Page 127 of Merciless

“Answer the question,” he says, his voice deeper.

“Elijah didn’t tell you?”

He clenches his jaw and barely shakes his head.

“I don’t know which is better to do. Show you or tell you.” I squeeze my eyes shut and swallow hard. “He’s been using me for⁠—”

Asher moves me off him in a flurry. He gets out of bed and searches through our clothes before finding my phone. He unlocks it—all without needing to ask for my password.

“Asher?” I move off the bed and rush to his side.

He scrolls through the messages and stops at the pictures the unknown number sent me. I watch him as he looks through the pictures. His expression darkens, his mood changing for the worse.

I shrink away from him, not wanting to catch his bad side.

Asher turns his focus to me after a moment and shoves the phone into my hands.

“Go to class,” he murmurs. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“What about⁠—”

“It’ll be taken care of.”

“You know who it was?”

His lips flatten, and he doesn’t answer my question.

I don’t want to push for any answers, given how his mood drastically changed. I leave the room and pad across the hallway into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When I come back out, the guys are gone and I’m left alone.

I don’t know what happened or where they went, but the unknown number may not be as anonymous as I thought he was. The pictures upset Asher enough for him to close me out.

Whatever it is, I’ll have to find out later.

CHAPTER 45

EDEN

DAY 7 OF THE BET

I walk outside and descend the wide steps leading to the school’s front gardens. The spring weather warms my skin, and the sun peeks through the tree’s boughs. I lift my gaze to the sky and smile at the circle of crows overhead.

“The freak is looking at them again.”

I blink and turn toward the voice. A man passes by, tossing a dirty look at me. A woman walks on his other side, her head turned toward me and a huge grin on her face.

I shudder.

It’s not just a smile that shows she’s happy. It’s the type I used to get all the time—sarcastic, snotty, elitist.

I am but scum beneath their shoes.

They walk away, and I barely catch her whispers. “Did you see the clips?”

“It’s just a fluke. Nothing more,” I mutter.

I mentally shake away the weird interaction and stride down the path leading to class. It’s weird not having Elijah beside me, talking about nothing or teasing me. He made it a habit to always chauffeur me to my classes, no matter how out of the way they were from his.

It’s not like I need him, but I’m not too proud to admit that I miss his company.