Ending our entanglement immediately would be easier. Less messy.
But I knew better. I knew he would fight for me with every vicious bone in his body.
I would have to hurt him. Convince him I didn’t want him. There was no other way to accomplish this.
The gravity of what was about to happen didn’t hit me until I was in the car with Perry and Ronan, speeding toward Sion Academy.
Anxiety and torment crashed together like a swarm of angry wasps in my chest. I felt like I was going to throw up.
Perry called our mother the moment we were on the road and updated her on the change of plans. He held the phone to his ear, but her impatient voice blared through the confined space.
“This is a better solution, Mom.” Sitting beside me, he gripped my hand and held it on his bouncing knee. “No blood. No dead body. It’s cleaner this way.”
My stomach turned inside out, but I kept my expression neutral. Perry understood how deeply invested I was in Magnus, but we’d decided it was best to keep that detail from our mother. That meant hiding it from her henchman, who sat eerily still beside me.
While on the phone, Perry laid out the conditions I’d agreed to follow, which seemed to appease her.
“No,” he said, glancing at me sidelong. “They’re not in love. This was about a rebellious girl getting it on with her teacher. A slimeball teacher who was too fucking weak to resist her.”
Whatever her response was, he tightened his grip on my hand, his thumb stroking my knuckles, reassuring me.
“I know, Mom.” He sighed. “I swear. If he gives us any trouble, we’ll go back to plan A.” A pause. “Yep. Hang on.”
He stretched across me, passing the phone to Ronan on my other side.
Ronan tilted his head, listening to my mother. Silence descended, broken up by the occasional bump of tires on the road.
“Understood.” Ronan disconnected the call and handed the device back to Perry.
And that was that.
My mother would go along with this so long as I held up my end and Magnus didn’t put up a fight.
I would have to give Magnus the most believable, persuasive performance of a lifetime. Anything less, and he would see straight through my lies.
As Sion Academy came into view, I started to lose my nerve. My chest hurt. My head spun. A sour taste overwhelmed my mouth, and a painful lump took up residence in my throat.
“Where to?” Perry gave my hand a squeeze.
“He’ll be at the main building, his rectory, or the church. Let’s check the church first.”
The driver motored through the quiet village and parked beside the arched doors. Since school didn’t resume for two more days, most of the students hadn’t returned yet.
“Give us a minute,” Perry said to Ronan.
The henchman stepped out and shut the door.
Perry shifted to face me, wrapping both of his hands around one of mine. “I’m sorry, Tins. I know how much this is hurting you. I swear if there was any other way…”
“There isn’t.” I drew in a deep breath, steeling myself. “It’s not your fault.”
Once this was over and I’d made it to the privacy of my bedroom, I would let myself fall to pieces. Until then, I channeled my mother’s cold ruthlessness and held my shit together.
Perry and Ronan would be with me through this. I’d rather they weren’t, but Perry wouldn’t allow it another way. Probably a good thing. I didn’t trust myself to be alone with Magnus.
“Don’t ever fall in love, Perry.”
“No way.” He laughed, appalled at the idea. “Never.”
“When we go in there, no matter what happens, don’t interfere, okay? Magnus is going to be mad at first. Like scary mad. We’ll argue. But I’ll convince him to back off and let this go. I just need you to make sure Ronan doesn’t get twitchy with that gun.”
“He won’t interfere unless I give him the order or your life is threatened.”
“Okay.” Swallowing a jagged ball of dread, I opened the door and forced my feet into the church.
As expected, Magnus was here, kneeling in the front pew, head bowed and rosary in hand. Exactly how I’d found him nearly three weeks ago. Except this visit would have a completely different outcome.
I couldn’t look at the altar without thinking about our delicious desecration, so I kept my gaze averted, fixed on the back of his head.
He took his time finishing his prayers. Then his neck slowly turned, bringing his blue eyes around to lock on mine.
White noise flooded my ears, swallowing the devastating rupture of my heart.
I’d gone to bed last night angry and hadn’t said goodbye this morning. For all he knew, I’d woken still pissed as hell. Pissed enough to make some rash decisions.
As he rose to his feet and faced me, his gaze shifted, marking my escorts where they stood by the door. I saw the recognition in his eyes when he looked at Perry, and again when his attention landed on Ronan.