Page 108 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

“You didn’t come in?”

“I figured you wanted to be alone.”

I nod. “You were right. When did he leave?”

“Right after you did. I told him to go in case you came back.”

Something pops in the kitchen, and Mom jumps and runs back in there. I follow and see her turning bacon on the stove. There’s a box of frozen pancakes on the counter, along with two bowls of chopped fruit and cups of chocolate milk.

“I thought maybe you’d come home hungry,” she says over her shoulder. “Call it mother’s intuition.”

My body feels dried out from the alcohol, almost as if my veins are rubbing together like sandpaper.

But she’s right—I am hungry. I pull out a seat at the table and take a long drink.

I’ll probably regret it in an hour when I’m throwing it all up, but I can enjoy it for right now. Especially since it has been a long time since my mom hasn’t had to work on a Sunday morning.

And now that my dad won’t be chipping in financially anymore, it will probably be another long stretch of lonely Sunday mornings.

“I guess we won’t be seeing Dad around anytime soon.”

Mom slides a plate of warm bacon in front of me and takes the seat across the table. “He didn’t mean what he said.”

“Yes, he did.”

She shakes her head. “I’ve known your father longer than you have. The two of you are both so stubborn and proud. He only said all of that because he misses you, Caleb. He wants you to want to spend time with him, but he doesn’t know how to ask.”

I snort. “If he wanted to spend time with me, he shouldn’t have left.”

Mom starts in on the normal excuses, but I don’t bother listening. Dad had the chance to choose. He chose wrong. Simple as that.

He doesn’t deserve excuses.

“Either way, I’ll cover whatever expenses he drops,” I chime in at the tail end of Mom’s lecture. “And I’ll have the money for your car next weekend.”

“I don’t need it,” she says, pointing to an envelope on the counter. “Before your dad left town, he brought over enough cash for the down payment so I can get back and forth to work.”

I frown. “I offered you my truck.”

“I told him that, but he said the truck was yours. He wanted you to have it,” she says, giving me a sad smile. “In case you wanted to drive over and visit him.”

I nod and refrain from telling her that is never going to happen. She doesn’t need to hear that right now.

40

Caleb

Late Sunday night, after I’m already in bed, I realize I never set the alarm at Finn’s.

Usually, I’d say it was fine and take care of it in the morning, but with the way my luck has been lately, the one time I forget to set the alarm would be the one time someone decides to break in.

So, I slip into a pair of tennis shoes and drive over there in my loose pajama pants and a white T-shirt.

I leave my truck running, thinking it will only take a second to set the alarm, but when I punch in the code, the machine makes a harsh warning sound.

A light is flashing on the keypad to warn me that somewhere in the house, a door is open. The system won’t arm itself until every door is closed.

I curse and walk into the house to check on all the doors in this fucking mausoleum.

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