Page 18 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

“He’s in shock,” I say. “Anyone would be. It’s his first body.”

“I’m not in shock. You’re just all… all doing too much. I’m going to tell someone—just fucking stay inside, all right? We don’t need another death tonight.”

“That’s not happening,” Caldwell says. “We have to get out there. You don’t understand.”

Jun’s eyes lock with mine. “If I find any of you dead next, you’re fucking double dead.”

He leaves before I can respond to his threat. The three of us gape at each other, and I process his final words.

“Come on,” Tobey says. “We need to check it out before he can report it.”

I shake my head. “You’re serious?”

But, of course, they are. Their plans, however thoughtless, worked in the past. Sort of.

And I’m the stealthiest of the three, thanks to vampiric agility. We sneak down together, and they hide in the shadows while I sweep the area, looking for anything.

Finally, I stumble upon the body, and my heart falls. This poor, poor woman.

“You don’t deserve this,” I whisper. “No one does.”

Something shines under the antique street lamps, something on… on her chest. A small pin with a sigil on it. Magic tingles under my fingertips, and I squint at the object, willing it to tell me its secrets.

There’s no time.

The lights turn bright, and a siren wails—the alarms, at last. I knew they would do more harm than good.

“Damn it,” I mutter, shoving the pin into my jacket pocket.

Just like that, I’m stealing evidence. In the past, I would have turned in what I found, but it’s our only lead, and I won’t give it up so easily. It has to mean something.

“Margaux.” Tobey’s voice is a whisper, just loud enough that I can hear it with my enhanced senses. “Run.”

I zip past them, back toward our dormitory. When the alarms go off, everyone is supposed to go inside. We may have saved the day last time, but I doubt we’ll be spared if we break the rules now.

Tobey has never been afraid of Strode University and the demons that possess it, but she should be.

The dormitory lobby is crowded with students by the time I arrive, making it all too easy to slip past them and into my room.

Tobey and Caldwell aren’t here.

I’m pacing the room by the time they appear, rapidly enough to burn a hole in the overpriced, ornate rug.

“Guess he reported the body after all,” Caldwell says, huffing and puffing as they enter together.

I dig into my pockets and hold up the pin. “Maybe, but our efforts weren’t fruitless. I found this on the body.”

“Well”—Tobey plops back down on their bed—“at least we found something.”

I’m silent as I sit across from them, kicking off my shoes.

“May I see that?” Caldwell asks tenderly.

I give it to him and watch as he silently looks the object over, his strong brow furrowing.

“What is it?” I ask him. “I mean, I know what a sigil is, but… it’s a symbol of what, exactly?”

“Hard to say,” he mutters. “There are many magical sigils, and this isn’t one I recognize.”