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“Ta-da! Holyshit,” I laugh. “Did yougohere?! How have we not discussed—”
She’s looking at me with a horrified expression on her face.
“Victoria?”
“Take that off.”
Her voice is a rigid and lethal whisper, her face white and her jaw clenched.
I frown, sucking on my teeth. “Sorry, I didn’t—”
“I SAID TAKE IT OFF!”
Yeah, something’s not right here.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” I say quietly, trying to calm her.
“NOW!”
“Okay!”
I shiver, a nervy feeling creeping up my spine as I reach down and peel off the shirt. When I toss it to her, all the sudden venom in her immediately disappears. Her shoulders relax, and her jaw visibly unclenches.
“I…I’m sorry,” she mumbles.
I nod, crossing my arms awkwardly over my bra. “That’s…okay, Victoria. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She nods quietly, looking at the shirt in her hands. Her thumbs run over it almost lovingly.
“Did you go—”
“My stepbrother did.” She just keeps staring at the shirt. “This was his.”
Was.
Now I feel like an asshole, parading in here in a shirt that belonged to a family member who’s clearly deceased.
“I’m so sorry for your loss, Victoria,” I say gently. “What year was he?”
Slowly, her eyes lift to mine. Something flickers behind them.
“The same year as your boyfriend.”
I freeze.
Knightsblood neveroncecame up at dinner the other night. And I can’t imagine I’ve ever mentioned to her that Deimos went to school there, considering she and I have never even talked aboutmegoing there.
“Excuse me?”
Her mouth twists. “He was there at the same time as Deimos. The same time asyou, too…”
Her voice has changed. It’s noticeably colder. More distant. Edged.
The feeling of sharp steel dragging over my skin tingles down my spine.
“Who…” I swallow. “Victoria, who was your stepbrother?”
“Oh, you knew him.” Her face darkens as her lips thin. “Chase Cavendish.”
