Page 224 of Lessons in Cruelty

Bastian’s words come back to me, darkly ominous.

…he likes you…

Milo was just some guy at a taco stand.

What the hell will Bastian do if I confirm it was Kai who bruised my jaw? Marked my neck? Who left me so traumatized I blacked out and came to him for help?

Because my professor might have suspected it was Kai, but I never confirmed it.

So what if I do?

Will it turn the monsters hunting me against each other?

Only one way to find out.

Chapter 56

Bastian

My hand is over my mouth. To anyone in the crowd looking in my direction, I’m as appalled as the rest of them at Haven’s insolent speech.

Truly, I’m hiding a smile.

Haven has never been just another grant student. Ever since her application landed on my desk, I’ve been utterly fascinated with her.

A ditch-poor Riversider with the face of an angel. Capable of writing an outstanding essay on this town’s glaring socioeconomic divide, but utterly incapable of pulling herself out of the gutter.

No obvious drug habit.

Hadn’t resorted to hooking yet.

She’d thrown everything into the opportunity for a fresh start. Her application reeked with desperation.

I still remember the day of the ceremony when we awarded her the grant. Her wide blue eyes, the blush when she realized she would have to go up to the podium to accept her shiny new prize. I was supposed to be the one awarding the grant, but I deferred to Mr. Callahan, AHC’s biggest donor. If it weren’t for our money, the Social Change grant wouldn’t even exist.

Haven never even knew I was there.

For months I’ve been watching. Waiting. Orchestrating. Moving pieces on a board she doesn’t even know exists.

My money. My grant. My girl.

But she didn’t need to know that yet. She still doesn’t know I paid for her entire education just to get her in my classroom.

There’s still so much she doesn’t know about me.

None of these pathetic fucks do.

It’s so easy to keep someone in the dark when you’re controlling the lights.

Pests and nocturnal creatures forced to live in the dark learned to thrive in it. I’m sure Haven’s been living in squalor her entire life, but who knows how deep the shadows inside those moldy walls were?

Will she thrive in this new darkness…or succumb to it?

I keep expecting her to take the easy way out. But she must really want to turn her life around, because she’s exceeded all my expectations.

Even now, tonight, with apparently little to no preparation, she’s standing on that stage like she belongs there, and she’ll go toe-to-toe with anyone who has a different opinion.

Maybe she is unbreakable.