Page 60 of Liar
My little pretty is being a bad little girl. Skipping classes twice in one day now after achieving a flawless attendance record so far. It must be worth it, whatever she’s up to, to tarnish her record. Ember’s nothing if not a stickler for perfection.
Suspicion gnaws its way through my annoyance as the afternoon drags by with still no sign of her. I’ve noted the people Ember’s most likely to disappear with (a pathetic few), and all are accounted for, except Aiko.
Strange.
Last I checked, they were still at odds with each other. And I have many ears in the halls of Winthorpe.
Clearly, those ears require some cleaning.
“Where is she?” I snap at the first sophomore I find, gripping him by the bicep and dragging him close to my bared teeth.
“W-Who?” he stutters.
“I’m in no mood to explain myself. Where the fuck did you or anyone else last see her?”
“I … I don’t know, Mr. Briar. Sir.”
He trembles in my grip. The poor idiot’s teeth even start chattering.
Proving his uselessness to me, I toss him aside. He slams into the lockers, rights himself, and scampers in the opposite direction while I keep trolling the halls.
I swear I can smell her in the air. Or maybe it’s on my fingers. She’s certainly on my dick.
It doesn’t surprise me that I’m losing control when it comes to Ember. It’s just that I simply don’t care. I want her. I have to see her.
“Looking for someone, Thorne?”
The lilting voice slithers into my ear like a de-fanged snake.
I pause in my journey to last period, not bothering to turn to the voice. “Unless you have something else to add, Aurora, you can go about your soulless day.”
I catch her leaning up against the lockers in my periphery. “She’s with Aiko.”
“No shit?” I widen my eyes comically, then pierce her with ice.
I’m six feet away from her, yet she shivers under my scope. It seems to annoy her, though, because she straightens her blazer with a scowl. “Ember’s off-campus. She left a few hours ago.”
“When will she be back?”
“I have no idea.”
“They’re friends again?” I despise asking Aurora questions and proving my cluelessness, but she’s the only lead I have so far.
Aurora shrugs, then checks her nails. Pretending aloofness while standing within my target range. How cute. “All I know is Ember’s doing the rounds. First Savannah, and now Aiko.” She raises her eyes coquettishly. “What do you think she’s planning?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Aurora.” I step out of the middle of the hallway and closer to her. “I’m sensing we’re on the same side with this.”
Aurora stiffens at my proximity. “I don’t like losing my title. I’m glad Savannah’s safe and sound, obviously, but I was having fun at the top. So if I do know something you might want to also know, you’ll help me get that spot back. Right?”
I sneer. “I don’t make deals with beggars.”
“Savvy’s not in the right mind to take such an important position in the Virtues. Everybody knows it, but no one’s doing anything because of what she’s gone through. We’re protecting her delicate feelings while sacrificing the defense of the Societies. Do you think Savvy’s in the right headspace to guide a bunch of baronesses? Because I sure don’t.”
“She proved her value at the last meeting. Both Ember and Sav did.”
“Yes, but how long can they keep it up? Neither of them has the fortitude to complete another challenge. I’ll prove it to you—set up a challenge worse than what they did to Zeke. See if either of them complies.”
An exhale hisses through my clenched lips. I can’t argue with her, but I’m sure as hell not about to give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her. “What’s worse than battery? Murder?”