Page 44 of Chaos Crown

I needed proof. Evidence. A confession.

And I needed it in four days.

I peeled myself off the tree, approaching the group. She glanced up at my call.

“I need to speak with you. Do you have a moment?”

Zara glanced around like I couldn’t possibly be talking to her. I’ve never addressed her before. Her surprise was understandable.

“Uh, sure.”

That’s why I must choose my words carefully.Zara and I strode aways down the path from Homer Green.If she is one of the Black Letter Crew, I’ve raised her suspicions just by talking to her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, pulling up under an oak tree. “Is Rainey okay?”

“This isn’t about her. I saw you have two classes with Adriel Burton. What’s he like? How does he act when a Bedlam Boy isn’t around? Is he pushing for the return of Crystal Canyon?”

Zara’s expression smoothed out. “Ah, this is about Adriel. Well, honestly, I haven’t seen or heard him do anything. He just sits there, takes notes, and walks out at the end of the period. Maybe he doesn’t care about the vote or Crystal Canyon like he keeps saying.”

“Or maybe he knows that after everything Jeremy and his Crow buddies did, he has to play this much smarter.” I gave her my back. “Goodbye.”

“Huh? Wait— That’s it?”

I peered over my shoulder. “Do you have something else to say?”

She blinked. “Uhh, guess not. You just... You looked so serious when you walked up, I thought someone died.”

“I’m told I always look serious—”

“Hey! Look out!”

Zara snapped around, eyes bugged. The cyclist squealed his brakes, bellowing as he barreled toward us. Swerving, he was too late.

The handlebar clipped some random kid, popping him off his feet and landing him flat-backed at Zara’s. He groaned—wind knocked out of him.

Everyone watched, and rushed, the scene, but I watched Zara. My attention fixed on her—nothing and no one else. Before that day, I never saw a trace of the homicidal monster who descended on Ivy’s house in the middle of the night, killed her sister, and fractured Ivy’s mind. I had no formed opinions on anyone outside of my circle. I didn’t bother to get to know them, so it didn’t register if they did something out of character.

But in this case, the person who surprised me was Paris. She, of anyone I knew, was a good judge of character. She saw Cairo, me, Arsenio, Roan, and Legend for exactly who we were—even if she didn’t know the full extent of what we did for Bedlam. But if someone told her, I figured she wouldn’t flap an eyelid in surprise.

Zara Singh had been Paris’s friend since middle school. She had two involved parents. She obviously had a circle of friends that backed her up and supported her, but still Ivy picked her out of the pile due to something that happened long ago.

When she was a little girl, her parents left her at her great aunt’s house and flew off on a week-long second honeymoon. That night, her great-aunt dropped dead from an aneurysm.

Zara didn’t know to call nine-one-one. She didn’t know to go to a neighbor for help. So, for three days she was alone in that house with a corpse. The three days it took for her parents to freak out over their calls going unanswered and end up calling Sheriff Jack to check and see if everything was all right.

Again, she had parents who fussed and cried and comforted her. They put her in therapy immediately, and over the years, she’s had no trouble making friends and living a seemingly happy life.

I questioned Ivy on this pick—her unaware she chose one of her own friends as a possible member of the Crew.

“Why did you choose her?” I asked. “She didn’t go to see the school’s therapist because of that ill-fated visit. She went because she was having a hard time after her boyfriend announced he was transferring out of state and dumped her. Her great-aunt only came up because it was in her history.”

“Believe me,” Ivy told me. “She found someone she loved dead. She felt the horror, pain, and confusion of calling their name while lifeless eyes stared back at her. She stayed there for days while the cold realization that they weren’t coming back bit into her. That changes you, Jacques. It changes you permanently.”

Zara flicked down to the groaning man at her feet and—

My gaze sharpened, seeing a look in her eyes that I would’ve missed if I wasn’t watching at that exact millisecond.

“Oh my gosh,” Zara cried, dropping down beside him. “Are you okay? Stupid idiot, racing around campus like that. Did he hurt you? Can you get up?”

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