I’m not sad that Zayden is dead.
Maybe the problem is that it doesn’t bother me as much as it should. That burying Zayden’s head left me cold.
It was nothing like when I’d watched Franklin die.
“Anyway. Sucks about the fire, but if you find out who did it, I’m happy to beat him up with you.” Fenrir laughs. “I shouldn’t offer. My Hell brothers would be pissed. We had a whole mini party when it happened.”
I don’t tell him that I know thatshegot worse than beaten up for it.
“Why am I not surprised?” I ask, but there’s no malice in my voice. Kappa Alpha would’ve celebrated something like that happening to Hell, too, or any of the other frats on campus.
Footsteps echoing down the hall draw our attention. I look in that direction and tense up when I see Blaze approaching with another guy.
“Yeah, the gym is still open until 11 p.m. every evening. They renovated the facilities a few years back,” Blaze says. He spots me and tenses, then waves to me. “Hey, River. Good timing. I’ll introduce you.”
The guy with Blaze is about the same height as him. He has smooth black hair, thick eyebrows, and a crooked nose. Hisoutfit screamsrich student, even more than Blaze’s, even though he has to be a good seven or eight years his senior.
“This is Ezio Roland,” Blaze says. “He’s an alum here. A former Kappa Alpha brother, and he’s going to be managing the frat while we get all this shit with the frat house sorted. Ezio, this is River, one of our new pledges.”
Fenrir covers his mouth to stifle a laugh.
I elbow him hard in the side. “Hi, Mr. Roland,” I tell him, but I eye Blaze. A babysitter? I’m surprised Blaze’s father didn’t insist that Blaze step into the leading role, and I wonder what he thinks of that particular slight.
Maybe he doesn’t think it’s a slight at all.
“Please, call me Ezio,” Ezio says with a smile. “If we’re brothers, there’s no need to stand on formality.”
“Ezio,” I repeat. “Sure.”
Ezio gives me a once over. “You box, River?”
Nodding, I tell him, “Yeah, I’m on the school’s team.” I glance at Fenrir. “This is Fenrir Winters, who’s also on the team. He’s not in Kappa Alpha, though.”
Fenrir gives Blaze and Ezio a wide, toothy grin. “I wouldn’t be caught dead with you all. Can’t believe you let your house get burned down. Lax security there, Chaos boy.”
Blaze smiles right back at Fenrir. “Yeah. We didn’t expect anyone to have the balls for it. But you know, the culprit is still out there. We don’t know their motive. Maybe they’re going to target the Hell House next. Better sleep with one eye open, Winters.”
I grind my teeth.
The culpritisstill out there.
But we do know her motive.
And she wouldn’t go after Eta Epsilon, not without reason.
Unless she thinks it’ll hurt us, or… something.
Shit.
I wish I had a better grasp on Pandora’s thought process.
Fenrir rolls his eyes, obviously unconcerned with any potential threats. “Sure.” He claps me on the shoulder. “I’m out of here. Hit me up if you want to spar again. Which you need to do more of, because based on today’s form, you won’t even make it past the first round of any competition.”
I’d never get anywhere fighting like this, too caught up in myfeelings. I have to figure out how to set all of that aside.
I have to figure out how to get her out of my head.
Ezio shakes his head at Fenrir’s retreating form. “Nice to see the old frat rivalries are going strong.”
