Page 71 of Kings of the Campus

Jace steps forward, his voice tense. “What are you talking about?”

Julian’s laugh gets louder, more bitter, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “Oh man, you guys are clueless.” He lowers his voice, leaning in as if he’s about to share a big secret. “You think I’ve been doing all this alone? Nah, I’m only a lackey. Just following my orders.”

I feel a chill crawl up my spine. This isn’t what I expected. “Orders from who?” I demand, my pulse quickening.

Julian’s grin widens as he looks each of us in the eye. “Wouldn’tyoulike to know?”

41

JACE

Julian looks almost maniacal as he stares us down. “Wouldn’tyoulike to know?” he says, his tone mocking.

Julian’s laughter rings in my ears, echoing around the empty backyard. His cocky, smug expression has my fists clenching at my sides, my patience wearing thin. I step forward, my eyes locked on him. “Who are you working for?” I demand, my voice low and tight. “You said you’re following orders—so who’s pulling the strings?”

Julian just smirks, leaning back like he’s got all the time in the world. “Now, why would I tell you that? Where’s the fun in giving away all the secrets?”

My blood boils at his taunting, the way he’s toying with us like we’re nothing. I grit my teeth, taking another step closer. “I’m done playing games, Julian. You’re not walking away from this until you tell us everything.”

He glances at Alec and Devin, then back at me, his smirk widening. “Fine. You wanna know who’s been calling the shots? It’s someone closer than you think. Not everyone at theSentinelis in love with your intrepid little reporter, after all.”

His eyes gleam with malice as he leans in, his voice a low whisper. “One of the people she works with has been behind it all, using me to do the dirty work. I just took advantage of the situation to get my revenge.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. One of Tessa’s colleagues? The last thing I expected was that someone she worked with could be behind everything. “Who?” I bark, my frustration boiling over. “Who the hell is it?”

Julian shakes his head, the smug look never leaving his face. “Oh, I’m not giving you a name. Where’s the satisfaction in that? You’ll just have to figure it out yourselves.”

Before I can stop myself, my fist connects with Julian’s jaw. The sound of the impact is sharp, and he stumbles back, clutching his face, but still laughing. “Ooh, there it is. The anger. The desperation.” He spits blood onto the grass and looks up at me with wild eyes. “You’re not gonna get what you want from me, Jace. But hey, good luck figuring out who’s been playing you this whole time.”

Devin steps forward, pulling me back before I can take another swing. I can barely hear him over the rush of blood in my ears, my mind racing with Julian’s words.

“You won’t get away with this,” Alec growls.

“Youthree are never going to get away with this,” Julian taunts. “I’m going to tell everyone you went crazy and tried to pick a fight with me. You have no proof that I’m behind anything.”

“Do you want to provoke us?” Devin asks, his voice deadly calm. “Because I have no qualms with beating the shit out of you until your brains are so rattled that you end up in a coma. Once you’re comatose, you can’t stop us from finding out who’s behind all this, and by the time you wake up it will be too late.”

He’s not usually the violent type, he’s more of a peaceful negotiator, but listening to the way he’s talking right now is almost enough to send a shiver down my spine.

A flicker of fear crosses Julian’s face before he schools his expression, looking bored. “Fine, whatever. I’ve gotten what I wanted from that little bitch anyway.”

Alec turns like he’s about to walk away before he lunges at Julian, ready to strangle him. I manage to grab him just in time and pull him back.

He seethes, trying to fight my grip, but Devin holds him back from the other side. “You have thirty seconds to pack your shit and leave this fraternity. You’re officially kicked out and banned from the premises.”

“You can’t do that!” Julian argues, getting to his feet.

“I assure you that I can, actually,” Alec says, eyes narrowing as a smug smile appears. “I’m the fraternity president. We may not be able to go after you for the stalking, but you admitted you tried to harm the girlfriend of a brother, which falls under…” he trails off, glancing over at me and I realize that he’s allowing me to be the one to formally kick him to the curb. A smirk rises on my face as I start listing off all the ways in which he’s screwed.

“It falls under Conduct Unbecoming, Disruptive Antics, and Harm Threatened to a Fellow Member or Member’s Family,” I say, my tone cool as I cross my arms. “Take your pick but you’re out of here.”

Julian opens and closes his mouth, scowling before shrugging his shoulders. “Fine. I don’t want to be part of your shitty frat anyway. I mean, who holds sober parties?” he scoffs.

The three of us frog-march him into the house and lead him up the stairs where he’s given exactly thirty seconds to grab whatever is important to him.

We call campus police and they escort him out of the house, leaving us all breathing a temporary sigh of relief.

“Let’s go back and check on Tessa,” I say, exhaustion creeping in after everything that’s happened today.

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