Typhon

Chapter 27

Stone~

Nothing had gotten solved.

We'd gone over everything twice before we all finally realized that we weren't going to come up with an immediate solution at three in the fucking morning with no sleep. So, Ross and Fox had ended up leaving to go back home and get some rest, promising to regroup later, while Saxton and I had stayed behind.

"Look, Stone," he said once the other guys had left. "I know we're not close, but I'm here if you need me. But...I gotta be honest with you."

"Yeah?"

"Rylee's got Kincaid in her corner, and that doesn't bode well for you, dude."

I eyed him. "You can't get Kincaid to back down?"

I wasn't sure what their relationship was, but he had picked her, and no matter the reason, she'd said yes to him. He'd also chosen her back when we'd been freshman, so there was more history there than there was with the rest of us.

"Yeah," he drawled out. "I'll get right on that."

"So, then, what are you saying, Voss?"

"Just that-"

His phone chimed with an incoming text, and he quickly pulled out his phone to check it. I didn't blame him, either. A text at nearly three in the morning had to be an emergency.

When he looked over at me, dread settled at the bottom of my spine. "What is it?"

"Kincaid sent me a video with a message to show it to you guys," he said. "Let me forward it to Ross and Fox, and then we can watch it."

I waited impatiently as his fingers worked his phone. When he was finally done forwarding it to the guys, he held his phone out, so that we could both watch the video together. The clip started with the video at an odd angle, trying to capture both Rylee and Laney from behind a wall or something. Laney's voice kicked off the beginning of the video, and the jealousy in her voice was unmistakable as I heard her asking if I can take a joke or not. Then, as more of the video played, the more I understood why Saxton believed that I wouldn't be able to fix this.

The worst part was hearing Laney say that anyone that knew Rylee would know that those texts couldn't come from her. Anyone that knew her would know that she'd never do such a thing. Or at least, I thought that'd been the worst part. The worst part came towards the end of the video when Rylee told Kincaid that she didn't care if Laney ended up with me.

That sliced my chest wide open.

When the video was finished playing, Saxton fired off a quick text to Kincaid-I presumed-before sliding his phone back in his pocket. Looking at me, he said, "So, we have proof that she did it, but claiming it was a joke could be believed. Plus, she was quick to absolve August of any involvement."

"Too quick," I pointed out.

He nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that, too."

"I need to find her," I simply stated.

"Kincaid won't give her up, Stone," he said, telling me something that I already knew, deep down.

"I still have to try," I told him.

"I know," he replied. "Just...honestly, I don't know what to say. This is all new to me, too."

"How did that asshole get chosen, Saxton?" I asked. "If we can see it, surely the panel sees it."

"I've wondered that myself." His jaw ticked in agreement. "The only thing I can think of is his seemingly tight friendship with Alexander."

There wasn't really much else to say about it. Until we had time to dig further into August Remington, I had to put him on the back burner and fix this shit with Rylee.