AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Royal folds his arms. “Which is?”
“That even if her reaction is to leave, she’s not going to do so before she’s confronted me.” I start moving towards the bedroom she’s been using for the past few nights.
Had things ended with our conversation last night, I’m sure she’d have run with her tail between her legs, but she’ll assume that the video was released by me, and there’s no way in hell that girl will leave quietly because of it.
I’ll actually be disappointed if she does.
Which is how I feel when I open the bedroom door and see her room is empty.
As I start to close the door, about to go to my own room in case she’s waiting in there, her laptop catches my attention. Last night, it had been on the desk, lid closed. Now, it’s on the bed, turned on, and there’s a document on the screen. But I can’t see the text from here, so I walk in, heading straight for it.
I came to James Keyingham University believing that my brother was innocent, but I was wrong.
Now I know the truth, and the guilt I feel is too much.
I’m sorry, Synclair.
Practically flinging the laptop back onto the bed, I turn to Royal and Gemini. Before Royal can ask what I was looking at, I speak. “They’re faking her death.”
My instinct is to check the bathroom—slit wrists in the bathtub—but Royal is moving in the opposite direction. I see the closet door ajar just before he reaches it, then I’m running after him, up into the attic. The lights turn on as we reach the top, but that doesn’t stop Royal.
“Tori!” he yells before charging off.
There’s a secret rooftop garden up here that I’d forgotten about as we’ve never used it, and there’s a strong, cold breeze blowing through the open door. I reach it seconds after Royal.
A foot or so of snow covers the ground, and lying on top of it partially covered, is Tori.
Royal slides to his knees in front of her, pulling her into his lap as he runs his hands over her. “Tori? Tori?” He scoops her up, her body hanging limply as he hurries to me, not stopping as he runs past.
Before I follow him and Gemini, my attention is caught by the strange black object that lies beside where Tori had been, but I don’t stop to find out what it is, instead running after Royal.
“We need to get her to a hospital,” I shout at Royal.
I’m sure that’s exactly what Royal is thinking as he runs to the door, but not Gemini. “Don’t,” he yells, making Royal slow down.
“Ignore him,” I snap at Royal before I turn on Gemini. “We are not going to let her die.”
“Is she breathing?” he asks.
“Barely,” Royal tells him.
“She won’t make it to a hospital. Even if we call 911, and they send a helicopter, she might not make it waiting for that.”
“Then we get in my car, and I’ll drive us.” I’m not sure what’s going through Gemini’s head right now, but I’m not about to let her die because of his craziness. She’s breathing, but Royal is right—her chest is barely moving. Her skin is also blue.
“Royal, stop,” Gemini yells, getting in front of him and blocking him at the top of the stairs. “I know I’m not a doctor, but you have to trust me on this. We need to get her warm. Get her in the shower.”
“Are you kidding?”
“She needs to get warm. The quickest way is going to be hot water.” Gemini points back to the bedroom. “If you get to the car, assuming you can even get off campus with all this snow, it’s going to take too long to get her to a hospital, and when you get there, if she’s still alive, they’ll warm her up. They’re going to put heating blankets over her, and they’re going to pump warm saline through her veins.”
I know there’s logic to what he’s saying but getting her to a hospital seems like the safer option. I need her to stay alive. “Then we take her to the college medical room.”
Royal’s moving, but he’s not listening to me. He’s heading straight back the way he came, into Tori’s bedroom. He doesn’t stop until he’s in the shower. Still holding onto Tori, he turns the water on, angling his body so it falls mainly on her.
“Don’t scald her,” Gemini says as steam starts to fill the room. He moves over, sticking his hand under the water and then adjusts the dial slightly. “Pass me some towels,” he says to me.
I do as he says, watching from the entrance of the large shower. Each bathroom in this house has a bathtub as well as a separate shower. Although they’re not as large as the one in the basement, there’s just enough room for the three of them.
