Page 51 of Mayhem

“I know what you’re asking. We’re not discussing it here.” There were rooms fifteen feet away where we could have had the conversation privately if I wanted it. I did not. Camille had come looking for me without warning, brought an audience with her, and started talking before she had bothered to find out whether I was available. I had no intention of rewarding that by rearranging the afternoon around her.

She gave a short laugh and shifted the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder. “Fine. I can catch you later.” Her gaze moved toward the papers on the table as if she were deciding whether there was something else worth saying before she left, then finally landed on Echo.

The change was immediate.

Echo had stopped writing. She sat with her forearm resting beside the article, pen still between her fingers, watching Camille with the same quiet attention she gave people when she had not yet decided whether they were worth engaging. Malakai noticed the shift at the same time I did. He leaned back instead of moving closer to Echo, giving her the room to decide what she wanted to do with it.

Camille looked from Echo to me, and whatever conclusion she reached made something amused settle across her face. “Oh. Okay. I understand now.”

I knew that tone well enough to already dislike what came next.

Her eyes moved over Echo openly this time, taking in the altered Aldrich uniform, the boots I had returned, the books spread across the table, and the fact that she was sitting inside a space most students would not have entered without permission. “Seems pretty temporary if you’re not even allowed to overhear family business. I don’t know what you did to get yourself into this position, but I doubt it was worth much.”

Malakai’s chair shifted against the floor.

I looked at Camille. “Stop.”

Echo set the pen down before Camille could answer me. There was no rush in the movement, and that made Talia’s attention sharpen more than if Echo had slammed both hands against the table. Echo closed the article, pushed her chair back, and stood.

She was slightly taller than Camille in the boots.

Camille noticed.

So did everyone else.

Echo rested one hand against the edge of the table and looked at her for a moment without smiling. “Does my presence threaten you?”

Camille’s expression tightened. She took one small step backward before she caught herself, more reflex than decision, but Echo saw it. Her gaze dropped briefly to the space Camille had created between them and came back to her face.

“I’m not threatened by a transfer student I’d never heard of until this week,” Camille said. “I’m trying to save you the embarrassment of mistaking access for importance. There’s a difference between being allowed into a room and belonging in it.”

Echo tilted her head slightly. “You came all the way up here to discuss business with a man who told you he didn’t want to discuss it, then decided I was the problem when he wouldn’t make an exception for you. That sounds exhausting.”

Malakai shifted beside her, and I caught the beginning of a smile before he looked down at the table. Camille saw enough of it to make her face harden.

“Cut it the fuck out.” I stood before either woman could take another step. My attention stayed on Camille because Echo had not started this and did not need me pretending otherwise. “Your business is done here. Fuck off.”

Talia looked toward the stairs immediately. Evan did not move, but his phone disappeared into his pocket. Camille stayed where she was, staring at me as though the wording itself had surprised her more than being dismissed.

“You’re throwing me out because she got offended?”

“I’m throwing you out because I told you this wasn’t the place for the conversation and you decided to make it one anyway.” I stepped around the end of the table and stopped far enough away that there was no ambiguity about where the line was. “You came looking for me. I told you no. That should have been the end of it.”

Camille’s gaze moved past me to Echo again. The humiliation was starting to overtake whatever restraint she had walked in with. “Are you fucking this nobody?”

Malakai’s head came up. Echo did not react at all beyond folding her arms.

I stared at Camille for a second, trying to understand why she thought the answer would improve this conversation. “What answer is going to make you leave? The reason she’s here is none of your business, and she knows more than enough about the family business. I didn’t come up here to discuss Friday with you. You came looking for me, I told you this wasn’t the place, and instead of listening, you decided to start shit with her. We’re done.”

Camille’s mouth tightened. “You’re making this bigger than it is.”

“You brought two people upstairs to discuss something you could have sent in a message, ignored me when I told you to stop, and then insulted someone sitting at my table because you didn’t like being told no.” I held her gaze until she stopped trying to interrupt. “There’s nothing complicated about what happened.”

For a moment, none of them moved. The library remained quiet beyond our section, though I could hear a chair scrape somewhere on the other side of the shelves. Camille was too aware of the people she had brought with her to make the scene larger. Talia had already retreated half a step toward the stairs, and Evan was studying a shelf like it had suddenly become important.

Camille looked at Echo one last time. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Echo’s expression barely changed. “You’re still here.”