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He raised his hands in a calming gesture. “Or another relative, or a member of another family entirely. The Shattered Sun is a huge organization. They both are. Who knows what it could have been about.”
My anger drained away, replaced by an emotion I couldn’t quite identify. The Shattered Sun. When Garrett put it bluntly like that, it seemed so much more real. This was an actual real-life organization, with criminal activities and power and centuries-old-feuds and probably unimaginable amounts of money. And my family was part of it; my mother had known, and I’d had no idea. How was any of that even possible?
I felt like I was back in L.A., standing in front of the house I’d grown up in and barely recognizing it. Only this time the mirror was facing me, and it was my own reflection that was unfamiliar.
“Camilla? Are you okay?”
I blinked to focus and found Garrett leaning across the table toward me, a concerned expression on his face. I took a deep breath, trying to slow my heartbeat, calm my breathing.
“I’m okay,” I told him. “Just…overwhelmed, I guess. It seems much more real in the light of day.”
His face softened into understanding, and he reached across the table, touching the back of my hand with a brief press of his fingers. He withdrew his hand immediately, but I could still feel the sensation of his fingers on my skin, an echo of his touch.
“You’re safe here, with us. We’re here for you,” he told me, and his words warmed me from the inside out. We, he’d said, including himself in my band of impromptu protectors, and even though he looked away after that, taking a bite of his thus-far neglected lunch and staring out the window as he chewed, I couldn’t hide the smile that stretched across my face.
* * *
Over the next couple of weeks, life continued on as normal. The guys stuck to me like glue; someone was always there between classes and during meals, and while at first I thought I might find their attention suffocating, I really didn’t. They still gave me enough space to hang out with my roommates when the girls were free, and falling into my makeshift bed at night with Devan and Micah was easily my favorite part of the day.
And despite the vague knowledge of a threat hanging over my head, there was no evidence that I was in any real danger—no hidden enemies pulling me into alleyways, nothing out of the ordinary at all, and aside from an odd look here and there, even Drew had thankfully gone back to ignoring me. Even my shoulder had healed perfectly, no longer a constant reminder of what had happened in L.A.
Nora and Frank had been spending most of their free time rehearsing for the orchestra concert that weekend, and thus I hadn’t seen much of them recently. Part of me felt guilty that I’d been away from the room so much that we barely saw each other outside of the rare hurried meal, but another part of me was glad that they hadn’t had time to comment on the fact that I hadn’t spent the night in my own room since Thanksgiving. I knew they’d noticed, and likely had a good guess as to where I’d been spending my time, but so far it hadn’t come up. I knew I couldn’t avoid that talk forever though, and as soon as the concert was over I imagined one of them would corner me for answers, if not both.
As the concert grew closer, spirits seemed to rise all across campus. Apparently, the concert was a big tradition that students looked forward to all semester, though part of me wondered if it didn’t have more to do with the fact that classes would be over than with the concert itself.
Either way, the mood was infectious. All exams were scheduled in the week before the concert, and for a week, students put their heads down, studied hard, and set their sights on the weekend. Meanwhile, festive decorations began to appear around campus. Even the food offerings at the dining hall grew more elaborate, and students and teachers alike began to whisper excitedly about their plans over the holidays.
Personally, I had mixed feelings about the holidays. I couldn’t deny that a break from classes and homework was appealing, but at the same time the thought of leaving school made me sad. I didn’t want to leave the guys for three entire weeks, and I certainly couldn’t claim to be excited at the prospect of spending the holidays with my aunt.
My aunt who had been keeping some pretty heavy secrets from me, it seemed.
Before Thanksgiving, I had hoped that I would be able to spend Christmas with Ian, but it seemed that option was out. I wondered if I would ever even see the man who had been like an uncle to me again, and the thought made my heart twist in my chest.
I was pretty sure the guys could sense my sadness, because they did their best to keep me busy and preoccupied. Even Garrett seemed to be in better spirits as the holidays approached, and the four of us spent countless hours camped out in their suite, playing video games and groaning at Devan’s jokes when we weren’t cramming for exams, and one afternoon when the temperature outside wasn’t completely unbearable, Micah and I bundled up and went out to our rock together to paint and watch the waves tumble against the shore.
It was good.
On the Friday before the concert, exams finished early so everyone could get ready for the performance. That made no sense to me, since the concert wasn’t until the following evening, but Devan assured me that it was tradition, and if there was one thing private academies didn’t fuck around with, it was tradition. So I good-naturedly joined the rest of the student body in raiding the dining hall and stuffing myself full of desserts, and when we returned to the room and Micah produced a bottle of rum he’d been hiding God-knew-where, I gamely joined the guys in doing as much damage to it as possible.
And as we passed around the bottle, telling jokes and letting our fingertips brush as we transferred it from hand to hand, a happy, comfortable warmth built in my chest and spilled over, suffusing my limbs with contentment.
41
“It’s tradition, Camilla,” Julie said with a sigh. “Everyone dresses up. Come on, show me what you have. Surely you brought something fancy.”
It was the first time I’d been back in my own suite for longer than the time it took to grab clothes and schoolwork in two weeks, but the guys had been just as insistent as Julie. Apparently the winter concert was nearly as important as prom. Micah had dropped me off at my dorm earlier in the afternoon to get ready, with promises that he would be back to pick me up at six. It hadn’t been until I’d stepped into the room and seen the dress that Julie had laid out across her bed that I’d realized exactly what ‘getting ready’ was supposed to entail.
“I sure as hell didn’t bring anything like that,” I said, nodding my head toward the layers of tulle and beading she was currently wriggling her way into. I was completely out of my depth, and what was worse, Nora and Frank had already dressed and gone to the auditorium, so Julie was my only hope of not looking completely hopeless as I navigated yet another of Lost Lake’s ‘traditions.’
I didn’t even bring a dress,” I said, an edge of panic in my voice when I mentally ran through my options and came up empty.
“It doesn’t have to be a dress,” she told me. “Didn’t you bring anything…nice?” Her nose was wrinkled, and clearly she already knew the answer to her question.
“I mean…I have jeans that aren’t ripped, but I’m guessing that’s not what you’re looking for.”
She heaved a dramatic sigh. “My God, it’s almost like you’ve never even been to a black-tie event before.”
I didn’t bother to inform her that of course I hadn’t, just followed her gratefully when she grabbed my arm and towed me into Frank’s room.
