It helped that after twenty-four hours the police made an open call to the community asking for volunteers to help with search and rescue efforts. But Remy told me that he had overheard two deputies talking yesterday.
At this point, they weren’t sure they would find the body until the snow started melting in the Spring. The police and National Guard were going to suspend all search activities if she wasn’t found today.
I had no idea if Katy knew or not. I hadn’t seen her in almost three days since she didn’t come out of the dorms.
“How’s Katy?” I asked softly.
Larkin grimaced, her pretty features tight and strained. “A mess.” She gave me a guilty look.
“She feels awful.”
“I bet,” I agreed, picking up my fork and nudging my mac and cheese with it. “She loves Maren.”
“I mean about what she said to you,” Larkin told me gently.
I flinched, remembering the barbs she had thrown my way. I knew it was done because she was upset and angry and lashing out, but it still had ripped the scabs off a few wounds that had barely started to heal.
“It’s fine,” I said, forcing a smile and looking Larkin in the eyes. “I know she didn’t mean it.”
Her dark eyes narrowed. “I would smack her if she wasn’t so wrecked right now. What she said … She didn’t mean it, but it still sucks and was messed up.”
“She was mad at Remy,” I replied, still trying to shrug it off.
“Which doesn’t excuse taking it out on you,” Larkin pointed out.
“Hurting me hurt Remy, so …” I trailed off, not wanting to rehash it.
Honestly, I was willing to let it go. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it was mean, but I loved Katy. I had lived most of my life isolated and alone until coming here. Katy was one of my best friends, and I wasn’t ready to throw our friendship away on something she said when she was upset and lashing out.
Even if part of me was wondering if that’s what she really thought of me.
“Still not okay,” Larkin said firmly, not willing to concede the point. “And Katy knows it. She’s scared and a mess over Maren, but she also thinks you hate her.”
My head snapped up. “I don’t hate her.”
She smiled at me. “I know that, Skye. But she feels bad, and she’s dealing with a lot. Plus, she’s always been close to Remy, so him ordering her to stay behind hit her hard. She feels like he betrayed her.”
“But he didn’t,” I insisted quickly. “I love Katy, too, but she’s not thinking clearly.”
Larkin held up her hands in surrender. “I don’t disagree. But the people she’s closest to are you, me, and Remy. And right now, I’m the only one she has to lean on.”
I set my fork down. “She didn’t come to classes again, did she?”
Larkin sighed and shook her head. “No. She hasn’t left the dorms at all. I’ve brought her some assignments she’s missed, but the teachers are giving her a lot of space.”
I looked around the half-full lunch room and exhaled hard. This semester was vastly different from my first one, and the cafeteria was the place that it reflected the most. So many empty chairs and quiet conversations instead of the crowded room and noisy teenagers.
“I should go talk to her,” I said after a pause.
Larkin’s head shot up. “Really?”
“I hate this weirdness between us,” I admitted.
She pressed her lips together. “I think it’s a good idea. I think it would be a better idea if Katy came to you, but I don’t think she will right now, and she needs her friends. I’ve never seen her like this before.”
I nodded, already having made up my mind and getting to my feet. I saw Ainsley heading in our direction and smiled at her before looking down at Larkin. “You good if I go?”
Sighing dramatically, she leaned back in her chair, head tossed back. “I suppose.” Her gaze drifted over my shoulder. “Maybe I’ll go sit with Ainsley and try to forget I haven’t spent any time with Rhodes in a few days.”
I let out a laugh, the knot of tension in my chest easing ever so slightly as I turned and headed out the door. I nodded to the table full of guys from our pack. Beyond them was a table of girls, including the three youngest females of our pack. Usually those girls would be holding court, giggling at the constant stares of guys around them—perks of being a vastly outnumbered gender—and turning bright red when a guy dared approach the table.
But now it was all hushed whispers and staring into half-touched lunch trays.
Shaking my head, I hurried out of the cafeteria and out the side door. When the door didn’t immediately close behind me, I turned and saw Will coming out behind me.
I paused at the base of the stairs. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Going to see Katy?” he asked, ignoring the question and coming down the stairs to stand next to me.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good. She could use a friend,” Will said quietly, a breeze ruffling his dark blond hair.
“Yeah,” I replied, still not sure why he was here. I knew he and Katy were friends but …
Then it clicked.
I sighed, shifting my weight. “Remy?”
Will gave me a small smile, shrugging. “He asked me to keep an eye on you since he and Rhodes are out searching.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. Honestly, I didn’t mind Will, and Remy was so stressed, I was willing to deal with a bodyguard if it meant he had one less thing to worry about. But a heads up would have been nice.
We made our way across the nearly empty grounds to the girls’ dorm, our boots crunching over ice and snow.
“Has there been any word on Maren?” Will asked, breaking the silence between us.
I shook my head. “No. Remy texted me a few minutes ago.”
Will frowned. “Shit.”
Yeah, that about summed up the situation.
We didn’t speak anymore until we reached the dorm, and Will lingered at the base of the steps leading up to the glass front doors.
“I shouldn’t be too long,” I said quickly, wondering if he would have to stand sentry out here in the cold the whole time I was inside.
He was already pulling his phone from his pocket, the screen lit up as he used his thumb to unlock it. He leaned back against the cement wall and railing. “No worries.”
“You can hang out in the commons,” I offered, not wanting him to freeze. The main level had a huge common room with couches and chairs people could study or hangout in. And while technically guys weren’t supposed to be in the girls’ dorms, that rule had been trampled across more times than I could count.
Right now, the staff wasn’t enforcing any rules. They seemed to be in the same survival mode we were.
Will flashed me a tight grin. “I’m good.”
I went in the front door, bypassing the elevator bank and using the stairs to the right. Katy was on the third floor, and by the time I reached the landing, I was at a loss for what to say.
Something dark kept prodding at a corner of my brain, wondering if what Katy had said was the truth. If when she saw me with Remy, all she saw was a girl who was doing whatever her boyfriend wanted.
My footsteps slowed as I reached Katy’s door. Instead of lifting my hand to knock, I shoved it into the pocket of my coat.
This was stupid; I was being stupid.
“You hate me, don’t you?”
My head jerked up, surprised at the muffled voice on the other side of the door.
“Katy?”
Something that sounded a lot like a forehead hit the other side of the door. “I’m such a freaking idiot, Skye. I’m the worst friend ever. I can’t believe I said that crap to you.”
“Um,” I narrowed my eyes at the door, my nose wrinkling, “can you open the door?”
The handle turned and a single red-rimmed brown eye appeared in the crack. “It’s okay. I hate me, too.”
“Katy,” I sighed, shaking my head.
“I’m
a bitch. Like, a bigger bitch than even Sierra was. Or Sierra and Ainsley put together before Ainsley stopped being as much of a bitch.” She was rambling, and getting ready to cry again.
“I don’t hate you, Katy!” I said, almost throwing my arms out in exasperation. “You’re one of my best friends—”
But then I had to throw my arms out to catch the trembling redhead that threw the door open and launched herself at me.
I caught her, staggering back a step and nearly losing my footing. As it was we still crashed into the wall behind me.
Katy’s words and sobs all mixed together. “I’m so sorry. I’m the worst best friend ever!”
My arms came around her, hugging her, as her body shook.
As quick as my hands touched her back, Katy ripped free of me, stumbling back several steps. My heart wrenched in my chest. She looked like hell.
Her red hair was scraped back from her face into an oily ponytail, her clothes hanging off her body. Her pale skin was almost ashen and her dark eyes were ringed in red and wore heavy bruises under them. She clearly hadn’t been sleeping.
She folded her arms around her thin waist, ducking her chin to her chest. “Where is she, Skye? Where the hell could she be?”
I was at a loss. I had no idea what to say that could even begin to attempt something like comfort.
“Remy said there’s no sign—”
My brows rose. “You talked to Remy? When?”
Katy’s face flushed, fire in her eyes. “He’s been texting me updates, but I haven’t answered. I should be out there looking, too! Instead I’m stuck here.” She lashed out, kicking the wall behind her.
“Okay,” I said quickly, trying to pull her away from the wall and into the room before she could do any damage. I closed the door behind us and froze when I saw her room was trashed.
Her bed was an unmade tangle of sheets and blankets, but I could see all the skincare and makeup she loved to play with had been thrown and smashed against walls. Books had been hurled around the space, likely in a fit of rage when Remy ordered her to stay put.
“Jesus,” I breathed, taking it all in.
“I redecorated,” she deadpanned, turning away from me and climbing back into her bed.
I stepped over a smashed picture of the Holt family, wincing at the way Remy looked up at me. I perched on the edge of her bed.
“I really am sorry,” Katy added meekly, not meeting my gaze.
“You were upset.”
“I was a jerk.”
That brought a ghost of a smile to my lips. “Okay. You were a jerk.”
“Do you hate me? You should hate me.” She bit her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth.
“I don’t hate you, Katy,” I told her honestly. “Not too crazy about what you said, but I don’t hate you. I could never hate you.”
“I didn’t mean it,” she said quickly, looking me in the eye. “I swear I didn’t mean it. I was pissed at Remy and I knew the best way to hurt him was to … hurt you. It sounds so much worse when I say it out loud.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat.
“But it was an asshole move, and I didn’t mean it.” She snorted. “You might be the only redeeming thing about my brother.”
“You don’t mean that.”
Her eyes narrowed. “His girlfriend goes missing, and he goes after her immediately. My girlfriend goes missing, and I’m banished to my room?”
I tried to pick my words carefully, not wanting to rock the boat. “You know there’s more to it than that. He’s trying to do what’s best for the packs. And what’s best for Maren, by the way.”
“He’s my brother,” she hissed, slapping a hand against the mattress. “He should be on my side.”
“He is on your side, Katy,” I replied gently. “He hasn’t stopped searching for her since she went missing. I’ve barely seen him. He comes home and falls asleep after I go to bed, and he’s up and gone before I wake up. He’s killing himself trying to find her.”
She scoffed and looked away.
“Do you know why he had to go after me? When Cassian kidnapped me?”
She slowly blinked at me. “He went after you because Cassian kidnapped you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that. But right before that? He told me he was sending me back to Blackwater. He was making me leave.”
Uncertainty crept into her eyes. “He did?”
I nodded, remembering the stab of betrayal and panic I had felt when he calmly, stoically told me he was sending me away.
“For my own good,” I added, as much to myself as to Katy. Shaking myself out of the memory, I looked her in the eye. “I got pissed and yelled at him and took off.”
A single brow arched. “And got yourself kidnapped?”
“And I got myself kidnapped,” I echoed with a grimace, rolling my eyes. “Remy made the right call. I hated it, and I was so pissed at him. But he was trying to make an objective decision that was best for the pack because he’s the alpha.”
She stayed silent, mulling over what I was saying.
“I didn’t do what he said and I got hurt. I almost died,” I admitted, reaching over for her hand. “You're his sister, Katy. He loves you, and he made a decision that he knew was for the best of the pack and you and Maren. But he’s in a crap position because he had to hurt you.”
Her gaze flicked to mine, her mouth in a tight line. “He’s still a jerk.”
I held my breath.
“But I get it,” she said softly. “I know I can be a pain in the ass. And I probably would have fucked the whole search up. But sitting here? Doing nothing is killing me.”
“So, why don’t you come stay at the cabin?” I suggested, squeezing her fingers. “We can neurotically worry together. If you’re lucky, you can even pace the floors with me.”
A soft chuckle escaped her, but then she flinched like she remembered she wasn’t supposed to smile or laugh.
“It hasn’t snowed since she went missing,” Katy started slowly, her voice wooden. “They should have found her by now.”
Yeah, they should have.
“It’s a lot of area to cover,” I answered, but we both knew that was a flimsy excuse.
“What if they don’t find her? Or what if she’s … I mean, if she …” She broke off into a sob, leaning forward as my arms went around her.
“They’ll find her,” I whispered fiercely, needing to believe it to be true for Katy.
My phone went off in my pocket, the ringtone blaringly loud in the quiet space.
Katy and I jumped apart and I grappled for my phone, yanking it from my pocket. My eyes went to hers.
“It’s Remy.”
Her breath caught, her hands coming up to cover her mouth.
“Rem—” I started to answer.
“Where are you?” he demanded, his voice panicked and hard.
I frowned. “In the dorms. With Katy. Did you find—”
“I’m on my way back. Will is coming to get you. Don’t leave the cabin,” he ordered. I could hear people shouting behind him and my heart lurched.
“Did you find Maren?”
Katy’s cold hands grabbed my free hand, our eyes locking.
“No,” Remy bit out. A car door slammed and an engine roared to life.
“Fucking hurry up!” a voice snapped near him.
My eyes narrowed as I tried to place the voice. “Is that Rhodes?”
“We’re coming back,” he said sharply. “Get to the cabin and don’t fucking leave. Stay with Katy and Will until the others get to the cabin. Don’t leave.”
Fear crept up my spine. “Remy, what the hell is going on?”
“Another girl went missing,” he answered bitterly. “I’m on my way.”
The phone beeped as he ended the call. The phone slipped from my fingers and clattered to the floor as a fist pounded on the door.
“Skye!” Will yelled. “Katy! Let’s go.”
Katy was already shaking her head, her
eyes terrified. “No. No way.”
I turned and yanked the door open for Will, who looked terrifyingly alert as his gaze swept over us.
“It’s true?” I asked.
Will nodded. “We gotta go. The others are meeting us at the cabin.”
My knees almost gave out as fear spiked sharp and frigid in my veins. “Larkin—”
“Is safe. Kyle and Konnor are bringing everyone else to the cabin,” Will replied curtly, his blue eyes hard chips of ice. “All of our pack is safe.”
“Who?” Katy demanded, shoving her arms through her coat as we followed him into the hall.
“Someone from the Makenzie pack is all we know right now,” he answered as we hit the stairs, our feet echoing a quick staccato as we hurried down the stairs.
We pushed open the doors to pandemonium in the courtyard as teachers and students tried to hurry to designated meeting spots. A few people had shifted and were already pawing the ground, noses in the air as they scented the shifting energy thickening around us.
We broke into a run, the three of us heading for the cabin as fast as we could. It took us a few minutes to get there and less than that for Larkin and the rest of the pack to arrive. The younger girls were borderline hysterical.
“What do we know?” I demanded as the twins led the pack to us.
Kyle’s eyes were hard as he looked at me. “Not a lot. Apparently Jayla was planning to meet the guy she had been hanging out with. He showed up where they were supposed to meet and …” He glanced at the younger girls and dropped his voice. “He found blood.”
“Where were they meeting?”
Konnor frowned beside his brother. “Near the Makenzie pack cabin.” He jerked his head to the west.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, the girls and I are going inside and locking all the doors. Freshman guys stay here with us,” I decided, looking at the four younger guys who looked equal parts scared and furious, and way too young to be dealing with this.
I turned to Will. “You take the rest and help them search.”
Will’s jaw clenched. “Remy said to stay with you.”
“Remy and the others and every available extra guard are currently miles away searching for Maren,” I snapped. “If Jayla’s bleeding there might be a way to track her before … before we can’t track her any more.”
Prey (Blackwater Pack Book 2) Page 10
