Page 68 of Theirs to Rule

A half hour later, after I was sure Kage had left for class, I finally dragged myself out of bed and got showered and dressed. I trudged downstairs and made myself a coffee, hoping the caffeine hit would help lift me out of the funk I was in.

My phone beeped. I reached for it, half-expecting it to be Kage, but it was a calendar reminder that I was late for my tutoring session with Drew. I sighed. The last thing I felt like doing was studying math. Then again, maybe a distraction was exactly what I needed. I headed to the library and to the table where Drew and I always met.

I waited. Then waited some more.

Frowning, I checked my phone again. It was nearly an hour after the time I had arranged to meet Drew, and he still wasn’t here. He also wasn’t answering his phone or replying to my texts. It was totally out of character for him. Something was wrong. I could feel it. I stood up and headed to Drew's dorm room, where we'd had sessions a couple of times.

I rapped lightly on the door, glancing down the hallway while I waited for Drew to answer. After a minute, the door cracked open, and a guy with scruffy dark hair and wire rimmed glasses peered out at me. He looked like he was either half asleep or high. Considering it was almost noon, the latter was probably more likely.

He frowned at me. “Where’s the pizza?”

“What?” I shook my head. “No, I’m not a delivery person. I’m looking for Drew. We had a tutoring session, and he didn’t show.”

The guy frowned at me. “That’s because he left.”

I stared at him, confused. Drew had literally texted me two days ago, confirming our session.

“Left?” I repeated. “When? Why?”

“What am I, his mother? I don’t know. I literally came back from class, and he was gone, all moved out.”

“And you didn’t think that was odd?” I asked.

If my roommate had suddenly left, I’d have had questions. It made me think of Ava and the way we had left things, and a shudder ran down my spine. I’d gone after her to get answers and look how that had turned out.

“Not really,” the guy looked bored with the conversation. “He kept to himself. Can I go now? I’ve got some important work to get back to.”

I almost rolled my eyes. “Sure, thanks for your help,” I muttered, even though he was no help at all.

Maybe Drew and his boyfriend had made up? Ran away together?

Or maybe this had something to do with the kids that were going missing from campus.

My stomach twisted into knots. I left the dorm and headed across campus to the administration building hoping to get some answers. I waited in line for fifteen minutes only to be told they were unable to give out personal information about other students.

“Privacy reasons,” the lady said, flashing me a fake smile. “I’m sure you understand.”

The only thing I understood was how none of this made any fucking sense. Drew and I weren’t besties or anything, but we’d become friends over the last few months. He had been serious about his studies and his commitments. There was no way he would leave me hanging like that, not without at least a text. An uneasy feeling brewed in my stomach as I left the admin building. Outside, I called Dante.

“Something weird is going on,” I began.

“Let me guess,” Dante said. “Kage has been singing in the shower. No, wait! Ty cracked a smile for once.”

I was too distressed to even smile. “No, I’m being serious. My math tutor, Drew Nelson, just up and left. Nobody but me seems to think it’s strange.”

“Nelson, huh?” Dante murmured. “Super smart kid, dark hair, always follows the rules?”

“Yeah, that’s him,” I confirmed. “He once texted me because he was going to be five minutes late for a session. There’s no way he’d just leave without letting me know.”

“I’ll look into it.”

“Thanks,” I told him, feeling better already.

I shoved my phone into my pocket and headed to my next class. On the way, I half expected Kage to walk up to me to hashthings out about last night, but he didn't. I sighed, relieved. I had somehow managed to avoid running into Kage all day and I planned to keep it that way.

Turns out, fate had other ideas. Kage was waiting for me when I left class. I stiffened, unprepared for a confrontation with him, especially in public. "Hey, sorry I can't talk. I need to get somewhere." I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him.

“I don’t like how things ended last night,” he told me, his voice soft. “I think we should talk about it.”

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