Page 19 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

Tobey sits cross-legged on the bed. “Catch me up.”

“A magical symbol that can be charged and used. I don’t sense any magic in this one yet. Whatever it is… it was never charged.”

“And you don’t get anything else from it?” I ask.

He shakes his head and sets it down on the desk. “It may be protective. Could be something else. We’ll have to do some research.”

He’s right, but with the alarms and thousands of nosy students, it will be harder than ever to continue our investigation. By this time tomorrow, there will probably be a statement to sweep all this under the rug. Our work is just beginning.

Jun-seong had better not get in our way.

Chapter Six

No one is safe. During the upcoming days, the school and stage are abuzz with nervous whispers. As always, the professors and headmaster keep the students in the dark. They tell us someone found a body with no cause of death, and we’re told nothing more.

I’m not like the others. I don’t have the pleasure of ignorance.

Before Amelia, it was easy to write off the deaths as accidents, but that’s not the case anymore. Now, when there’s no cause of death, I know it was a murder. The professors tell us to stay quiet and focus on our work, but their scolding does little to stop the whispers.

If Strode were an ordinary school, someone would shut us down. We’re not, and the powers attempting to control the chaos of the rest of the world have no authority here.

They can’t keep the students bound to the school, either. It’s been three days since we found the body, and my peers are leaving in droves. Strode’s already small population shrinks by the day, and they’re right to go.

There are other schools they can study at, schools that don’t have a fresh death every month. Evacuating isn’t an option forme—for more than one reason. My father would never allow it. His loyalty to Strode is stronger than any fear of losing me.

More importantly, I need to be here for Tobey. They’re no more likely to leave than my father is, and it’s not the school spirit keeping them bound, but their thirst for answers… answers we still don’t have.

Jun has hardly looked at me since we last saw each other, huddled in my dormitory. If a single redhead reminds me of Amelia, I can only imagine what I remindhimof now. We’re not bickering anymore, and while I should be happy about it, I’m not.

He’s always been a wonderful distraction from the horrors. I just didn’t notice until it stopped.

After practice, on my way backstage, something in him appears to have changed.

Jun grabs my elbow, stopping me before I can slide past him. His horns are out again, and they perfectly match his red top and the scarlet spark in his eye. “We have to talk.”

It’s nowhere near the way we usually greet each other.

I inhale slowly, giving a slight nod. “I suppose we do. So, you can have your people call my people. Sound good?”

Can’t we go back to hating each other? I long for the days when losing my preferred part in the play was the worst thing happening. He may not be interested in bickering, but it’s my only comfort.

I jerk my arm out of his grasp, hold my head high, and march forward. I don’t need to look back to know he’s chasing after me—another thing that would have once made me all too smug.

Now it fills me with apprehension. Why does he want to talk to me so badly?

“Please. Listen. I’m not the one who told the investigators. Someone else must have reported it.”

I freeze—and it’s not because Jun begging has to be one of my top three favorite sounds. Well, that may be a part of it, but no, it’s because the plea in his voice is earnest.

Hell. I think he’s telling the truth.

“You’re not?” I ask.

“No. Someone else found the body and reported it. I went right back to my dormitory. It scared me shitless, but… fuck.”

I turn to face him, speaking in a whisper, nearly impossible to hear. “Why didn’t you report it if you were so terrified?”

“Because I started thinking.” His face is severe. It’s nothing like the Jun I know. His cocky smirk, his shit-eating grin—those things are gone, replaced with a scowl. “And the more I thought, the more my doubts piled right up.”