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“School is fine. Easy as always. It’s shit with Stratos I’m trying to work out,” I say.

“Still fucked up over the announcement?” he replies.

Despite the polite smile I try to paste on my face, my hands still clench. “It is what it is, Riale,” I offer, dropping my words so that hopefully he’ll drop the topic.

“Are you planning anything?” he asks, and my suspicions begin to rise.

“Did he send you to interrogate me?” I ask, turning to face him fully. We’re a few blocks from the Asheford campus, and it’s not beyond me to walk the rest of the way to the Econ building.

“Who?”

“My father.” Or Lakeland, the snake. “Is he afraid I’m gonna change his will and off him?”

My laugh is dark, and Riale gives me a long look when we pull up to a stoplight. I know he’s trying to see whether I’m serious or not.

“I’m not going to kill my father. Fuck, Riale.”

Is that what he thinks of me? That I’m some wild, amoral psychopath who kills just for the fuck of it?

“No one sent me, Storm,” Riale says, breaking into my mental tirade. “I’m just asking because I know how much you want Stratos to be yours.”

He shrugs and leaves his statement at that.

“I’m working on something,” I volunteer.

A muscle in my jaw twitches in time with the flicker in my eye socket.

“And how is that going?” he asks, turning right into the main entrance by the admissions hall. When he rolls to a stop, I finally answer.

“Have you ever known me to fail?”

He nods. “Fair enough.”

I open the door, climb out, and grab my bag with efficient movements. “Thanks for the ride.”

I close the door before either one of us can say more.

I’m lost in my thoughts while walking to the Econ building, so when I sense a body rushing up to me, it takes me a few seconds more than usual to react.

“Sandoval.” Kurt’s deep baritone shoots into my left ear as he bounces up to me, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

I shake it off immediately, pulling the punch to the face I want to unleash on him for daring to enter my space.

“Hey, what crawled up your ass? You’re grumpier than usual,” he asks, stepping back with his palms facing me.

“Nothing,” I snap, continuing my trek toward the lecture hall.

Kurt takes a few more steps alongside me, and I tilt my head in his direction, finally giving him my attention.

“You coming to class?” I ask.

“Old man caught wind of my ‘attendance problem.’ New professor in Econ 406. Not from around here.”

“Ah,” I reply, keeping it moving down the hall.

It’s getting crowded now. The building has five separate hallways that all meet in a central atrium. I decided to take the long way around today, hoping to clear my head.

Not possible with Kurt on my tail.