A log popped in the fire.
I flinched.
Marius’s eyes narrowed.
Moose sat like a statue on the end table next to him.
Marius leaned back in the wingback chair, looking like the villain of a Victorian gothic novel. “Ask your questions.”
It was like he knew, like he’d been waiting for me.
I licked my lips, wishing we could just forget all of this and he could just kiss me until we were willing to chance an encounter on the couch.
“Zoe’s grandmother said…”
His eyes were unblinking.
“She said you, uh, threatened to kill someone a long time ago. She believed you meant it. Just tell me—was it Brooks? Did you kill Brooks with the voodoo doll?”
Marius set the Scotch he was drinking on the table. “Are you accusing me of using the occult to murder a man, Ms. Dawson? Do I look like a warlock?” He spread his hands.
Yeah, actually, he did.
“Lilith might be a witch,” I croaked.
“I didn’t kill Brooks, but he deserved what happened to him. I’m not sorry he’s gone,” Marius spat.
“What happened?”
Marius didn’t answer, just looked at the fire.
I held my breath.
“Brooks had it out for me the minute he met me in kindergarten. No matter what my father and mother suggested—turning the other cheek, trying to fight back, ignoring him, trying to befriend him—it didn’t work. I was his target. It got worse the older we got. Brooks with his little lackey, Theo, did everything and anything to make my life miserable.”
I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Abbott was their other target. We hung out together for survival. I thought Abbott was my friend.” Marius blew out a breath. “That is until that night. Abbott was all excited, told me that he’d been invited to a party and I could come too. I told him it was a bad idea. He insisted it was fine. That this girl Beatrice said she liked him. He thought he had a shot. He said her friend Oakley thought I was hot and wanted to hang out. We got there, and there were tons of people. Oakley acted like we were her bestfriends, the only people she wanted to see when we arrived. She gave us drinks, wanted to show us around, said she and Beatrice wanted to hang out with us, that they were tired of shitty jocks.”
My hands were cramped from clenching them.
“Beatrice was waiting under this big oak tree. I was two steps away from her when I felt the ground start to give. I pushed Abbott out of the way as the ground collapsed, and I was buried in garbage. I thought I was going to die. The weight of it, the smell, was suffocating, and they were just laughing and laughing.”
He shook his head. “I was so stupid. It was a setup, and Abbott was in on it. He was whining to Oakley and Brooks that he didn’t think they were going to prank him too. They called him a—well, never mind.”
“That’s horrific!” I cried. “Your own friend betrayed you?”
“One thing you learn,” Marius said coldly, “from seeing people during some of the worst moments of their lives, is that everyone has the capacity to betray the person they supposedly love. I’ve heard stories about people taking a hit for a friend or lover, but I’ve never actually seen it in person. It’s human nature. Abbott fucked me over and got fucked over in return. Like Brooks and his pack were ever going to be friends with him.” He stared at the fire. “It was fucking humiliating. And it shouldn’t even matter.” His anger was so tightly wound and controlled, just waiting to be released.
“Theo’s been publicly humiliated along with Oakley. Abbott is a failure. Brooks is dead, for God’s sake. I made it. I’m better than them. And it doesn’t even matter. I’ll never get over it.” He stood up, brushing me off. “So yeah, I have motive to kill Brooks. I wish I had, honestly. But I didn’t.”
“That sounds awful.” My voice was small. “Do you want me to kiss it and make it better? Or maybe you want to go have a drink get something to eat?”
“No. I should never have spent this much time here. I’m behind on work. Good night, Ms. Dawson.”
24
MARIUS
