by Stella Hart
Ten days later
“You sure you’re ready for this?”
I squeezed Alexis’s left hand as I stared down at her. A black and gold dress skimmed her tits and ass, highlighting her curves to perfection, and her long legs were shielded from the chilly evening wind by sheer black tights and chunky high-heeled boots. She looked hotter than ever.
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
I grinned and led her through the massive park that sat in the center of Blackthorne’s massive fraternity and sorority block. Thumping music and raucous laughter spilled out into the night from the Skulls house. One of my frat brothers had set up a giant banner above the portico with colorful neon lights that spelled out ‘Congrats Alexis + Nate’, and a sorority girl from the Roses was standing at the front entrance, handing out t-shirts with photos of us printed on them.
We didn’t ask to be famous on Avalon, or anywhere else, but we’d recently uncovered one of the most shocking, sordid secrets in the island’s history, so there wasn’t much we could do about the ensuing notoriety. People loved a scandal—even one as sick and twisted as the Golden Circle scandal—so our story was everywhere.
Over the last ten days, the video I shot at the teaching hospital had been saved and shared online millions of times. People all over the world had seen it, and they were all clamoring for justice. There were even two large-scale protests over the issue the day after Edward’s arrest—one in Avalon City outside the police precinct, and one in Seattle outside a government building.
I’d always known that the police force on Avalon Island was riddled with useless, corrupt assholes, but I also knew they couldn’t ignore the glaring evidence right in front of them. Not when millions of people had seen it with their own eyes. The decent ones banded together to set up a taskforce right away, and agents from the FBI and DOJ were brought over to aid in the investigation and subsequent arrests. Interpol got involved, too, because a lot of the Golden Circle’s victims had been taken from other countries.
Over two thousand arrests were made in the end.
Many of the Golden Circle members attempted to flee from the island on their boats, helicopters, and private planes as soon as the news of Edward’s capture broke, but they didn’t make it far, because the taskforce already had their details.
It turned out that Edward had actually told us the truth about one thing: he and his father kept extensive records of their operation over the years. Every single member of the Golden Circle was mentioned in those records by name—even the ones who didn’t actively participate in the abductions and murders. They still knew where the money came from and didn’t say a word to anyone, and that made them complicit.
The organ recipients were named in the records as well, and the ones who were still living were arrested along with the Golden Circle members. They might not have gone out and killed the victims with their own bare hands, but they knew what they were supporting when they purchased a black market organ. That made them just as guilty as the rest.
Nearly 2500 people had lost their lives over the years that the Golden Circle had operated. They would never come back to us, but at least their families would have some semblance of justice now that all the arrests had been made. Once the trials were over, the people involved in the scheme would rot in prison for the rest of their lives, including Edward, Greg, and my mother.
For once, their piles of money couldn’t save them.
Everything seemed to be over now, and the whole world was celebrating the triumph of good over evil, but one thing still plagued my thoughts from time to time. Nessa Pratchett and Claire Reilly—and the wealthy people who received their organs—weren’t mentioned anywhere in Edward’s records. In fact, his records ended in 2009.
He maintained that he had nothing to do with Claire and Nessa’s murders, and so did everyone else in the Golden Circle who was willing to talk before the trials began. The taskforce and media assumed they were lying, and I accepted that for the most part—after all, they were sick, twisted assholes who’d lie about anything to save their asses—but I couldn’t stop wondering why they’d lie about this particular issue. They already knew they were going down for thousands of other murders… why not admit to two more?
Alexis had a theory about it.
She figured that the girls’ murders were so recent and fresh in everyone’s minds that they were generally considered by the public to be ‘worse’ than the ones that had occurred back in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
I hated to say it, but she was probably right about that. People’s minds had a way of detaching from things that happened a long time ago, especially when it didn’t happen during their lifetime. The Golden Circle members probably knew this, so they only admitted to the pre-2009 murders in the hope of saving a tiny fragment of their already-shattered reputations. Many serial killers had been documented doing similar things in the past—admitting to a few murders while completely denying others, even though all the evidence pointed to them and everyone knew they were responsible.
“There you are!”
I snapped out of my reverie as a chirpy feminine voice called out toward Alexis and me. I looked over to the right to see Laurel and Ruby standing by the front of the Skulls house, waving frantically.
Alexis hadn’t seen them since all the shit started going down ten days ago, because we’d been caught up with the taskforce, giving endless statements on how we came across the Golden Circle, how we figured out the identities of the families involved in the scheme, and why we didn’t tell anyone as soon as we found Greg and his tapes.
We walked over to the girls with broad grins. They both squealed and wrapped Alexis up in giant bear hugs.
“It’s so good to see you!” Ruby said, face flushing with excitement as she pulled away. “I can’t believe what a badass you are! You’re literally a superhero.”
Alexis looked embarrassed. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Ruby poked her arm. “Don’t be modest. You guys just took down one of the worst crime rings I’ve ever heard of!”
“Now we know why you’ve been so busy and unavailable over the last few weeks,” Laurel said. “At one point I was honestly worried that Nate was keeping you in a dungeon or something. No offense, Nate,” she added, glancing at me.
Alexis smiled tightly. “There’s actually something I want to tell you two,” she said, eyes darting between her friends. “Before we go inside.”
Laurel’s brows furrowed. “What is it?”
Alexis took a deep breath, and her shoulders tensed. “I’ve managed to hide this for a long time, but with all the media attention on me right now, it’s bound to come out soon. I’m actually surprised that it hasn’t come out already,” she said, nervously clasping and unclasping her hands in front of her. “I didn’t tell you when we met because I thought you might judge me or refuse to hang out with me anymore. But I’m sorry for that. I should’ve told you and let you make up your own minds about me.”
She fell silent and looked at the ground. Her friends stared, eyes wide with curiosity. “You can tell us anything,” Ruby said.
Alexis finally spoke up again. “I wasn’t always Alexis Livingston,” she said, looking back up at the girls. “I used to be Alexandra Covington. Peter Covington’s daughter.”
Ruby bit her bottom lip and looked over at Laurel, who simply lifted her brows and rubbed the tip of her nose, averting her eyes from Alexis and me. Neither of the girls looked surprised.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I said, brows furrowing.
Laurel nodded. “We’ve known for ages.”
“How?” Alexis asked. Her eyes were like saucers.
“She guessed when she first met you,” Ruby said, tapping Laurel’s arm.
Laurel nodded. “I got a bit suspicious when we were talking about the Butcher case in the library, and you snapped at us when Ruby said something about Peter Covington,” she said. “I thought you were just in a bad mood,
but the whole thing made me want to read more about the case. So I went home and looked it up. I found some photos that someone took in the courtroom during Peter’s arraignment, and there was a photo of his wife and daughters. One of them looked familiar. Like a tiny blonde version of you.”
“She didn’t know for sure,” Ruby added. “But she showed me the picture. I agreed with her. It looked a lot like you.”
“After that, I looked up the street you grew up on in San Diego,” Laurel went on. “Turns out Kingsway Place doesn’t exist. So then I knew you were lying about where you were from.”
“We talked about it for a while, and we decided not to tell you that we knew,” Ruby said. “We figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would.”
Alexis frowned. “It didn’t bother you?”
Laurel rolled her eyes upward. “Of course not! We liked you, and Avalon is your home. We figured you just wanted to come back here without being judged by everyone. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“You had every reason to hide your identity, too,” Ruby said. “We know Peter was innocent now, but back then…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Everyone really thought he did it. So if you admitted to the world that you were his daughter, a lot of people on this island would’ve tried to drive you away.”
Alexis bit her wobbling bottom lip and blinked rapidly. I rubbed the small of her back. “See?” I murmured. “I knew they’d be okay with it.”
“Thank you,” Alexis whispered, reaching out to hug her friends again.
“Just don’t go disappearing again,” Laurel said, raising a brow. “Next time you and Nate want to catch some murderers, call us and we’ll help.”
Ruby’s lips curved into a devilish smirk. “Speaking of murder… how about we go and murder some shots?” she said, tipping her head in the direction of the house.
“Sounds like a plan,” Alexis said, face lighting up with a dazzling smile.
We headed up to the house. A cheer greeted us as we stepped under the skull-shaped crystal chandelier in the foyer, and a guy shoved a beer into my hand as someone else’s hand clapped down on my back.
The house was teeming with people, and the party was already in full swing. Half of Blackthorne seemed to be in attendance. Some people were swaying to the loud music, while others shouted at each other and knocked back shots as they competed in drinking games. Others were lounged on various surfaces, hooking up or doing Jell-O shots off each other’s bodies.
I slowly sipped my beer and watched Alexis and her friends join in with the giddy fun. I had no plans of getting fucked up tonight. I wanted to keep an eye on Alexis. Make sure some asshole didn’t try to grope her or drop a pill in her glass.
I was already drunk on her anyway; my existence tethered so tightly to hers that I could feel her excited energy coursing through my veins. She was intoxicating. Breathtaking. Addictive in the best kind of way.
The night wore on, and the party got louder and messier. Eventually Alexis stumbled over to me, holding out her cell phone. “Can you help us?” she asked, eyes slightly glazed with tipsiness.
“With what?”
“Ruby taught us a new dance. We want to put it on TikTok.”
I grinned, picturing the look on her face tomorrow morning when she woke up and saw the drunken video. “You sure?”
She nodded impatiently. “Yes. Can you film it for us?”
“Sure.”
She quickly showed me how the app worked on her phone. Then she went back over to Ruby and Laurel, who’d cleared some space near the foot of the stairs in the foyer.
They tried their best to do their coordinated dance for the camera, but they kept messing up and collapsing into a giggling pile on the floor.
“One more time!” Ruby hollered after the fourth attempt. “Nate, are you still getting this?”
“Yup,” I said, softly chuckling as I aimed the phone at them. “Looks great.”
The girls finally nailed the dance on their last attempt before collapsing into another giggling mess on the floor. A moment later, Alexis got up and dashed toward the long hallway next to the staircase. “I have to pee!” she called back over her shoulder.
“Me too,” Ruby said, stumbling after her.
Laurel looked at me and shrugged. “Guess I might as well go too,” she said. Before I could reply, she hurried after her friends.
While I waited for them to return, I struck up a conversation with a couple of my frat brothers. My phone vibrated in my hands a moment later, and I turned it over and switched on the screen.
The layout confused me for a split-second. Then I realized I was actually looking at Alexis’s phone. I’d forgotten to give it back to her when I finished filming the TikTok video for her.
According to the notification on the screen, she’d just received a text from an unknown number.
I told you to stop digging. I told you there would be consequences if you didn’t.
Confusion unfurled in my chest as I stared at the message. Was it a wrong number? Some sort of sick prank designed to freak Alexis out after all the shit she’d already gone through?
I glanced around the crowded house, assessing the party guests through narrowed eyes. I knew my frat brothers wouldn’t fuck around with Alexis… but what about the others here? I didn’t know half of them. For all I knew, the asshole who sent that text was right here in the room, snickering behind his or her hands as they waited for Alexis to read it and panic.
I spotted Harry across the room, and for a second I wondered if it might be him. Perhaps he resented Alexis for flirting with him weeks ago and then rejecting him for me in the end.
Then again, why would he resent her for that? He seemed to be getting quite cozy with a redheaded girl right now, so he’d obviously moved on from the rejection.
I turned my head and spotted a couple of girls giggling over something on their phones, but when I stalked over and glanced over their shoulders, I saw that they were just laughing at a clip on YouTube.
A shout suddenly rose above the music, coming from the direction of the French doors on the south side of the house. A few people turned their heads to see what the commotion was about. I followed suit, brows dipping in a frown.
The shout came again, louder this time.
“Turn the music off!” the person said, wildly waving their arms. It was some guy I’d never seen before. Probably a freshman from another frat.
The thumping bass switched off, and the house fell silent, apart from a few confused murmurs and titters.
“What’s up?” my friend Jasper said, slowly blinking. He was stoned beyond belief.
“Check the news!” the freshman said, holding up his phone. His eyes were wide and his face was pale. “It’s happening again!”
Everyone scrambled for their own cell phones. I looked at mine to see that a friend had already sent me a link to an article on a local news website. The headline on the page practically screamed at me in big bold lettering.
Breaking news: Two more mutilated bodies found at Blackthorne University
I scanned the article. Just over an hour ago, a student had been returning to their dorm from a late-night study session in the library when they came across two corpses hanging from a tree in the quad. They were disemboweled and missing their eyes.
According to the initial forensic analysis of the scene, the bodies had probably been swaying from the trees for at least three or four hours. No one had noticed for so long because hardly anyone went through the quad at this time of night, and the extra security presence at Blackthorne had been pulled a few days ago when the last of the Golden Circle members were arrested.
Panic iced my veins as reality sank in.
Edward had told us the truth all along. So had my mother. The Golden Circle might’ve killed thousands of people in the past, but they had nothing to do with the recent murders.
There was another killer. Someone who wanted to emulate my uncle Greg’s 2009 crimes. Someone wh
o was still roaming freely on the island.
“Oh, fuck,” I muttered. The threatening text message on Alexis’s phone had just popped back into my mind.
I had to find her, right fucking now.
I pushed my way through a group of party guests who were blocking the main downstairs hall. A few seconds later, I spotted Ruby coming out of a door on my right, wiping her hands on the front of her dark red dress.
“Ruby!” I called out. “Where did Alexis go?”
She pointed down the hall. “I think she went to the other bathroom down there. Why?”
Before I could reply, a scream pierced the air.
Fear spiked my blood, fueling a rush of adrenaline. I dashed down the hall and pounded on the door at the very end. “Alexis!”
There was no answer. I tried the handle, but it was locked.
Another scream pierced the air, coming from the other side of the door. It was cut short a split-second later, followed by a thumping sound.
“Fuck! Alexis!”
I moved back a few feet and hurled myself at the door. It held fast. I repeated the action, but it still didn’t budge.
Ruby cried out and lifted a shaky finger. Blood was leaking through the crack between the door and the floor.
Another rush of adrenaline burst through my veins. I shoved myself forward, hitting the door as hard as I could. It finally splintered and gave way.
I pushed it all the way open and raced inside. Alexis lay motionless on the tiled floor, eyes closed and skin white as a sheet. One of the gold parts of her dress was stained with red, and blood was flowing freely into a puddle in front of her. On the other side of the bathroom, the frosted glass window was open, letting freezing blasts of air in.
I sank to my knees in front of Alexis and pressed my hands to the wound on her abdomen, shouting for help from the people crowding around the broken door. “Call 911! Now!”
Ruby pulled out her phone and dialed. I dropped my gaze to Alexis. She was still unconscious, and her blood was seeping through my hands. She was losing too much. Far too much.
“What the fuck is that?” someone muttered from somewhere behind me. I glanced up to see what they were talking about.