I’m pretty sure he can smell any change of emotions like some human dog. Just because he doesn’t feel emotions like the rest of us doesn’t mean he can’t recognize them or even understand them.
If there’s anything I’ve learned about Killian, it’s the fact that he’s a well-adjusted psychopath. He has immense impulse control, and is calculative to a fault.
There may have been a time in his past where he lost that control like Lan sometimes does, but they can both adapt so well to the circumstances and fuse themselves within society as if they belong.
And the more they live, the harder it is to reach inside their sturdy bubble. It’s more impossible to make them lose control once they’ve mastered it.
Since they’re constantly in control, they observe everything. Killian might seem detached, but he has hawk-like observational skills. Nothing escapes him.
So I try my best to remain nonchalant and tune out the sound of eliminated numbers being announced all around us.
“Who owns this place?” I ask, and do one heck of a job of sounding normal.
“We all do. It’s a gift from campus because our parents donate a shitload of money to the institution.”
“I assume the ‘we’ are you, Jeremy, Nikolai, and Gareth?”
“Correct.”
“Who’s the one behind the fifth mask?”
“No one you should concern yourself with.”
“Do you always dance around the subject when you don’t want to answer the question?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, why should I be?”
I steal a peek at the building in front of us. Two meters. No, probably one and a half.
Killian stops, but I pretend not to noticed and continue ahead. Yes, the members of the group are monstrous, judging by what I witnessed today, but I’m done being scared and hiding.
If I’m in their inner circle, I’ll be able to figure out what happened to Devlin and—
Something touches my shoulder and I freeze as the speaker echoes around us, “Number sixty-nine eliminated.”
I swing back to stare at Killian, who just tapped me with his bat.
“You think I haven’t figured out what you’re up to, little rabbit?”
“Why…you…you…”
“Deep breaths.” The amusement in his voice pisses me the hell off. “That’s it. We don’t want you to somehow have a stroke when you’re this young.”
“Why have you waited until now to eliminate me?”
He lifts a shoulder. “It was fun watching you trying to distract me and acting like an amateur in a B-class spy movie. You should look at your adorable face.” He retrieves his phone from his pocket and snaps a picture. “Now, I’ll keep this expression with me forever.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“I’ll kiss you in the meantime.”
I’m about to grab his stupid bat and lunge it at his head when the door of the security house opens behind me.
“Killer!”