I need to figure out who did this.
I sleepin my old bedroom at my parents’ house. Soak in the tub in my ensuite. And don’t think about my murdered roommate.
My room inOmegaHouse is depressing. Ellis’s things are still there. Like she never left. Or maybe she’ll come back and say it was a stunt.
But her parents are picking up her things today, and I just… I justcouldn’tbe around them. Not yet.
Maybe that’s horrible. But I figured I’d give them alone time.
“Pancakes. Eggs, of course. Bacon… Um, fruit? Your brothers stopped by last night, but you were asleep.” Mom busies herself around the kitchen. Like she doesn’t know what to do except feed me.
But Dad? He keeps his arm around me. Silent and still. Not saying a word. The rise and fall of his chest, the soft snore of his breathing…it steadies me. It reminds me of when I was a kid and he’d have me sleep on him when I’d had enough ofpeople.
“Thanks, Mom. Everything looks great.” I’m not that hungry, but I know I should eat.
“There aren’t any updates on the pathology reports yet. But I’m keeping my ears peeled.” Mom’s eyes dart over my shoulder to my father’s. He grips the back of my neck in a caring squeeze. “The university will try to cover it up, George. We need todo something.”
Dad just grunts. “What do you want us to do, Sins? It’s not like the two of us can change things.”
“No, but with the Cardells and Josephs, we can. Hell, I bet even the Dawsons are game.”
Dad nods slowly. “Okay. Let me think about this.”
Mom’s lips purse tight, like she’s holding back from saying something snappy. As usual. But she just sniffs and smiles. “Is it good, Scoutie?”
“Yeah, it’s great.”
“What are your plans for the day? Want to veg out and watch some movies, or?—”
“We can… But tonight, I need to talk to Rowan.”
Her eyebrows pinch. “So soon?”
“I’m not letting this go.”
Dad coughs. “Be careful.”
“I will be.”
But I’m not.
Tonight isn’t just about getting answers.
It’s about taking my revenge.
sixteen
That evening,I perch on the stoop ofBetaHouse, my parka zipped to my chin, bass rattling the windows. My knees shaking. This is a terrible idea.
I know as soon as I enter, Ayan is going to target me. And the rest of the guys who were in that room. OnesI don’t know, but they’ll surely know me.
The brothers who watched me come.
Still, myOmegasister and recent friend, Ashlyn Donovan, asked me to look into her own mystery—another student dead on Wicked Wednesday. And the thread that ties both deaths together?
Rowan Greaves.
I feel utterly compelled to do this for her. For the university as a whole. But mainly for Ellis.
