I make my way back to my car in long, determined strides. I reach for the keys in my pocket, and my fingers tangle with something. Shaking my hand loose, I look down and see my earbuds on the ground at my feet, the rubber wire coiled around. I forgot I even stuffed them in my pocket. Scooping them up, I hold them in my palm and stare down at them.
I have them because they make hearing phone calls easier.
How can I not have thought of that? Getting in the car, I check my phone to see if I have any reception. Of course, I don't, so I race back to the hotel. Not even bothering to go inside, I sit in the parking lot and scroll through the various news articles and blogs about Lydia's death. Switching over to the videos tab, I find the clip of the surveillance video that was leaked to the media.
The piece of video went viral, with tens of thousands of people making mocking comments and making fun of Lydia for looking crazy. I have to admit; I harbor a little bit of hate for every single person who made one of those comments. They sit there watching the video, so easily making fun of her while forgetting they're watching a dead woman.
A dead woman talking to herself.
Just like Xavier thought.
I watch the video over and over, then look down at the buds still clamped in my hand.
She's on the phone. She's not imagining things, as they say she is. She's not crazy. Her phone is in her pocket, and she's talking through an earpiece. The phone was found in her room, but not the earpiece. I bet a more careful search of the hotel will uncover it.
But who was she talking to? Why was she acting so strangely? And why did she end up frozen to death in a freezer that wasn't even supposed to be on?
Whoever was responsible for getting her in that freezer put her phone back in her room. Either the killer didn't want people to know she had it with her, or he wanted it to look as if she just left everything and walked away.
I walk back into my room cautiously, not wanting to startle Xavier. But I find him lying on the bed, calm and almost subdued.
"Are you okay?" I ask, sitting at the edge of the bed.
"I slept for a little while," he tells me.
"That's good." I look at his face and see a dark strand of hair stretched across one eye. "Can I move your hair?"
He nods, and I brush it away gently.
"I'm sorry," he says.
"Xavier, you have no reason to be sorry," I say.
"We're here for you," Dean says. "For who you are."
He nods again. "I know. But I'm sorry for not telling you everything."
My stomach twists. I don't want to hear more.
"What do you need to tell us?" I ask.
"I fell in love with Millie a long time ago. We were friends at first. We were just children. Then, I began to see her differently. She was more. She was everything. But getting to know her meant getting to know her brothers. They were nothing like her, but they molded her to listen to them. As we got older, I noticed more and more how much they had a hold on her. They could control her so easily. "
"That's when you found out about The Order," I say.
"Yes," he nods. "It wasn't something that happened quickly. It took years. But when Andrew got to know them separately from me and they tried to bring him in, I started to learn more."
"He told you?" I ask.
"Some. Bits and pieces. Enough," he says. "And he died for it."
"They didn't choose him to kill because he told you about The Order," I say. "There had to be another reason. If they thought you were a risk, they would have just killed both of you like Lakyn."
"I don't blame Millie for helping them," Xavier says. "She had no choice. I just hate that I can't prove any of it. I can't find that missing piece that would make it all fall together."
"What about Lilith Duprey?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“What does she have to do with The Order? She's a woman. There are no women in The Order. There never have been. Not in any of the chapters. So, why does she have so many connections to them? Could it have something to do with her husband? What do we know about his death?”
“No one was ever arrested for it,” Xavier says. “Off in the wind. Random act of violence.”
“So, it wasn't an initiation,” I say. “If it was, someone would have been arrested and convicted.”
“Right,” he says. “But he was found in his bathroom. He wasn't disposed of somewhere. It doesn’t fit the puzzle. A different puzzle, but not this one. He could have been linked to The Order. But he wasn't a part of the Harlan social circle or political sphere. All of that stayed in their original town. How would he be affiliated with the chapter here?”
“I talked to my father about that,” I say. “He told me each of the chapters governs itself individually and operates independently of the rest. But they are still a part of the overarching Order of Prometheus. Which means, sometimes there is interaction between the chapters. Large events. Gatherings. It's possible he was a part of a different chapter that associated with the one here. Maybe after his death they worried about Lilith and wanted to make sure she was alright, so they decided to take care of her.”
"Does that truly sound like The Order to you? Do wolves take care of sheep?" he asks.
"No," I admit. "And if even
