Page 22 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

“You need to slow down,” I say. “Give me a proper explanation—and if you think I won’t ask you to cite your sources, you’re more foolish than I thought. You willnotaccuse my father without proof.”

“Then I’ll accuse mine. I think my father is involved in the murders, too.”

“Slow down.”

“I don’t know how he’s tied to it, but… he’s in my dreams again. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“What is he? Freddy Krueger?”

“Margaux. Come the fuck on.”

“I’m serious! Is your father visiting in your dreams uncommon? He’s—he’s a death demon, isn’t he?”

We’re all required to study Strode history during our first semester. Strode, the founder of the school, is a demon of death. Everyone knows it.

Jun nods. “My father’s idea of raising me was sending me to a new boarding school whenever I got kicked out of the last one. He doesn’t reach out unless there’s a problem, and now he’s reaching hard. It started the night after I found the body.”

“I suppose thatisconcerning.” I press my lips together. “But it’s likely unrelated, and I don’t see how my father ties into this.”

His heart is racing. Jun is holding back—whether it’s a family matter or something else. We can’t work together until he’s willing to be forthcoming, but I know he has reasons to mistrust me.

I have the same reasons to doubthim.

He leans in, his dark eyes boring into mine. “What do you know about immortality?”

“Ah…” I chuckle. “I can’t tell you about that. It’s not that I won’t. I literallycan’t. I don’t know a thing about immortality. There is a ceremony, but I’m not privy to it.”

“You need to become privy. Fast.”

“I can’t…”

I’m not ready.

Immortality has never fascinated me. My father has promised me, for years, that I can gain eternal life like my parents. I haven’t found the courage to tell him I don’twantto be like them.

“Fine,” he says. “Let’s try another angle. What can you tell me about your father’s secret society?”

No. No, no, no. I have to hear him wrong. How does Jun know about the—the secret society?

And does it have anything to do with the bird masks? With the sigil? It’s clear there’s something more happening aroundthe campus, but my father doesn’t have a secret society. He can’t be keeping somethingthisbig from me.

“His what?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even as I lift my coffee to my lips.

“And once again, you don’t know shit.”

“I might, but—I need you to slow down.” I clutch the table. My head swirls as Jun continues.

“I can’t tell you how I know, but he has a group, and from what I’ve heard, it’s tied to the immortality ritual. It might tie to the murders, too.”

“Why?Whywould those two things tie together?”

Jun is silent for a few moments, his heart racing faster and faster. I can hear each beat, every pound. He’s keeping things from me, and he admits to it. The worst part is that I still believe him.

How can I trust Jun more than my father? The world must really be ending.

“I don’t know why,” he says. “We need more information. I’ll admit that. That’s where you come in. Out of everyone on campus, you have the best shot at getting inside.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I choke on my laughter. “If I tell him I know about the secret society, or whatever, he’ll know it’s not a secret anymore.”