Page 44 of Shattered Reign

We got out of the car and once we were near the hood, Easton grabbed my hand, and we hurried toward the entrance because of the rain. We didn’t say a word as we walked up to the large, black front door; it opened, revealing Nash standing there with a serious expression on his face.

The firm grip of Easton’s hand wrapped around mine helped calm me slightly as I stared back at my brother. Nash’s gaze shifted from me and focused on Easton, probably questioning why the hell he’d bring me here if something was going to happen, but I hadn’t given Easton much of a choice either. Plus, I didn’t want to be alone if the stalker was here.

I dug into my coat pocket, grabbed what I wanted, and stuck my hand out so Nash could take it.

The coin with the Chevalier emblem on it. Nash studied it for a moment before he pocketed it and turned to let us into the building.

I knew deep down that he was at a crossroads with the organization he was supposed to lead on this campus, especially with them having no issue with sending one of their own after us.

The weather outside did nothing to help the darkness that seemed to fill Chevalier Manor. Easton’s eyes scanned the foyer of the building as Nash closed the door behind us.

“Stay close,” Easton whispered before his eyes went back to darting around the room. There wasn’t any doubt that I would because I didn’t know what any of the people in this house were capable of.

Entering the mysterious place did nothing but fuel the tension that had been suffocating me since I’d arrived at my apartment earlier today. While I was hopeful that all of this would end today, I was afraid of what we might find.

My anxiety about all of this had me wanting to find the nearest bottle of alcohol and take a swig, but I couldn’t.

“What do we do now?” I asked. I didn’t know if, somehow, telepathically, Easton and Nash had thought of a way to handle this, but I was completely clueless.

Nash spoke up. “Why don’t you and Easton look around upstairs and I’ll focus on downstairs, and we’ll meet up here in fifteen minutes?”

“What if there’s nothing here?” I asked because we didn’t even know what we were looking for.

Nash held up the coin. “This was a hint that we needed to look around here. I know it.”

“So, this could potentially be a fucked-up wild-goose chase,” I replied.

“That’s one way to put it,” Easton chimed in.

“It won’t be. It should be easy enough to look around because this place should be just about empty, with everyone being home for winter break. Let’s get this done, and if you find anything, call me.”

My brother walked away, leaving Easton and me alone to go and do our own investigation. I turned to Easton, and he held out his hand once more and together we ascended the stairs, listening intently to see if we heard anything.

But the only thing we could hear was the light sounds of our breathing as we stilled just outside the hallway.

Easton and I slowly made our way down a long hallway filled with doors. We tried the doorknobs to see if any of them were unlocked. We didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy, but if one just so happened to be unlocked, we checked to see if anyone was in there.

Room after room that we could access was empty, which was what we’d expected.

When we tried one of the last remaining doors, Easton walked in first and turned on the light.

I gasped as I took in the sight before me.

There was someone there. Sitting in one of the chairs that were standard in every dorm room on Brentson’s campus.

And I recognized him.

Words seemed to fail me as I stared at the man in front of me, all the while trying to piece together what was going on.

“Landon? What the hell are you doing here?”

He stood up slowly, his gaze focused on me. “I’m here because I’m the reason why you’re here.”

As realization about what his words meant hit me, a surge of nausea shot through my body. Easton took a step forward and gently pushed me behind him. “You’ve been stalking Bianca?”

Before Landon could confirm or deny Easton’s accusation, Easton let go of my hand and lunged forward to grab Landon. I ran toward the door because there was no way I was going to be able to get between the two of them and stop what was about to happen. Just as I was about to scream, Nash rushed into the room but came to a stop at seeing Easton holding Landon up against a wall.

“You son of a bitch,” Easton spat, his hands wrapped around Landon’s throat, making it hard for him to talk. “How fucking dare you?”

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