Corrupt

My phone beeped with a voicemail, and I blinked, remembering the time.

Shit.

I raced into my room and threw on some clothes and tied my hair up in a ponytail. Grabbing my brown leather school bag, wallet, and phone, I ran out of the apartment and hurried into the elevator, casting a quick glance to the other penthouse door down the hall.

I hadn’t heard any other noises after Michael had left last night, but someone was in that apartment. I’d have to try to catch the manager today. I didn’t feel safe, especially after being chased in the stairwell.

“Good morning, Miss Fane,” Mr. Patterson greeted as I walked off the elevator.

“Morning,” I called, giving him a quick smile as I dashed past the reception desk and out the spinning doors.

I stepped right onto the sidewalk, immediately caught in the bustle and noise of the city. People walked to and from work or carried on with their daily errands, moving quickly around slower pedestrians and veering across the street through the blares of taxi horns and whistles.

The clouds overhead hung low and looked smoky with a tinge of deep purple, and the breeze blew cool, despite being late August. I inhaled the smell of earth, even though everything around me was brick and concrete. I turned right, hurrying in the direction of Trinity College.

After apologizing like crazy, I got my advisor to squeeze me in between appointments, and we were able to finalize my schedule, as well as my long-term plan. Classes started in a couple of days, so it was a relief to touch base with her and start the year off right.

Afterward, I hit the bookstore for a few paperbacks that had been added to my reading list, picked up a coffee, and strolled the surrounding area, taking in the shops, the unusually cool day, and the beauty of the dark city.

I loved it here.

This bustling metropolis was second to none with its arts culture, libraries, and museums. The variety of fare offered at the restaurants kept even the pickiest diners entertained, and you couldn’t help but appreciate the trees lining the sidewalks and the plants and hedges that sat in flowerbeds outside of buildings. It was truly stunning and unique.

But there was a dark allure about it as well.

How the tall skyscrapers blocked out the light. How the cover of trees in the park surrounded you in a cave-like canopy, turning the green grass nearly black. How the silent alleys were lost in the fog in the early mornings, leaving you to wonder what was in there, because you know you’d never be so brave as to see for yourself. I think the dark side of Meridian City was what I loved most when I’d visited as a kid.

My phone buzzed against my leg, and I reached into my satchel as I strolled down the sidewalk, picking out my cell phone.

Seeing a number I didn’t recognize, I inhaled a deep breath, guessing who it probably was.

Trevor wasn’t allowed a cell phone at the academy, so I guessed the strange number was from a calling card. I’d had plenty of experience during his Plebe summer training.

“Is that you, Midshipman?” I answered, trying to tease. I’d probably see Trevor here and there for the rest of my life—our families being so close—and I wanted to be on good terms with him.

“How’s your first day in the big city?” he asked, sounding a lot more relaxed than he was at the party.

“Great.” I tossed my coffee in the garbage can I passed and kept walking. “I was just at the bookstore getting the rest of my texts.”

“Good, and how’s your apartment?”

I breathed out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. “Big. As I’m sure you know. I love your mom, Trevor, but she could’ve left this one alone, you know?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The apartment in your family’s building…” I hinted.

He must’ve known about it, since he assumed I would see Michael.

“What do you mean, my family’s building?” His voice turned sharp.

“Delcour,” I told him. “I didn’t know it was a Crist building.”

“Fuck,” he growled. “You’re living at Delcour? Why didn’t you tell me that?”

I didn’t answer, confused as to why that was important to him in the first place. During the summer, I’d only mentioned finding an apartment but no details. And he hadn’t asked.

Was there something wrong with Delcour? Other than I’d gotten a little played in order to live there?

“Rika,” Trevor started, sounding rigid. “Find something else.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you there.”

“Why?” I pressed again.

His parents had tricked me into leasing the apartment, not telling me it was their building, and now Trever was ordering me out. I’d had enough of people telling me what to do.

“You really have to ask that?” he snapped. “Get your stuff and go to a hotel until you find another place. I mean it. You’re not living at Delcour.”

I stood there with my mouth slightly open, not understanding what the hell his problem was. Delcour belonged to his family. If anything, why wouldn’t he want me to stay there? And what did he think, ordering me around? He knew better.

“Look,” I said, keeping my voice calm, “I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s got great security, and even though it’s not what I had planned, school starts in two days. I don’t want to move while I’m in the middle of classes.”

Not if I didn’t have to, anyway.

“I don’t want you there,” he reiterated, barking his order. “Do you understand?”