The Red Season

“I’ve lived with that guilt every single day.” Lila swallowed hard. Her world felt disoriented with memories of her sister, the lingering grief, the recent attacks all blended into a suffocating haze. Beckett continued, quieter now. “I am twenty-six years old. Young and naive as a professor. And this campus...” He gave a hollow laugh. “It’s full of people who would love to get rid of me. Students who resent strict grading. Colleagues who think I got my position too early. Some who believe I’m arrogant. Some who simply don’t like me.” His eyes sharpened, steady but tired. “So yes. Anyone could be the killer. And anyone could be trying to frame me. Or frame Damian. Or frame anyone close to this case.” Lila’s heartbeat grew loud in her ears. Her mind raced. Damian said Beckett wasn’t the killer. Mara said Beckett was suspicious. Mercer said Beckett was dangerous. At Halden University, the murders follow a deadly rhythm, one red-haired girl every month, each found with a single rose placed in her hand, each killing more vicious than the last. Lila Rowan arrives a year after her sister’s death, determined to uncover what the police can’t: the identity of the Rose Killer. But the deeper she digs, the more her world begins to tilt. Her sister’s voice slips into her dreams, repeating a warning Lila can’t ignore: He’s charming. He’s handsome. And he never lets go. Now every man around her feels like a threat. The professor whose gaze lingers a heartbeat too long. The best friend who is trying to protect her. The other male students who claim to know her sister. The roses keep appearing. The bodies keep escalating. And someone is watching Lila, waiting for their moment to strike.