House of Silence (Poisoned Houses Book 3)

by Lyn Forester

  “I am busy,” she cuts him off without looking up from her breakfast. “Perhaps tomorrow.”

  Uncomfortable silence fills the table, and we finish breakfast to the sound of the other students’ animated chatter.

  When we reach the classroom, Felix and Connor abandon their back of the class seats to join us up front.

  “Don’t get excited, Pinky,” Felix grouses when Myrrine stares at him with open glee. “I still have no motivation to participate.”

  “Then why are you up here?” she hisses in frustration.

  “Can’t let you have all of Sprinkle’s attention.” My desk shifts, sliding back an inch, and when I peer down, I find Felix’s feet hooked around the back legs.

  I turn in my seat. “Don’t get me in trouble during class.”

  He waggles his eyebrows. “What’s my reward?”

  “Me not punching you in the throat.”

  His hand flies to his neck. “You’d never.”

  “Don’t test me.” My focus shifts to Connor. “Keep him in line.”

  Felix straightens with affront. “Hey, he’s not my keeper!”

  No, but someone needs to be. Without Declan here, I worry about Felix getting into trouble.

  I hook an arm around the back of my chair. “If you do well in class today, I’ll take you on a treasure hunt.”

  He leans forward, his voice a low purr. “Is this a euphemism? Because if it is, I’m in.”

  Shrugging, I turn back to face the front as Mr. Halcroft rushes into the classroom, his wispy brown hair in disarray.

  He looks around at the bored students. “Who’s excited to learn about Clan & Human Laws?”

  Myrrine’s arm shoots into the air, followed a moment later by Felix’s.

  Mr. Halcroft rubs his hands together with a grin. “Excellent.” He points behind me. “Williams Senior, whose purview do halfbreeds fall under? Blue Guard or White Guard?”

  Felix’s desk creaks as he shifts. “What’s the offense and where did it happen.”

  “Most excellent.” Mr. Halcroft turns to the holo-screen at the front of the room, and a detailed crime scene fills the wall. “Let’s break this down to the base details and move up from there. Who wants to start?”

  Around the room, the rest of the students groan while Myrrine fairly vibrates in her seat and Felix inches his desk closer until it butts up against the back of mine.

  Well, at least two people will give our teacher the attention he desires.

  To keep my end of the agreement, I return to my room after dinner to change into loungewear with the plan to meet up with Felix outside the dorms. Class got pretty active today, despite the slow build up.

  With more than Myrrine interacting, a few of the other students joined in, and the discussion grew heated. The class ended up divided between those who voted for Blue Guard taking control of the suspect versus those on the side of the White Guard.

  Unsurprising, Myrrine joined the White Guard side, along with Connor, Garrett, Trevor, and a handful of others, while Felix, Nikola, and I stuck with the Blue Guard side.

  Mr. Halcroft almost forgot to release us for Etiquette, he was so excited by it all.

  The heated debate picked back up after lunch and made us all drag our feet in going to the library after class dismissed. Ultimately, we decided to relax on the lawn in a small swath of grass not already purloined by upperclassmen.

  Later, in the cafeteria, Felix rushed through his dinner of roast, constructed of varying thicknesses of protein gel, leaving only a smear of gravy on his plate before he announced he was going to go change for our date.

  With a press of my knee against Connor’s under the table, I wished the others a pleasant evening and followed soon after.

  I have a feeling Felix has different plans in mind than what is really going to happen, but I hope the mystery makes up for the disappointment.

  Leaving my room, I head for the stairs only to come up short when I catch Garrett’s and Nikola’s voices in a heated argument.

  Curiosity gets the better of me, and I pause next to the wall, out of sight.

  Nikola’s voice holds quiet anger, which is tantamount to yelling for him. “You need to back off, Garrett. This isn’t Tri-Worth. Things are different here.”

  “There’s nothing different. APA just couches it in niceties, and the way you’re playing your hand right now makes it so you’ll lose in the end.”

  My stomach sinks. So much for all those shared moments with Nikola where he was trying to earn my trust. He’s just changed tactics to try to win the place as my secretary. I knew that was most likely the case all along, but it hurt to hear it stated so bluntly.

  “This isn’t a game,” Nikola hisses. “This is life, and Caitlyn—”

  “Needs someone strong who she can trust,” Garrett cuts in. “Someone whose family has served the Lonette line without fail for generations. Someone strong.”

  “And that’s you?” Scorn fills Nikola’s voice.

  “I think I’ve proved that more than once.” Garrett laughs. “Go ahead, try your paltry seduction under the stars. She sees through you.”

  It stings, to hear them discuss me like this. I hadn’t thought last night was about seduction, but maybe I missed the cues other people would have picked up on. Nikola had felt friendly and protective, the same as when we were kids, and it lowered my guard where he’s concerned.

  A mistake that won’t happen again.

  Their footsteps head farther down the stairs, and I linger at the top until they’re gone before running down to the main room.

  When I reach the bottom, I spot them from the corner of my eye. They sit at the study table together, heads bent over the tablet they borrowed from me.

  I’ll need to get that back soon. I should send in a request to see what’s taking the school so long to get them their own devices. Surely, they can scrounge something up from one of the previous years. I’m tired of sharing.

  Archie calls a greeting as I run past the couches in front of the holo-screen, and I wave without slowing. I kept Felix waiting, and I need this mini-adventure to take my mind off the two schemers at my back.

  I find Felix at the bottom of the stairs, clothed in a similar outfit to the one I now wear, white t-shirt and black lounge pants with the APA emblem on them. Even in what they term casual wear, it’s easy for fellow students to identify we’re the underclassmen.

  Garrett’s right. For all the talk of equality in APA, we have our own ranking system here. It’s not even subtle when I actually look for it. From the dat-bands that control where we enter to the color-coded clothing, we’re labeled and segregated.

  It’s a mini societal system contained within a bubble. A microculture that plays out, one generation to the next, as they train the leaders of tomorrow.

  How many advancements have been made here since they became the elite school? How much has changed? Technology advances, but does the way we interact in society ever vary? Are we finding new ways to make the lives of the lower level citizens better, or just smashing them down to make more room for our colorful lawns and wasteful water fountains?

  I sat in on a meeting to propose growing vanity fruit at the cost of rice production, a staple in the lower levels. How is that something that should even be considered as an option?

  Felix straightens from his slouch as I hurry down the stairs, the easy grin on his face slipping into concern. “Everything okay, Sprinkles?”

  I shake my head. “Just too much time with my own thoughts lately.”

  “Well, I can certainly help with that.” He throws an arm around my shoulders. “I’m good at distractions.”

  I lean into his side, letting him take some of my weight, and inhale the clean scent of soap and fresh cologne.

  Did Felix shower before meeting me? The warmth from his body seeps into mine, setting off a rush of tingles where we connect, and my pulse flutters. Why would he shower? Should I have showered? But I knew what I planned for us, an
d it didn’t require us to be extra clean.

  Felix nuzzles the curls next to my ear. “So, where are you whisking me away to?”

  My breath catches, and I put some discretionary distance between us before I give in to the temptation to nuzzle him back. Felix makes me understand why Myrrine likes to sniff me so much. There’s something about him that I just enjoy, that I want to fill my lungs with. I should ask what cologne he wears so I can buy some and make myself immune to it.

  As his arm drops away, I take his hand. “It’s a mystery, one you’re going to help me solve.”

  He waggles his eyebrows. “This is because you were amazed by my brain today, isn’t it?”

  “Super amazed.” I’m not even lying when I agree.

  When Felix puts in the effort, his intelligence always floors me. His mind works on levels mine just doesn’t.

  I tug him toward the path that leads to the administration building. “I have a confession to make. Something I haven’t told anyone else.”

  “Is it a sexy confession?”

  I squeeze his hand to let him know I’m serious, and he falls silent. “I snuck a folding-port into school. One that has access to the racing forums.”

  He whistles low. “Yeah, that’s pretty sexy.”

  “Hush,” I whisper as we pass a group of upperclassmen.

  They jostle and laugh together, on their way back to the dorms or to the Entertainment Hall.

  When they pass, I continue, “I had a message from someone with a racing map they thought I might be interested in.”

  Felix’s brows furrow. “But you haven’t raced in over a season-cycle. Was it Skittles?”

  “No.” I shake my head. Skittles’ handle on the forum was Chasing Rainbows. “This was someone new. Rim Jumper.”

  “Never heard of ’em.”

  I pinch his side. “I said new.”

  He pinches me back. “Well, it’s shit to send you a map when you’re not racing right now.” He glances around. “Not much space up here, even if we had bikes.”

  “I thought so, too, at first. But it caught my interest because I didn’t recognize the location.”

  Curiosity sparks in Felix’s eyes. “Describe it. Maybe I can help.”

  I’m horrible with description and wish I had a way to show Felix without bringing my folding-port out into the open.

  Maybe if Myrrine agreed to let him into our room? I might have to bribe her.

  “It had circles, no spokes.” I wave that aside. “It doesn’t matter because I figured out the location last night.”

  “So, our mini-adventure is to figure out a riddle you already solved?” He lifts our joined hands and pats the back of mine. “Let me plan our next date.”

  I mock-scowl at him. “If that’s how you’re going to be, maybe I should have just checked this out on my own.”

  “So fierce.” He sweeps an arm out. “Lead on.”

  When I turn us down the wide path that leads toward the admin building, Felix’s steps bounce with excitement.

  I peer up at him. “What?”

  “Please say we’re going to break into the dean’s office.”

  “No.”

  He sags. “No fun.”

  In the distance, the twin suns finish their final descent over the horizon, casting the sky in deep purple and rose. I lead us out and motion for Felix to take a seat on the neatly trimmed grass.

  His legs fold, and he settles gracefully into place. “What now?”

  “We wait for the stars to come out.”

  “Oh, this is romantic.” He pats his lap. “Here, I’ll keep you warm while we wait.”

  “I think I’ll be fine.” I settle at his side instead and lean against his arm.

  “Hmm, this is nice, too.” He snuggles closer, like a sky skipper seeking out energy.

  Barely a minute passes before Felix begins to fidget, which doesn’t surprise me. He always vibrates with so much energy that it’s difficult to imagine him still unless he’s sleeping. Like a light-ring with only two settings: on and off.

  I pull my knees up to my chest. “Tell me how you met Declan.”

  He stills for a moment, his breath catching before he gives a flippant response. “We got into a fight. Beat each other pretty soundly, then bonded over detention. Usual boy stuff.”

  I turn my head to study him. “What was the fight about?”

  He shrugs, the motion jerky. “Who can recall that kind of stuff?”

  “You can.” I reach out to touch his temple. “You have an amazing brain, remember?”

  “It was stupid.” He grabs my hand and holds it in his lap.

  I keep my voice soft. “It must not have been stupid at the time if you fought so hard over it.”

  He side-eyes me. “I guess it was something important to him.”

  “But not to you?”

  “No, not to me.”

  “Then why did you fight?”

  “Because that’s what you do when someone comes at you with fists swinging.” He curls my hand into a fist and kisses my knuckles.

  My skin buzzes where his lips touched. “Did fighting fix things? Fix what was important to him?”

  “It wasn’t exactly something that could be fixed. Once it was broken, that was it.”

  “And you broke it?”

  He gives a stiff nod, clearly not happy with the current conversation, but not pulling back either.

  I take a gamble. “Who was it that you took from him?”

  His eyes jerk to my face. “Who said it was a person?”

  “Objects can be fixed.” I lift a hand to the converter coil under my shirt. As much as I loved my bike, it can be replaced. “People are more difficult.”

  A bitter laugh escapes him, and he looks away. “It was a girl he was dating at the time. I didn’t know they were an item, but I didn’t ask, either.”

  “And he cared enough about her to come beat you up over it?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” He rubs his jaw as if remembering the feel of fists against bone. “He hit pretty well for a prissy bitch.”

  I choke on laughter. “Prissy what?”

  “Oh, Sprinkles, you should have seen him back then.” Amusement lights Felix’s face. “Perfectly groomed, always in the current fashion, heeled boots.” He shakes his head, messy black waves dancing. “Someone needed to knock some sense into him.”

  I try to picture the rugged Declan the way Felix describes and fail. “How did you guys end up bonding?”

  “Well, once I smashed his pretty nose in, I convinced him that anyone who’s willing to cheat isn’t worth working up a sweat over.”

  My chest tightens with pain. “It’s that black and white, huh?”

  He squeezes my hand. “It was back then. The world is grayer now, but also more defined. It must have been different for you, being tutored at home. What did you do for friends?”

  Now, the pain creeps up to my throat. “I had Nikola off and on until he was sent away for school. Then I was alone until I found disc-bike racing.”

  His thumb sweeps over my knuckles as he stares straight ahead. “So, he’s pretty important to you?”

  “It’s… complicated.”

  “And Garrett?”

  “Also complicated.” I turn to face Felix. “Garrett comes from the same line as my grandmother’s secretary, Tobin. And Nikola comes from the same line as my father’s secretary, Nadine. They each have the support of someone in my house.”

  “And you’re the toy they’re fighting over.” He reaches up to sweep his fingers over my brow, smoothing away the frown lines. “Choose someone else.”

  My eyes widen in surprise. “What?”

  “Forge your own path.” His fingers skim over my cheek. “Choose neither of them.”

  Grandmother gave me that as an option, as well, but the candidates she suggested all left a bad taste in my mouth besides Garrett. “If I reject both, I risk losing the backing of the two most powerful people in my family.”

 
“You’ll lose it eventually, anyway.” His finger curls under my chin, lifting my head. “Unless you plan to be their puppet for the rest of your life?”

  I shake my head, his finger slipping back and forth beneath my chin. “No, I don’t want that.”

  “Then cut the strings. Fly free.”

  I swallow hard. “Is that what you did?”

  “Oh, no.” He smiles ruefully. “I rebelled, and they were cut for me. It’s much better when the decision is your own to make.” His eyes move past me, and he rises gracefully to his feet. “The stars are out. Time to uncover this mystery.”

  He extends a hand to help me stand, and I grasp it, thankful for the change in subject. I poured enough salt into our wounds for one night.

  I tip my head back and study the sky, trying to recall what exactly the star pattern looked like when overlapped by the glowing rectangle. “Make sure I don’t trip or run into anything?”

  “Always.” Felix moves behind me and cups my waist as I walk, eyes glued to the sky.

  The stars shift by small increments, moving in and out of focus with the image I hold in my memory until they click into place at the same moment my toe knocks into something on the ground.

  I freeze, my focus shifting from the sky to my feet in a dizzying sweep of light and shadow. When I sway, Felix holds me steady, his jokes silent for once as he, too, studies the ground.

  At last, he sighs. “It’s a sprinkler head.”

  I search the surrounding ground. “I could have sworn…” I glance back up to the sky, sure the stars are in the right place. “This is it.”

  “Maybe you have the map off a little?” He releases me to pace around the nearby area, scuffing his shoe against the grass in search of something that doesn’t belong. At last, he returns to my side. “What did the message say, exactly?”

  Eyes closing, I pull up the image of my monitor and the green on black text. “Found a new racing path I think you might like to take a look at. It will take your breath away.”

  When I open my eyes, Felix’s face scrunches in though. “That’s it?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.” I scowl down at the sprinkler head. “That and the map. Maybe you’re right, and I’m mis-remembering.”