Page 80 of Soulless Rivalry

“It’s Mia. She’s nowhere to be found.”

Running a hand through my hair,I sighed when I got Mia’s voicemail again. She wasn’t picking up her phone and it wasn’t the first time, but as always, it drove me crazy. It wasn’t unusual for her to randomly ghost us when she spent the night with a guy, but still.

Lorenzo was freaking out next to me, but only because he didn’t know she’d been out on a date last night. I couldn’t tell him and break Mia’s trust, even if I was still angry at her.

“Voicemail,” I said, tossing the phone on my desk.

I noticed the journal on the Sons of Tyche was still there, opened as I left it last night. I discreetly closed it and pushed it into my desk drawer. For some reason, I didn’t want anyone else to know about it; it was my and Konstantin’s secret, nobody else’s.

“Shit,” he cursed, pacing back and forth near my door.

Unable to see him worry any longer, I sighed, plopping down on my bed. “Listen, there’s no need to worry. She always does that when she’s out on a date, maybe that’s why she’s not answering her phone right now.”

I tried not to give away the fact that I knew for sure she had spent the night with a guy because that would push him to ask who and, as much as I thought he was an asshole, I didn’t want Dominik in trouble. Not because I cared for him, but because I cared for Konstantin.

“Look, why don’t you go to your room and take a shower?” I walked up to my cousin, putting my hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “I’ll make a few calls and see if I can find her. If not, we’ll search for her, okay?”

His eyes bore into mine for a few seconds, full of worry, before he nodded. As soon as he was out of my dorm, I grabbed my phone and fired a quick text to Konstantin.

Me: Please tell your brother to tell Mia to check her phone. Lorenzo is going crazy over here.

I decided to get my things ready to take a shower in the time it would take him to answer. My thighs were still sticky from Konstantin’s cum; I secretly loved it but knew the best thing to do was have a shower.

Just as I was about to get into the shower, my phone pinged with a text. Goosebumps broke all over my skin as I read it over and over again, thinking maybe I was having trouble reading the words correctly. Fear made my stomach churn and my hands shake, blood freezing in my veins as I let my eyes roam the screen of my phone.

K: What do you mean? Dom is still in Louisiana, he left his phone in his dorm. Only Roman and I came back last night.

ELYSSA

“Miss Bianchi, I want you to tell me exactly what happened last night before your cousin disappeared.”

My gaze was lost in the distance, the events from my last conversation with Mia replaying over and over in my head. Dean Taylor was leaning against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, looking at me like I was a fucking suspect in my own cousin’s disappearance.

“We argued because—” I hesitated, not wanting to mention Dominik’s name now that I knew he had never sent her that text in the first place. “She said she was going to meet a guy at Old Joe’s mill. I told her she shouldn’t, that she deserved more than that. She wasn’t acting like herself, she looked crazed, on edge. She’s had… issues in the past?—”

“Yes, I know all about her drug-abusing days,” he cut me off, a judgemental look on his face, “did you suspect she started taking again?”

He took my small intake of breath for a yes, if the disdain on his face was any indication. “No, it’s not that,” I tried salvaging my cousin’s reputation. “She has been clean for the past fewweeks, and then yesterday she was all hyper and happy, it was such a sudden change?—”

“Yes, drugs do tend to bring temporary joy to those who use them,” Taylor cut me off again and I sighed, irritated.

“You don’t understand, it’s not just about drugs?—”

“Look, Miss Bianchi, I’ll tell you what I think happened. I think your cousin went back to her dark habits and you didn’t like it, you argued and she ended up getting physical,” he nodded at the bruise on my cheek and I wished the floor would open up and swallow me. “She’s probably out there looking for her next fix or coming down from her latest high.”

I gasped at the utter disrespect he showed my cousin. Anger burned through my veins as I jumped to my feet, waving my finger in his face angrily. “Don’t you dare speak of her that way! You have no idea what she went through, you have no idea how hard she tried getting better! You better watch your tone when you talk about my family. I might not be legitimate but I am still a Bianchi, and if my grandfather catches wind of the way you just spoke about his granddaughter, he would have your head served on a silver platter, you hear me?”

Dean Taylor’s eyes were wide, clearly not expecting such an outburst of anger from me. My chest heaving up and down, I swallowed thickly before taking a step back.

I sighed, doing my best to get the fury down a notch, before continuing in a calmer tone. “Look, girls have been disappearing in the village. An old friend from there told us that some of their guys were looking to retaliate by hurting girls from the Academy.” Dean Taylor flinched. He tried hiding it, but I noticed. “All I ask for you is to have guards search the perimeter of the school, maybe the village too. I need you to believe me when I say Mia might be in danger.”

Lips pinched together, he stared at me for a beat before slowly reaching over his desk and grabbing his phone, putting it to his ear.

“Dean Taylor speaking. I need a squadron searching the island,” he spoke into the device, “tell them they’re looking for Mia Bianchi Gavini.”

I wasbone-tired by the time nighttime came. By then the whole school was aware of Mia’s disappearance and rumors were spreading. I lay in bed staring at the wall, guilt and fear eating at me. If something happened to Mia, I would probably never forgive myself. I couldn’t believe that my last words to her had been doused in anger. I had an awfully bad feeling about this but refused to lose hope for now.

A knock on my door caused me to open my eyes. I never even realized I’d fallen asleep. When I checked the time, I saw that an hour had passed and it was now time for dinner. I was hungry after letting myself starve all day, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to eat anything. Worry had my stomach in knots.

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