Page 26 of Theirs to Rule

“But you bullying me is okay? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Who says it has to? I told you before, I’m not the guy you once knew. I’m fucked up, Camille. And as much as I can fuck up anyone who messes with you, I’m a hell of a lot more dangerous to you. So stay away from me.”

“That will be easier after you move out, right?” When he said nothing, I sighed, feeling defeated. “Fine. I’ll stay away from you. But Ty? You don’t have the monopoly on hurting me. In fact, Kage might have you beat.” When he didn’t respond, I shook my head. “You know what? You don’t have to move out. You two deserve each other. I want nothing more to do with either of you. I’ll be gone in a few days.”

For a moment, I even considered leaving school altogether. Bianca had said that would be best, and maybe I should listen to her. The one thing that stopped me, though, was the possibility that Bianca was right about the CU kids having gone missing. The possibility that they’d been hurt or killed. If it was true, whatever was happening to them could be wrapped up in what happened with Ava and Silas. Even if it wasn’t, I wasn’t going to leave my sister here to deal with it herself. Otherwise, I’d be a coward just like I’d accused Ty of being.

Chapter 13

Camille

Somehow, after my run in with Ty, I was feeling stronger. I went for a long walk—avoiding the river, of course—then headed to the library where I took a moment to figure out what classes I’d missed in my absence. I thought about heading back to the chateau to start packing up my things, but I just couldn’t stomach having another run in with Ty. I decided the best thing to do was attend the only class I had scheduled for later in the day, my art class.

Kage and Ty had betrayed me. Who knows? Despite all his promises, maybe Dante was next. But I wasn’t going to let any of that take me down. I had a purpose for being on campus now. I was going to find out whether what Bianca had told me about the missing students was true.

On my way to art class, I ran into Simone. She looked shocked to see me but then her face lit up.

"Camille, thank God you're okay!" she exclaimed as she rushed toward me. She wrapped me in a hug that I returned, albeit stiffly.

"The news about the car accident has spread like wildfire. I tried calling you but…”

“Yeah, sorry. Things have been crazy.”

“I called the hospital so many times demanding to get information about you and someone finally caved and told me only Kage had been hospitalized. How is he?”

I felt my throat tighten, the words catching like thorns. "I hope he’s doing okay," I managed to say.

Simone's smile faltered, her eyes searching mine for something I couldn't give. "You don’t know?”

I swallowed hard and shook my head. The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "He's engaged, Simone. I left when I found out."

The shock on Simone's face mirrored the turmoil inside me. "Shit! I'm so sorry, Camille. I had no idea."

Tears pricked my eyes. "Neither did I," I whispered, the admission cracking my voice. "I was just a distraction.”

"That bastard. How could he do that to you? Want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, the thought of rehashing the pain too much to bear. "I can't. Not right now."

"Okay, but I'm here for you, alright? Whenever you're ready."

I managed a small smile, grateful for her friendship. God only knew how much I needed it right now.

We'd walked a short distance in the same direction before Simone nudged my shoulder.

“You’re still thinking about him, aren’t you?”

“Thinking what a fool I was to ever trust him.”

Simone blew out a breath. “Yeah, a secret fiancée is bad. I’m sorry I ever encouraged you to hook up with him. But let’s focus on the present, you need a distraction. The Halloween progressive party is coming up—you totally need to take part in it.”

“Halloween progressive party?” It was the first I’d heard of it.

“Girl, they’re sectioning off the old main hall into mini rooms. Participants are putting their own spin on the spooky season and people move from one room to the other. It’s going to be amazing. And to top it all off, there will be a vote at the end to decide the best room. This year’s prize is supposed to be amazing. You in?”

“I don’t know, Simone,” I murmured.

Throwing together a themed room for a party would have been right up my alley before learning about Kage’s fiancée. Now it just seemed like too much work. And after all the darkness that I had been witness to, Halloween didn’t exactly hold the same appeal. My nightmares were still haunted by Ava’s sodden, drowned corpse.

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