Page 97 of Carry Your Debt

“You still haven’t asked your question,” he prompts, and now his voice has lost some of its jovial tone.

“Okay,” I say, trying to stall once more.

Think.

Something pertaining to the Labors, obviously.

A bone that we can throw to Sebastian to keep him off our backs for just a little bit longer.

A bone.

That’s it.

“Why would wenotgo searching for bones in a lion’s den?” I blurt.

“Verygood, Bo-Peep,” Morrow praises, a flash of satisfaction briefly lighting up his dark gaze.

He spreads his palms wide.

“Because they were hidden in the rook’s nest all along.”

I’m startingto think this locker room is cursed. Either that or my last cheque to Lady Karma must have bounced.

Just as I’m trying to slip my sweaty self into one of the shower bays, I’m rudely intercepted by the one person I’ve been wanting to see even less than Leo Baker.

Sloane’s dipping out on the Symposium had been a happy fucking coincidence, especially since I’d not exactly been looking forward to dancing around her bullshit in such a risky setting. I’d also managed to avoid her during school hours by planning my movements around her Academy schedule.

With great care—and maybe not a small amount of luck—I’d made it over three weeks without running into the O’Sullivan princess again.

Surprisingly, she’s not flanked by any of her Prefect posse, and while she’s just as annoyingly gorgeous as ever, the skin beneath her eyes is just a tad too dark, despite the efforts of her otherwise flawless makeup.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say Sloane Walker lookstired.

“Guess I needed to use something stronger, after all,” she greets me with a sharp smile that’s all teeth. “What kind of pest control even works on aSuit?”

Ugh.

To be brutally honest,I’ve always hated the song-and-dance of identity subterfuge. I knew that eventually my figurative pointe shoes would wear thin the longer I tip-toed along the halls of Rox Academy.

But it’s actually kind of a relief to let loose the laces and slip them off every once in a while.

“Missed you in Themis,mo rós fiáin,” I say conversationally, and the dark scowl I get in return makes me feel marginally better about the migraine I can feel building behind my eye.

“I heard they were giving out charity invites this year,” she scoffs, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. The normally lustrous red strands appear dull under the locker room’s harsh industrial lighting.

“Yep, they just let me walk right on in,” I muse, spreading my hands likecan you believe that shit?Before I drop my chin and step right into her space. “Even got a little glimpse of your future while I was there.”

Sloane’s smile doesn’t lose any of its condescension, but there’s something like bemusement there now. “I highly doubt it. You haveno ideawhat my future looks like,” she retorts with a low laugh.

I have to mirror her cold smirk with my own, though, knowing it’s only a matter of time before an arranged marriage to some high-ranking Southern asshole grinds that backbone of hers right into the dirt.

She would’ve made a hell of animperatrixand I’m almost sorry to see it.

Almost.

I sigh. “What do you want, Sloane?”

Because I know what I want:to shower in fucking peace.

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