That wasn’t unusual for him lately, but he'd been particularly determined to obliterate himself last night. I'd watched him down half a bottle of whiskey before I left to ensure Violet made it home safely.
I'd expected to find him passed out until at least noon, or possibly vomiting into a trash can. Instead, here he was. Vertical, conscious, and drinking coffee at seven-thirty like a functional human being.
“Couldn’t sleep,” he said, his voice rough. He paused to take a long sip of coffee. “Haven't been able to get any for a while now. Plus there's so much stuff going on.” He paused, his gaze sharpening as it landed on me. “Speaking of which...”
I braced myself. Whatever was coming next wasn't going to be good.
“Do you know a guy called Kane Sutherland?” he asked.
Shit.I’d known this was coming sooner or later.
“Yeah, he heads up the running club at BHU,” I said, turning back to the espresso machine. “Funny you should mention him,actually. I just saw him a few days ago, while I was keeping an eye on Violet.”
“They were on a date, weren’t they?”
I nodded, glancing at him over my shoulder as coffee streamed into my mug. “Yeah. How’d you know that?”
“Apparently he’s been reported missing. Some of the last people who saw him said they watched him leave Revs right after Violet did,” Roman said. “They assumed he went home with her. But he hasn’t been seen since that night. Hasn’t spoken to anyone either, and he’s not answering any calls or messages.”
“Shit. That’s crazy.”
He cocked his head slightly. “So you don’t know anything about it? You were probably the last person to see him that night, apart from Violet.”
“I’ve got no idea what he did after Revs,” I said with a shrug. “The date clearly didn’t go well, because Violet left a couple of minutes before him, and then he chased her down in the parking lot. But she told him to fuck off, got in her car, and went back to her dorm. I followed her, obviously, so I didn’t see where Kane went.”
“Hm. Okay, then,” Roman said, brows furrowing. “I wonder what happened to him.”
“No idea.” I glanced over my shoulder again. “Want another coffee?”
“Yeah, thanks.” He slid his mug across the island, and I grabbed it, focusing on the machine again. “By the way, while we’re on the subject of Violet… any updates there?”
Apart from the fact that my brave, reckless girl sneaked into a Dionysus ceremony right under our noses and got away with it?I thought, lips curving into a slight smirk.
I straightened my expression and looked back at him. “Nah, she’s actually pretty boring. Studies in the library, hangs out with friends occasionally, and watches reality shows. Oh, andshe likes going for walks. But that’s pretty much it. Apart from going on a singular forty-minute date on Wednesday, I’d say the most interesting thing she’s done lately is switching up her hair two days ago.”
Roman’s brows rose. “So she’s not looking into the Club at all?”
