Broken Trust A Dark High School Romance - Tate James Page 0,93

keeping me somewhat propped up.

I hadn’t taken my eyes off Dante, who appeared to be off the phone now, but he was still staring out into the darkness around him. I couldn’t tell if it was a blessing or not that he hadn’t seen me yet.

Dylan’s words finally registered with me. “Cemetery? What? Why?”

“Guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Evan replied, tucking his own phone back into his pants pocket. “Let’s roll.”

“Wait, what about Eddy? We can’t just ditch her here,” I protested. I’d come to the party with Eddy and Dante but now that Dante seemed like a snake in the grass … I couldn’t run out on my only other friend.

The guys exchanged a look, doing their silent communication thing before Dylan nodded to Jasper and grabbed my hand. “You come with me and Evan, Riles. Jasper will grab Eddy and drop her home on his way to the cemetery.”

“Okay, that works,” I agreed, letting Dylan hurry me down the drive in the direction of his car.

Jasper turned and went back inside, searching for his sister, and the urgency of Beck’s message almost had me forgetting about the betrayal from my best friend.

“Riles!” Dante called out as we hurried past him. “What’s wrong? Where are you going?”

My breath sucked in with a harsh gasp, all that broken hearted betrayal I’d felt just moments ago slamming back into me.

“Evan,” Dylan snapped. “Deal with him. We’ll meet you there.”

We’d just reached Dylan’s car, and I gratefully slipped inside and slammed the door shut while Evan stepped in front of Dante and blocked him. I couldn’t deal with Dante. Not yet. Not when something was going down at Oscar’s grave and the pain was still so fresh.

She knows, Catherine.

His words echoed in my head, and I clenched my eyes tightly shut as Dylan gunned his engine and carried us away from that awful party.

30

Beck was alone when we arrived. He waited beside the wrought iron gates of the Jefferson Cemetery with his strong arms folded across his chest and his face like a thunderstorm.

“Where are the guys?” he demanded when only Dylan and I got out of the car.

“Coming,” Dylan replied, succinct as ever. “Council gone?”

Beck nodded. “Yeah, they saw all they needed to see. I didn’t want you all hearing this over the phone or from one of them, though.”

A chill traveled through me and I rubbed my arms. “That sounds ominous,” I murmured, and Beck just looked a bit … disturbed.

Seconds later, Jasper’s yellow Lambo pulled in behind Dylan, and both he and Evan hopped out.

“That was fast,” I commented, frowning. “Eddy okay?”

Jasper shot me a sly grin. “Uh, more than okay. She was tonsils deep in some preppy dick from Jefferson U and basically threatened me with castration if I tried to take her home.” He shrugged. “Guess she’s more like me than I realized.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fair enough. So long as she’s okay.” And not hooking up with Dante, that two faced, lying piece of shit.

“Come on,” Beck said, bringing our attention back to why we were all there. “You guys need to see something.”

He led the way into the dark graveyard, and I quickened my pace to catch up with him. Biting my lip to keep from babbling nervously, I wrapped my hand around his and snuggled into his side. Because, fuck, cemeteries were creepy at night.

Somewhere above us, an owl hooted, and I was embarrassed to admit a small squeak of fright slipped out of me. Beck chuckled softly before he tightened his grip on my fingers. His thumb stroked over the back of my hand, and I pushed all my focus into that touch, so I didn’t look at the shadow which could have easily been a zombie or vampire or something.

“Oh shit,” Evan breathed as we came to a stop, and I gaped.

I’d been so focused on the scary shit around the graveyard, I hadn’t noticed we’d arrived at Oscar’s plot. Or… what was left of it.

“What the fuck?” Jasper cursed, crouching down to take a better look. Not that he needed to get any closer. It was pretty fucking obvious from where I stood—someone had taken Oscar’s corpse.

“Who would do this?” I whispered in abject horror. The whole grave was dug up, dirt piled haphazardly on the neighboring plots, and the stained, silk lined coffin sat open.

Open and very empty.

“That’s what Delta wants to know,” Beck said softly, just barely hiding the grief all over his face. “That’s what