We were still in the same position when we woke up in the morning. Adam was already awake and was holding his cell phone to his face.

“Julian needs to talk to you,” he said as I opened my eyes.

That woke me up. “What? How do you know that?”

He waved his phone in front of me.

“How come you guys can text each other, but I can’t text Julian?”

“Because no one is going to suspect that I want to talk to the guy,” Adam chuckled. “That’s why he and I exchanged numbers.”

“You and Julian exchanged numbers?”

That simple fact astonished me. They didn’t like each other.

Adam shrugged. “Yeah, we figured it was the best way to keep tabs on what was going on and to keep you safe.”

I was beginning to feel like everyone else in the world knew what was going on besides me. And I didn’t appreciate it one damn bit. Still though, I leapt out of bed and rushed around to get ready. Time was wasting, and I needed to know what Julian needed to speak with me about. It would eat away at me all day if we waited until this evening to meet. And apparently, he felt the same way, because when we got to the tree, Julian was already there.

I rushed up to give him a hug, but the look of panic on his face stopped me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You need to get out of here,” he said in a hushed tone that Adam wouldn’t be able to hear. “Now.”

“Why? What are you talking about?”

Julian pulled me behind the tree, out of view and earshot of Adam, which I’m sure didn’t make Adam very happy.

Julian’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I overheard some of the Lineage board members. They came to Goldshire yesterday to attend some sort of urgent meeting. When I saw them walk into the Dean’s office, I followed them and listened from outside the door. They’re threatening to use extreme measures if Goldshire Academy doesn’t “close its doors.”

I furrowed my brow. “Close its doors?”

“Yeah, as in shut down the school.”

“They can’t force Goldshire to shut down,” I said. “They would never get away with that.”

“Actually, I think they will.”

Julian popped his head around the side of the tree to see if Adam was still in the same spot, keeping guard. A gust of breeze blew the messy auburn hair on the top of his head. I had a brief flashback to when we were in high school playing a game of tag football. We were rolling around on the grass together, and all the leaves got caught up in his hair. I laid on top of him and picked each leaf out as we laughed until our ribs hurt.

“Marta was there,” he finally continued. “She was talking to the Dean and citing some merger that the two schools are getting ready to have. The academies aren’t just rivals, Lisette, they’re a cover-up for an underground drug-ring.”

I blinked. “What?”

That was insane. There was no way those two colleges were partners in crime for anything, let alone an illegal drug-ring. They couldn’t even tolerate sitting in the same dining hall together for an hour without most of their faculties wanting to kill each other.

He nodded. “It’s true. I heard it all myself. They want to use Goldshire as an organization front to take the fall in the eye of the public so that Lineage can continue their operations. You need to get out of there now before things get way too dangerous.”

“I can’t,” I said as I shook my head and tried to wrap my mind around the information that he’d just told me. “I can’t just leave here now, not when I’m getting closer to finding out what happened to my mother. I can’t just give up.”

He gripped my upper arms. “Listen to me, you have to—”

“Guys,” Adam said as he came around the tree. “Sorry to break this up, but we have to go. Security is coming.”

I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Adam scooped his arm around me, and Julian took off toward the street as I watched him rush away. I tried to whisper and tell Adam what Julian had said to me, but people kept passing by us, and the campus suddenly seemed busier and more crowded than usual.

So, I never got the chance.

We both had one night class that night. Adam insisted that I wait for him at the lecture hall since his class got out about thirty minutes later than mine did. But tonight, I was burdened by what Julian had said, and I just wanted to get back to the apartment and take a hot shower.

Michael wouldn’t try anything at the apartment with me, not since he knew Adam would be there shortly after I arrived. So instead of waiting for him like Adam was expecting me to do, I started to walk across the campus to go home. It wasn’t even all the way dark out yet, just past dusk. I was about halfway there when Michael jumped me and threw me behind the tall hedges that lined the pathway.

“Get off me!” I screamed at him.

“Shut up,” he said. “I’m not trying to hurt you or even touch you for that matter.”

“Then why the hell did you tackle me into a hedge?” I yelled as I looked around for my bag that had fallen off my shoulder.

“I’m giving you a warning,” he glowered.

I rolled my eyes in genuine frustration. “I am so fucking sick of warnings. Leave me the fuck alone, Michael.”

I reached to pick up my bag and leave, but he hit it out of my hands and grabbed me by both shoulders.

“You idiotic, impulsive fool!” he said as he shook me. “Get off this campus and leave this school, or you’re going to end up dead just like your mother.”

That’s it, I’ve had enough. No more people warning me. No more people protecting me. No more of them trying to seduce me and threatening me. I’m over it.

I pulled my hand back and punched him in the jaw as hard as I could. Michael stood there and looked at me in shock for a moment before he tried to grab me again. This time I jabbed my knee between his legs and sent him doubling over onto the ground. I went to grab my bag again and make a run for it, but I barely had my hand on the strap of the bag when Michael grabbed me by my ponytail and yanked me to the ground. I fell face-first and felt my lip split open when it hit the rocks.

I tasted a mixed mouthful of dirt and the metallic taste of blood, which only fueled my fury toward him.

I tried to stand up, but Michael kicked me in the side and sent me curling over my stomach. He hunched over me on all fours and pinned me to the ground, and when I sunk my teeth into his forearm, he struck me across the cheekbone. I got a few good shots in at him, but eventually, there was nothing I could do. I wasn’t a match for Michael, no matter how hard I tried. I looked up at him through blurred and bloodied vision. His blonde hair was matted with dirt, and his muscles were tensed beneath his shirt. He had the perfect opportunity to kill me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop him.

But instead, he got off me and pulled me up by one arm to stand in front of him.

“Leave,” he snarled.

I narrowed my eyes. “No.”

There was so much blood pooling in my mouth that I had to spit it onto the ground between us. I barely had enough energy to stand on my shaking legs. Literally, the only thing holding me up was his hand gripping my arm. But then he let go, and as soon as he did, I fell back to the ground.

I watched his back as he walked away and wondered why he hadn’t killed me.

It was getting dark, and Adam would be worried if I wasn’t at the apartment by the time he got there. I pulled myself up and dragged my body, one step at a time, toward the apartment. When I got there, there was no sign of either of the guys.

I pulled off all my clothes and headed straight into the shower.