Page 87 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

No one wants to die.

Chapter 30

Zach

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I try to ignore my pounding heart, but it fills every inch of my awareness.

Calm down.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

At best, I’d considered Trinity just another poor soul who’d somehow managed to get a ticket on the worst ride boarding schools in West Virginia offered. At worst, she was one of those crazy-eyed lackeys who follow Gabriel around like they couldn’t wait for their cup of blue Kool Aid.

It had never crossed my mind that she knew him.

Not as the provost of Saint Amos, or the ex-bishop of Redmond.

That she knewhim.

The horrific twisted demon possessing his corrupted body. A sinister entity we’d finally tracked down after years of searching.

She knew theGuardian.

Reuben brought her a blanket. He even tucked her in while I finished the blunt. Cassius immediately started rolling another joint. I had another shot of whiskey. That, with the weed, pushed my savage fury down to a level where I could communicate again.

“Why did you come to Saint Amos?” I ask.

Trinity glances up at me, eyes widening. “I didn’t have anywhere else to?—“

“Why?”

“My parents. They’re—they were killed in a car accident.”

“When?”

“About a month ago.” Her eyes are bright, but no tears. Is she lying? Wouldn’t make any sense if she was.

Rube takes the seat beside her. Framed between him and Cassius, her feet not touching the ground and her hair drying into wild curls, she looks like a little doll.

Cassius lights the blunt this time, takes a pull, and holds it out for her. She glances across at him and then down at the hands in her lap. The cuffs left bright red welts on her fair skin. I try not to look at them.

“This isn’t me being polite,” Cassius says.

“I don’t want any.”

“I could give a shit,” he says, turning to her and leaning in. “Smoke it.”

We know how this works. We’ve done it many times before.

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