Chapter 40 Something’s Off
Steven’s psychic strength gave him a perception that was razor–sharp and almost supernaturally precise.
The moment he caught Timothy’s sly, satisfied grin from across the room, he understood everything in an
instant.
The corner of his mouth curved, slow and quiet, into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
Trying to set me up?
Timothy was already on his feet.
“Steven! You murderer!”
Chris jumped in right behind him. “You killed someone, and you still have the nerve to show your school!”
Timothy’s expression was pure, radiant triumph.
face at
“Somebody get the teacher! Tell them to bring the officers in! We’ve got a murderer sitting right here!”
The words were barely out before one of the students sprinted toward the door to find a teacher. Timothy’s cold laugh cut through the room. “You’ve got quite the nerve, Steven. Killing someone out in the open like that.”
Every pair of eyes in the classroom pulled back from Steven like he’d become something to be feared, something dangerous and contagious.
Bianca stood beside him completely blindsided, her thoughts scrambling to catch up.
A murderer?
He
couldn’t have killed anyone.
He was with her the whole day yesterday. There was no time for anything like that.
Steven watched Timothy’s self–satisfied face and thought privately that he couldn’t wait to see whether that expression would survive the next few minutes.
Lilliana stood up from her seat and turned toward Steven, her eyes carrying the specific, exhausted weight of someone watching a person throw their own future into a fire.
“Why would you do something like that? Do you understand what you’ve done to your life?
“Divine Awakening is right around the corner. Why throw everything away over a moment of recklessness?” Steven let out a short, humorless sound. Now she was concerned about him.
Bianca gripped the edge of his sleeve, her anxiety spiking hard. Murder was the kind of charge that ended. everything. People got sentenced to death for that.
O
11:22 Wed, Jun 10
Chapter 40 Something’s Off
Steven reached over and closed his hand gently around hers.
**Finished
Lilliana saw it, and it landed somewhere in her chest like a needle driving in clean and sharp.
It shouldn’t bother her. He wasn’t hers in any sense of the word. But it did bother her.
“I’m a murderer?” Steven said, his voice flat and cold. “Do you have proof?
“No? Then that’s slander!”
Lilliana exhaled slowly, and sat back down.
“Why do I even bother?” she said quietly.
Steven didn’t spare her reaction a single thought.
Timothy let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “You can’t play innocent forever! I watched the whole thing with my own eyes.”
Steven paused. “Where exactly did you see that?”
Timothy’s smile sharpened. “Scared now, are we?
“Here’s an idea. Grovel and beg for my mercy, and maybe I’ll think about doing you a favor.”
Timothy’s nose was turned up so high with the sheer weight of his own satisfaction it practically touched the ceiling.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Steven said, completely unmoved.
“You’re still trying to wriggle out of it?” Timothy snarled. “You really won’t admit it until you’re staring down the barrel.
Ou’re walking straight into a jail cell today: You might as well start counting down, because it’s over for you! Hahal
Timothy laughed loud and wild, filling the whole room with it.

11:22 Wed, Jun 10
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