Page 244 of Craving Venom

I don’t even look at it right away. I don’t want to give the paranoia more fuel, but when I finally glance down, the name stops me cold.

Nina.

“I’m home. Don’t worry.”

Tria’s already tying her laces when she glances up at me. “What’s wrong?”

I open my mouth to lie.

But it slips out too fast. “Nothing—”

Fuck.

I swallow hard, thumb still hovering over the screen.

“Nina just messaged me,” I say quietly. “She said she’s home.”

Tria pauses mid-knot, frowning. “Okay… isn’t that good?”

I shake my head, eyes still glued to the text.

“Sebastian told me… a kid saw the Nighthawk two nights ago.” I don’t meet her eyes. “Same night I—” My breath sticks. “Same night I fucked Zane.”

Tria goes still.

“And Corrine’s been missing since then,” I continue, because now that I’ve opened my mouth, everything’s pouring out.

“Maybe that was a coincidence.”

I snatch my phone off the nightstand and pull up the Veridian news archive. My hands are shaking so bad it takes me three tries to type the right keywords.

“There.” I spin the screen toward her. The headline blares in harsh white font:

ROBERT GAILE, CITY COMPTROLLER, MAULED TO DEATH IN SUSPECTED ANIMAL ATTACK

“Night of Halloween,” I whisper. “Same night Celine said she was going home.”

Tria swallows. “Okay. That’s... fucked.”

“Eleanor texted a week later, remember?” I look up.

Now, that I think of it, it was right after my prison video call with Zane.

“I remember.”

BRIAN KELLER, INVESTMENT BANKER, FOUND DISEMBOWELED OUTSIDE A MOTEL ON ROUTE 6.

Same goddamn date.

Tria’s eyes widen.

My thumb shakes as I hit the last thread.

“Maya said she was leaving too. The night after…” I pause, bile rising in my throat.

The night after Zane was in my room.

Tria doesn’t ask me to complete my sentence.

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