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“Please don’t try to talk to me while we do it. Just because we agreed to be civil doesn’t mean I want to have a big gossip session with you.”
“Got it,” I said. “We’ll work quietly.”
We left our phones behind and headed for the storage closet on the other side of the office. Addy opened it and waited for us to step inside. Then she followed us in and closed the door before turning to look at me, face crumpling.
“I’m so sorry, Amerie,” she said, eyes brimming with tears. “I didn’t mean to say or do any of that stuff to you. I was just trying to protect you. I didn’t want it to happen again.”
My forehead creased. “Didn’t want what to happen again?”
“Remember how I told you about Rosie Oakeshott? The girl who used to have your desk here?”
I nodded mutely.
Addy sniffled and wiped her face with her free hand. “She was my friend… and I killed her.”
Amerie
I stared at Addy, thunderstruck. “What do you mean?”
“Rosie died in a hiking accident. There was a witness,” Jensen said at the same time.
Addy shook her head and slumped down to the carpeted floor, gingerly resting her broken arm on a nearby box. “It was my fault,” she said. “Believe me.”
“How?”
She swallowed thickly and looked up at me. “Rosie was a lot like you. She came to me one day last year saying she wanted to look into the Rosmerta Society, because she’d heard all the rumors about it,” she said. She paused to sniffle. “I knew the society was real, but I didn’t want her to work on a story like that because I thought it was stupid.”
“Hold on.” Jensen lifted a palm. “How did you know the society really exists? Are you a member?”
“No.” Another sniffle. “But I’ve known for years. All the way back in eighth grade, I got a letter with a test. My parents told me it was a test to see if I qualified for a gifted student program at school, but I knew they were lying. For one, if it was a school thing, why wasn’t the test issued at school? Also, they were so excited when I got it. Like it was a letter to Hogwarts.”
My brows rose. “So your parents are Rosmerta members, then?”
“Yes. They obviously wanted me to follow in their footsteps. But I failed the test. I guess I’m not neurotypical enough for the society.”
“How did you find out you failed?” Jensen asked, tilting his head.
Addy’s lips thinned. “I got another letter a few months later saying I wasn’t a good fit for the gifted student program,” she said. “Then I overheard my parents talking about it when they thought I was in my bedroom. They were really upset, saying I was the first person in our family to fail to get into the society in over three hundred years. I don’t think they’ve ever been so disappointed.”
I sank down to her level on the floor. “That must’ve been hard to hear,” I murmured, patting her leg.
“Yeah. No shit,” she said bitterly. “I get good grades and run this paper, but hey… still not good enough for them.”
“So what happened with Rosie when she asked about it?” Jensen asked, steering the subject back to its original course.
Addy wiped her cheeks. “Well, she came to me wanting to write about the society. I knew it was real, but I didn’t think it was a particularly big deal. I figured it was just like every other secret society out there—a bunch of rich people helping each other out with opportunities and connections. Basically a cool secret network.”
“That’s what I used to think too,” Jensen muttered.
Addy nodded and went on. “I didn’t think it was anything bad,” she said. “Like, I didn’t think they were doing Satanic rituals and sacrificing virgins out in the woods, or anything like that. So I told Rosie it was a total waste of time to look into it.”
“But she did anyway?” I asked, forehead wrinkling.
“Yes. A few weeks later she came to me all flushed with excitement, saying she’d found a source who was willing to talk to her. An actual member,” Addy said. “She said she had to convince him to open up more, because he’d only told her a few basics.”
“That’s the stuff I found on her computer, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. Anyway, I told her she was being pranked. A real member wouldn’t tell her anything. But Rosie just said, ‘You’ll see’ and claimed she’d figure out a way to make him open up more.”
