Page 53 of The Mist of Stars

I give him ahardy harlook. “Not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny.” He swings his leg over and stands up, his phone buzzing in his pocket. “You’re beautiful, and you taste good. It’s a really good distraction.” He grins impishly at me as my jaw nearly bitch smacks the ground.

Before I can even grasp what he said, he answers his phone and wanders out of the hideout.

I’m not sure what’s more surprising—what he said or the way my stomach fluttered from it. Seriously, it’s like I’ve swallowed a bunch of tiny faeries.

While I’m waiting for him to return, I pull my phone out of my pocket to see if I have any missed messages, crossing my fingers that one of my parents has gotten a hold of me. I have one message, and it’s from Henry. The amount of disappointment I feel in that has me questioning if Alex is right—perhaps it’s better if I don’t go out with him.

Henry: Hey, I just want to say that I’m so excited about our date. Here’s a list of restaurants we can go to before the movie. Any favorites?

I blow out a stressed breath as I attempt to figure out a response.

“Great news.” Alex returns. “Booger-fingers got the footage.”

“Already?”

“Yep. He’s emailing it to me. It’ll take a few minutes to download.” He starts pacing, kicking up dirt as he does. “It’s almost there.”

I anxiously hold my breath, watching Alex wear a path on the dirt floor. I know the moment the downloads come through because he comes to a complete stop, his shoes scuffing against the dirt at the sudden abruptness, and Alex sort of trips. Alex is not the kind of guy to trip, so it’s a warning that it’s bad.

“Who is it?” I ask.

In the back of my mind, I wonder if perhaps it’s his father. I’m not certain how he’d be connected to this, but with everything I’ve seen, the evidence points to Stephan being the kind of man who would kill someone.

“It’s …” He swallows hard as he lifts his gaze to me. “It’s your father.”

“What?” I screech as I spring to my feet and snatch the phone out his hand. Part of me believes he’s joking with me, though I don’t know why he’d think that was funny. But on the screen is a brown-haired man with violet eyes ducking into Professor G.’s office. He appears cagey, too, sneaking glances behind him, as if checking to ensure no one is around.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “My father wouldn’t do something like this. Not just kill a person but try to frame me.” Tears burn my eyes. The truth is, I can deny it all I want, but this video points to that being the case. “Maybe he didn’t kill him. Maybe he went in before it happened.”

“Maybe.” Alex pries the phone from my fingers, his expression guarded. “Let’s watch through the entire thing and see. We’re not sure what time he was killed, so perhaps someone else went into the office after your father left.”

I nod while pushing an uneven exhale from my lungs. “I don’t know why my father would be at the academy. It’s not where he told me he’d be.” And the fact that he’s not answering his phone now has me on edge.

What if he did kill Professor G.? There has to be a good reason, right? Well, as good of a reason as one can come up with as to why you’d murder someone.

Alex tells me to sit down then drags a chair over beside me. Then we spend the next handful of minutes skimming through the security footage. My father leaves the office in a hurry. Then, after that, no one else enters.

“Perhaps someone went in there through a portal?” I suggest in a desperate attempt.

“Maybe.” Alex plunges into contemplative silence. “Your father was acting strange earlier today. Do you think there’s a way he could’ve been possessed?”

That causes me to straighten. “I’m not sure, but you’re right—he was acting strange. And he’s totally gone radio silent. It could be that he’s not himself.”

“That could be the answer then. Or maybe it’s a portal. Or maybe the professor did something bad, and your father was taking care of it.”

“That still doesn’t explain why he’d try to frame me.”

“Perhaps that letter was for something else.”

“That seems like a stretch.”

“I know,” he agrees, frowning. “We need to get a hold of either your mother or father then go from there.”

I tap his phone in his hand. “What about the security footage?”

“This is the only copy,” Alex assures me as he stuffs his phone back into his pocket.