Not calling them is safer for them and for me.
The phone went back into my purse. I needed some air.
I plunged through the western exit and into the courtyard like I was bursting through a portal into another world. There would be no Indian summer at this altitude, it seemed. Indeed, it looked like we wouldn’t get much of an autumn. Half the trees in the courtyard were nearly bare, and the ones that still had yellowing leaves were shedding them fast.
It wasn’t even October yet, and the natural world was closing shop.
That was fine by me. It felt appropriate. The lush, verdant summer was at odds with the vile uncertainty that permeated my life. It shouldn’t be warm and sunny. Gail was dead; the trees should be too.
Besides, I loved the sudden brace of wind. It felt cleansing, that thin, crisp air, the slight bite from the breeze, the rustle of brittle foliage falling to the rocky ground below. And to top it off, I was free to leave campus! It had turned out that Arvo’s alibi all but ended Soglio’s investigation into me.
That had been a double-win. I was no longer a suspect, and the dogged detective could actually begin digging up actual leads. All it had taken was a little perjury from Arvo Hurley.
Speak of the devil, and he appeared. As I passed through the courtyard en route to my favorite mountain footpath, I caught sight of Arvo and Tess sauntering near the perimeter wall. There was a laziness to his walk that told me he wasn’t going to see Zephyr. When Arvo was needed by the King of Crowns, he moved quick.
No, the two of them were just enjoying the sensation of being young and cute and together. If I didn’t know what a creep Arvo could be, I might have thought they were a sweet couple. Tess had both her thin arms wrapped around his waist in a sideways hug that made her trip a little as she walked. Her head was pressed tightly to his chest. It was like she couldn’t stand the idea of any part of herself not being connected to him.
My mind flashed back to that night three weeks back when I’d spied on them in the solarium, nude and grinding together for my viewing pleasure. His hands had found their way to her hindquarters that night as well and opened her up so he could tongue her into a lather.
I actually had to shake my head to toss that lurid image from my mind. On the nights I slept separately from Zephyr—and some nights when I slept with him—I found myself replaying that tryst in my mind.
Not smart, Biba. Not smart.
The Mont Fer path to the west of campus was my trail of choice, at least when I was walking alone. It was severe in a lovely way—huge boulders and panoramic views of the sloping white mountains on the Swiss side of the border. Walking along this rocky, unforgiving path, I felt like a heroine in a Wagner opera.
It was the least trod footpath outside campus. It’s hard on your feet and long without being incredibly varied. It was also open to the point of anxiety. There was no hiding on the Mont Fer path; you could see miles in each direction and know you were alone. After months under the microscope of the police, the administration, the Kings, and pretty much everyone else, I liked knowing what was coming in every direction.
So it was that I could see clearly a lone figure about a mile out from the campus. The tall, slender man appeared before me in the distance quite a long time before I actually made out who it was.
Sol.
He stood alone a few yards from the trail, looking out over the rolling summits and slopes. He was bundled tightly in a thigh-length black topcoat, tight black jeans, and a gray wool scarf tied around his neck. His swooping black hair was thick enough, evidently, that he didn’t need a hat. He looked like Heathcliff on the moors.
I presumed he either didn’t notice me approaching or didn’t care. It took about twenty minutes from when I first spotted him to when I actually got close enough to call his name. He didn’t look at me that entire time. He didn’t even turn.
“Sol,” I shouted twenty years out.
“Biba,” he answered, still not turning. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
That stopped me in my tracks. The last thing I needed was another one of the Kings making absurd overtures to me. And why else would Sol be waiting for me this far away from the school? He could just as easily talk to me during class.
No, he was waiting for me on a remote mountain path that he just assumed I’d be wandering down.
“Well,” I replied as nonchalantly as possibly, “here I am.”
“I need your help.”
At first, I thought Sol’s refusal to look at me was some kind of power move—like I wasn’t worth his full attention. But I saw vulnerability in his averted gaze, and it struck me that he was ashamed.
“Whatever I can do, Sol.”
“You say that, but forgive me for not believing it,” he replied, his voice shaking. “There are too many risks to me just confiding in you. I have something on my mind for you to hear, but you cannot tell Zephyr.”
“That depends on what you tell me.”
“Forget it then.”
Sol lowered his eyes, marched up the incline to the path, and started stomping back to Stormcloud.