Page 109 of Broken Obsession

They made him believe that, maybe, finding that kind of contentment, that kind of love, again in someone else wasn’t impossible.

But what about Ares? None of the Black Harts were known for being kind or thoughtful. Eden had been payingattention; out of the eight of them, it seemed like students and staff alike feared Ares and his brother even more than the rest.

Since his options were either to be fooled or to fall, Eden would have to decide. Which meant looking into Ares’ past and uncovering the things he obviously didn’t want to willingly share.

He waited for the classroom to clear and then signed onto his school computer. It took him a moment to remember the name of the project, Project Firefly, and he’d had to run a couple of different searches with variations of Ares’ first and last name, but he eventually got a hit on an old article.

It was a photocopied page from a newspaper, with the rest of the story missing. He read over the meager paragraphs a few times, trying to figure out what about it made Ares leave it online.

Because it was obvious from the lack of information that Ares, and possibly Zar, had used their money and influence to scrub the story. Either this one image had managed to fall through the cracks, or they’d left it on purpose, deeming it unthreatening. In truth, it didn’t really give much away.

A fire had destroyed a facility run by Dr. Major and Dr. Corbett, and neither had survived.

“Someone’s being a bad spiritual companion.” Nyoka’s sudden appearance over Eden’s shoulder caused him to jump.

The Black Hart laughed and moved around the podium where Eden was standing, propping his arms up against the wooden back to grin at him over it. “I wonder what Creation will think when he finds out you’re digging into his affairs.”

Eden’s eyes narrowed. “Interesting choice of words.”

“Apologies,” Nyoka laughed. “I couldn’t help it. Curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know if the way you look at him was all an act, or if you’re really that possessive. Fear not. Ares would never cheat.”

“No?”

“Nah. Do you want to know how he usually spends Cor Night every year?”

“What’s Cor Night?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Nyoka waved the question off. “The point is, while the rest of us are off fucking, he typically finds an empty classroom and games.”

Eden knew better than to bite, and yet…He tipped his head. “Alone?”

Nyoka grinned. “Sometimes he’ll find someone and force them to join. Fisher played with him one year.”

He scowled.

“Not a fan of my Fishy?”

“Yourfishy?”

“We’ve been best friends since childhood,” he shrugged, “which basically makes him mine.”

Eden wasn’t sure that was how it worked—he certainly didn’t think of Noon or any of his other friends as belonging to him—but wasn’t going to stand here and split hairs with a Black Hart.

“Anyway,” Nyoka jutted his chin toward the computer, “you aren’t going to find much there.”

“I’ve discovered that.” He pursed his lips. “But what’s this about a fire? Is that how their parents died?”

“That’s the official cause of death, in any case.”

“What’s the unofficial cause?” It was becoming clear this particular person liked drawing things out for effect. If it meant getting answers, Eden would gladly let Nyoka think he had the upper hand.

“Balthazar killed them, obviously.”

He recalled Ares making passing comments about his parents' deaths and how he wasn’t upset about it the way Eden mourned his own family. Still, being okay about it and stickingwith the person responsible for their murders weren’t even nearly the same thing.

Eden’s brow furrowed. “Was it an accident?”

“A world of no.”