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“Well, I expected to see you at Carnegie. I have so many questions. I wasn’t…with her at the end. You know?”
He runs his hand through his oily hair, then looks down at them with a sneer. “I should’ve come to see you.”
“We’re all dealing with it in our own way.”
“Except your uncle and Eden’s dad,” Oliver bites out. “Did you hear they want Keegan and Eden to marry now? Like Dee didn’t even exist.”
Devon’s gaze takes a few seconds to harden. “What?” he seethes. He looks to me for confirmation.
“Yeah, it’s disgusting,” Oliver continues. “Now, no one can find Keegan.”
Devon’s fingers curl into the chair. His eyes are wide, red veins popping amongst the white. “I don’t know why I’m so fucking surprised.” He laughs, and it sounds maniacal, almost like the barely hinged voice in my own head. “It makes perfect sense when you think about it—according to them, of course. One’s dead, so why not marry off the other? Keeps the arrangements just as they were.”
“They can go fuck themselves. It’s not going to happen,” Oliver states.
“Don’t let it,” Devon says, lips thinning. “No matter what.”
“Devon…” With crazy eyes like that, it’s difficult to get his attention again. I have to say his name another two times before he finally looks at me. “Why aren’t you at Carnegie anymore?”
“I thought it would be obvious,” he mutters, staring down at the arm of the chair and picking a too-bright orange thread. “We all know my parents weren’t paying for it. Leon’s good graces ran out, I guess.”
“So you decide to lock yourself away in a dirty cabin?”
“I’m actually just seeing how long it takes for anyone to notice I’m gone, or to remember this place exists. For all I know, they’ll bulldoze it while I’m in here. Wouldn’t that be something?”
“You can do other things. You don’t have to go to Carnegie. There are other colleges.” What I attempt to make sound like well-meaning advice comes out as imploring. I reel myself back in. “You don’t have to live like this.”
“I’m just taking a break,” Devon says, and for a minute, I believe him.
“Good, because you were way too good for this world, anyway, Devon. And I know a little college that I’m sure will gladly accept you.”
“As far as I’m aware, no college is free.”
“There are things called school loans,” I say.
He makes a face, and I get it. Partly. If I was in his position, it would be the principle of the matter. Hell, even my father paid for my cheap-ass college away from here. Devon, though, is treated like a second-class citizen in his own family.
“Just don’t let him ruin your life,” I state.
“Speaking of the bastard,” Oliver interjects in a less than obvious segue. “We’re here about Leon.” He lets go of my hand and leans forward in his chair. I watch him as he assesses Devon, but neither of us can spare our friend’s mental health when there’s something bigger at stake. “Eden found this odd bouquet amongst Dee’s things, and it turns out it was from Leon Forbes.”
Nice cover.
“Any idea why Leon would be giving Dee something like that? It had this cryptic note on it about her big day.”
Devon’s face scrunches. “Their wedding?” He licks his chapped lips, and leans back, the flames throwing his body in shadows and light. “I think Keegan actually started to care for Dee before…” His gaze flicks to me, and he stops talking.
Unfortunately, we don’t think it’s that. For myself, I think it means the night of her final Trial. The night she mysteriously drowned.
“They covered up what actually happened to Dee. You know that, right, Devon? Made it seem like she was just out there for an intimate gathering and wandered off and drowned. They ushered everyone off the island. There were so many elite guests there that they couldn’t have anywhere near a young woman’s dead body.”
“Nothing’s changed,” Devon says. “I’m not a Knight. I’m not good enough,” he sneers. “After what happened to Dee, I’m glad.”
“Do you know what kind of relationship she had with Leon? Did you see them together at all?”
“No one likes Leon Forbes,” Devon grinds out. “But no, I never saw them together unless we were all at a party or something. You probably had more opportunities to see them together than me.”
And that’s what bothers me… Because every time I saw Leon around my sister and I, he leered at us like a pervy old man. Like Franklin Jarvis looks at the women in his family.