Page 43 of Dig Your Grave

He agreed.We left the caretaker’s cottage, strolling side by side along the moonlit path.A crisp breeze rustled the trees overhead.For once, the campus felt almost peaceful, if you ignored the labyrinth of lies just beneath its surface.

As we passed Eden Hall, I paused, recalling how I’d once carried all my worldly belongings in trash bags across this very sidewalk.It felt like a lifetime ago.

Anubis gave my hand a squeeze.“You’ve changed so much since that day,” he said, reading my mind.

“I had to.Maybe that’s what Edenvane does, forces you to grow up or break.”

“You won’t break,” he said firmly.

Despite the swirl of conspiracies and an uncertain future, I believed him in that moment.Because as dark as everything had become, the chance to rewrite my own fate alongside him felt like the first real control I’d had.

I caught a glimpse of the moon reflected in a distant window.Dig Your Grave, a voice whispered in the recesses of my mind.The threat still loomed, but I was no longer the terrified, lonely scholarship kid.I was the girl who had bled with Anubis, who had stared down Sophie Mence without blinking.

They might have started a game with me, but I wasn’t playing alone.And I sure as hell wouldn’t let them bury me without a fight.

Chapter 16

The caretaker’s cottage smelled of old paper and candle wax, familiar now as a private hideout for Anubis and me.But the last time we were here, we were reeling from the Bone Trials.We’d just risked everything, passing the Skulls’ first rites, forging a precarious alliance in the process.Now, as I sank onto the old wooden chair near the cluttered desk, my bandaged palm still throbbed, reminding me of the vow I’d made in that crypt.

“I can’t believe they want more from us already,” I murmured, staring at the fresh text message blinking on my phone’s screen.A summons, brief but loaded with meaning:

“Report to the Clock Tower at midnight.—S.M.”

Sophie Mence.She had used some code name the night of the Trials, but she always signed off with her initials, reminding me she was the Dean’s daughter, and, apparently, a newly crowned or rising leader within the Skulls.

Anubis stood behind me, scanning the text over my shoulder.His voice was low.“Clock Tower at midnight.That means they’re giving us the first official ‘task.’”

I swallowed.“Any idea what it might be?”

He exhaled, the warmth of his breath stirring the hair at my neck.“Tasks can range from petty sabotage to major crimes, from what I’ve gathered.They’ll test our willingness to follow instructions, no matter how unethical.”

A chill coursed down my spine.“And if we refuse…?”

“Then we risk everything,” Anubis said, laying a hand on my shoulder.“We just gained a foothold inside the Skulls.If we push back too hard, we’ll blow our cover.”

My gaze darted to the far corner of the cottage, where piles of old rosters and ledgers lay sorted.We’d hoped to find evidence about Toccara’s death, about the Skulls’ involvement in other suspicious suicides or forced vanishings.

Thad’s death was also reported as a suicide.But we couldn’t really do much to argue to the contrary since Anubis had been involved.So far, we’d gleaned fragments, enough to confirm the Skulls had a hand in everything from campus policy to personal intimidation.But we needed more to blow it wide open.

And apparently, to get it, we had to play along with whatever twisted tasks Sophie assigned.

I closed my eyes.Toccara, I’m sorry it’s taking me so long.But I won’t let your death fade away in the campus rumor mill.

When I opened them, Anubis was crouched by the old trunk we used for storing contraband research notes.He rummaged inside until he found a flashlight, two sets of black gloves, and a small zip pouch that looked suspiciously like a lock pick set.

“What’s this?”I asked, raising a brow.

He cast me a grim half-smile.“Just being prepared.If the Skulls ask us to break into something, I’d prefer we do it quietly.”

The wave of alarm that rippled through me mingled with a spark of relief: we might be forced to comply, but at least we’d be ready.

“Midnight,” I repeated.“We have a few hours until then.What do we do in the meantime?”

Anubis slid the trunk shut.“We plan.We rest.We—”

His words trailed off as our eyes locked.The air felt electric, charged by everything unsaid—fear of the society, longing for each other, the uncertain future.

I swallowed hard.“We…maybe talk,” I said softly, though a deeper part of me wanted more than words.

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