Page 106 of Gothikana

‘You’re a Deverell,’ she whispered, pieces falling into place.

Jade smiled beatifically. ‘Yes, I am. My mother was conceived on a night much like this. My grandma told me all about it — the blood, the sex, the sacrifice. They played so good. God, it must’ve been such a fun time.’

The excitement in her voice made Corvina nauseous.

She remembered Vad telling her his story, the disgust on his face when he’d relayed similar events to her. He had maybe killed hisgrandfather over it. And this girl, she was… crazy. There wasn’t another word for it.

‘But are you not crazy, too?’ the insidious voice whispered.

‘Ignore her, Vivi,’ Mo said.

Corvina somehow took his advice as things slowly started to make sense. ‘You burned her after we went in the woods and found the shack, didn’t you?’ It was making sense now.

‘I had to.’ Jade wiggled her toes. ‘Nobody used to go in the woods, so it was never a risk. And then, thanks to you, people got curious. God, I tried to warn you away so many times. I couldn’t risk her getting identified.’

Corvina looked at the girl, a dead weight settling in her stomach. ‘Did you have something to do with Troy’s death?’

Jade gave her a look, her eyes gleaming. ‘Of course I did. Troy was… suspicious of Alissa’s death. He began to investigate why she had gone to the roof. Someone told him they’d seen us going together before I came down alone. He began to wonder if I’d run away to throw people off my scent, and I had. I really liked him, but I had no choice.’

Hot rage pulsed inside Corvina, her eyes stinging as she remembered the amazing, smart boy who had lost his life because of the evil of one woman.

‘You gave him the Devil’s Breath?’

‘Yup,’ Jade nodded. ‘And took him to the roof. This one right here. Told him to walk right off it. Nobody suspected a thing.’

The wind whistled over the roof they were on, picking up speed, making Corvina’s hair fly.

‘I did,’ Corvina told the girl, anger raging in her veins. ‘I knew he wouldn’t have killed himself. I told his brother the same.’

Jade chuckled. ‘But no one can prove anything.’

Which meant Corvina was never meant to make it out of this conversation alive.

‘And the disappearances over the last century?’ Corvina asked. ‘Did you or your grandma have something to do with that?’

Jade shook her head. ‘Nope, I genuinely have no idea what happens on Black Ball. My grandma doesn’t either. We both wondered quite a lot about it.’

‘So you had nothing to do with Roy being in the lake tonight?’

Jade looked puzzled under the moonlight. ‘Roy? Why would I do anything to Roy? I like her. Is she okay?’

Corvina got whiplash from the way this girl confessed to killing in cold blood one minute and being concerned about a friend the next.

This girl was going to kill Corvina. She knew. Lying on that roof, talking to her, Corvina felt the truth sink into her bones.

‘Why kill Alissa?’ she asked the girl, buying more time as she tried to figure out a way to get out of this.

Her limbs didn’t even twitch under the effect of the drug. If she didn’t get out, she would become another tale at Verenmore, another unknown death.

Jade’s eyes flashed, something going off behind them. ‘Exactly why I’ll kill you, Corvina. Even though I truly loved you like a sister in the beginning.’

Corvina stared at the girl, trying to understand what she and Alissa had had in common. The answer came to her in a chilling realisation.

‘Vad,’ she breathed.

Jade smiled. ‘Vad.’

Corvina blinked. ‘But… why? I don’t understand.’

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