Page 2 of Dance With Death

Leif doesn't share my caution and the guy seizes Violet, drawing her close until she’s swallowed in his embrace. Violet's arms remain by her side and she doesn't move, as if patiently waiting for him to stop.

"Nobody else hug me," she says stiffly, ducking out of his arms and turning away.

"Are you that pissed with us?" I ask.

"No. As I said, I'm busy." She gestures at the wall between her and Holly's bed. "You're interrupting."

Once, Violet covered that white wall in notes and theories surrounding Wes's and then Rory's murders, which she later took down and replaced with her findings from the investigations into missing Madison and the tiara’s connection. Violet must've worked all night to add more notes because the wall is barely visible beneath the paper.

I step forward to stand beside Violet and study her latest work, scrawled in black pen. Names. Events. Times.

"Are you okay?" I whisper and brush my hand against hers.

Her eyes meet mine. "Holly is missing."

"Yes," I say quietly and link our fingers. "We'll find her."

She stares as if I’m an imbecile. "Well, of course we will."

I half-smile. Violet and her certainty. “Then you need our help.”

More silence. I’ve tried not to but I can’t help glancing across the room to Holly’s bed, neatly made and covered in her plush toys.

Violet’s fingers tighten a moment. "Perhaps an extra opinion may be useful. I've made a list of all suspects.” She taps a pen on the wall. "Unfortunately, there're a few to work through."

"How many?" asks Grayson cautiously.

"A number. Viktor is my biggest suspect. Hence, he's in the middle." Violet points at his name in a circle with red lines leading to other names.

Viktor Whitegrove. Mrs. Eldridge. Josef Petrescu. "Marci?" I ask, as I spot the witch’s name.

"I don't trust anybody apart from the people in this room," she announces. "That mistrust extends to Mrs. Lorcan and other staff."

"The headmistress wouldn't arrange for a human to go missing from Thornwood," says Leif. “She’d lose her job if anybody discovered that she planned this.”

"And what if Mrs. Lorcan isn't in control?" retorts Violet. "What if someone else is pulling the strings?"

I continue to read the suspect list. "Sawyer? Violet, you have to limit this to people who're capable of taking Holly from campus unnoticed."

"Abducting Holly," says Violet harshly.

"Unless Holly left because she wanted to." The words are barely out of Grayson's mouth before Violet has him slammed against the bedroom door, her hand twisted into his blazer jacket.

Leif darts forward and catches Violet's arm as she bares her teeth at Grayson. Okay, Violet isn't the calm, controlled girl she appears.

"Holly did not leave of her own accord," she half-spits. "Holly hasn't replied to any phone calls or messages. Even if she'd stupidly decided to run and hide, Holly would make contact to assure me she's safe."

"Violet," says Leif. "Let Grayson go."

Releasing the vamp, she steps back then pivots to face me. I'm all for backing off now that I'm aware how unpredictable she is but remain still. Grayson edges past Violet to also study her investigative wall. "Where do we start?"

I glance at Leif who’s primed to intervene again, but Violet clenches and unclenches her fists. "We wait here for clues or contact from the abductor," she says.

"At the academy? Aren't you returning to Scotland?" I ask. “All of us as planned? Then we don’t look suspicious.”

"I am not going anywhere until I find Holly." She pauses. "Unless it's to find Holly."

"Is that a good idea?" asks Grayson. "You should take your fathers’ advice."

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