My gaze flicks toward Spencer as he glances back at me, turquoise eyes dark with emotion.
He could easily be the third hoodie-wearing asshole, couldn’t he? His brother has all those academy maps, and he disappeared when Eugene was killed. He runs the school’s underground with his business ventures, and he knows every little nook and cranny of Adamson.
A lump forms in my throat, and I find it suddenly hard to swallow.
“You have no reason to trust anyone, Chuck,” Spencer says slowly, panting from our run through the woods. “In fact, considering everything that’s happened to you, it would be better if you didn’t.”
“Stay away from me,” I warn, backing up until the edge of my foot touches the water. I want to trust them both, believe them both, but I’m having a really hard time doing that when one was wearing a hoodie and waiting in the woods, and the other is covered in blood and our teacher is nowhere to be seen.
The sound of pounding footsteps precedes the twins as they squeeze out the side door together and come around the corner. Both are white as ghosts, and their green eyes widen in unison as they spot Church.
“Dude, what the fuck is that?” they ask together, pointing at him as Ranger shoves his way out, panting and furious. As soon as he sees we’re all here, he sighs with relief and comes toward me.
“Wait!” I shout, holding up a hand, scooting back even further, so that my already wet yukata dips into the water. “Nobody come any closer.”
“What the hell is going on out here?” Ranger asks, glancing toward Church. “When I woke up, Spencer was gone, and then I found your guys’ room empty …” He trails off, studying the blood for a moment. “Whose blood is that?”
“Not mine,” Church says easily. He lies as easily as he breathes, I remind myself, wrapping my arms tightly over my chest. The door opens a moment a later, and the twins step forward, putting their arms against the doorjamb the way they did last night.
“Student Council only,” they say, shoving whoever it is back. The half-wall and cluster of bamboo that decorates the spot near the door keeps the person from noticing Church and his blood-stained clothing. A grumbling curse follows, and then we’re alone again.
Birds chirp from the surrounding trees, but the only sound I can hear then is the thundering of my heart, the rushing of my pulse in my head.
“He stabbed Mr. Dave,” I repeat as Spencer steps aside, creating a circle with Church opposite me, the twins to my left, and Ranger standing beside his best friend.
“What the fuck, Church?” Ranger asks, his voice hard but not accusatory, like he believes me … but also like he believes Church wouldn’t do something like that unless he had to.
“Mr. Dave was bandaging his wound; I left to find Charlotte,” Church says, throwing his hand out toward me and then running his fingers through his honeyed hair and leaving ruby streaks. He seems to notice too late what he’s doing, and his jaw clenches in disgust. “I don’t know where he is now.”
“And you stabbed him, why?” Ranger repeats as the twins exchange a look, and then turn their attention to me and Spencer, both sopping wet.
“I didn’t stab him. He came into the room to talk to me, and one of those psychos followed him in. They grabbed Charlotte’s hunting knife from the bag, and put it through Mr. Dave before I could stop them.”
“How would a stranger know I had the hunting knife at all?” I ask, panting hard, wanting to believe the guys, wishing with every breath that I could.
“I don’t know,” Church supplies, holding his palms up and out in a placating gesture. He sighs hard, like he’s exhausted already. “I have no fucking clue.”
“Why are you two wet?” the twins ask together, studying me and Spencer in our sopping clothes.
“Yes, do tell,” Church agrees, and then he unties the sash from his yukata and lets it fall to the ground, striding past me, and diving into the water to wash off the blood. Ranger doesn’t hesitate before bending down and bundling up the bloody clothes. My eyes stray from him to Church as the golden boy of Adamson Academy breaks the surface of the water, pushing back his wet hair with both hands and opening amber eyes to stare at me.
My heart flutters in the worst way, and I fist my hand in the wet fabric of my robe.
“I was trying to hide from the headmaster, smoking in the woods.” Spencer ruffles up his hair and closes his turquoise eyes for a moment. “I saw Charlotte run past me, and …” He trails off and then tilts his head back, opening his eyes to look at the bright, sunny sky of early morning. “Someone was chasing her.”
