My eyes widened.“What?”This had to be a joke.It had to be. “W…why…and youagreedto this?”
This time, her eyes were the ones that widened. “Of course, I did,” she exclaimed. “Rylee, do you have any idea what this means for me?” She didn’t let me answer. “If I want to further my education, and really make some money when it’s all said and done, this is my way to do it.” Laney threw her arms out to her side and let them drop. “After all my hard work, I’ll have my dream job in whatever I want to do, and all I have to do is make sure some guy doesn’t fail his exams, or make sure he stays out of jail, or doesn’t get anyone pregnant, or whatever.” She shook her head. “It’s a no-brainer, Rylee.”
“How doyou know that’s all you have to do?” I asked because there had to be a catch somewhere. Nobody handed you your dreams without a price to pay for them.
Laney shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t,” she replied honestly. “But that’s what the initiation night is for. Everything will supposedly be explained then.”
My body collapsed against the back of the couch. “Are you serious? Is this serious?” I asked, waving my phone around.
Laney nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Still ignoring the text message notifications on my phone, I said,” So…who picked you? Do you know?”
Myback immediately went up when she got that same touch of attitude that she had at the library. “Of course, I know,” she snipped. “How else do you think I know everything I just told you.”
I ignored her snark. “It’s not a secret, then? To know who picked you?”
Laney shook her head. “No, it’s not. August Remington is my sponsor,” she admitted.
August Remington.
I didn’t have time to think about him as my notifications pinged again. I finally looked down at my phone.
Unknown:Just b ready tmrw nite
Unknown:I’d hate 4 this 2 get ugly
That was a threat.
There was no way to disguise it. There wasno way to sugarcoat it. That, along with the attachment, was a clear and significant threat, and that left me with little choice.
Me:I’ll b ready
I sent the text, and I didn’t care who was on the other end. I wasn’t going in hopes of having all my after-graduation dreams come true. I wasn’t going in hopes of becoming part of an elite, secret society that had connections and wealth.
I was going because someone had threatened me and my family.
I was going because you couldn’t fight a threat if you didn’t know where it was coming from, right?
Chapter 7
Stone~
The electricity in the air had been crackling all day.
Ormaybe it’d just been me.
When I’d gotten Rylee’s text yesterday, claiming she’d be ready, I had actually been surprised. Even if I didn’t know her that well, I couldn’t imagine anyone appreciating being threatened into compliance. So, she was either showing up because she was curious, weak, or wanted to see me in person, so that she could stab me in the neck.
I was hoping it was the latter.
Still, even if it was the first possibility, curiosity was a form of bravery if you went about it correctly. Sure, curiosity often kill the cat, but it’s also led to some great things. Imagine what our world would be like if no one had ever been curious about the human body or mind? I could work with curiosity. I just couldn’t work with weakness.
I also wondered if she’d cut andrun once the car arrived. Our initiation panel had chosen an old, debilitated monstrosity as the venue for tonight’s festivities. It was an hour outside Serenity Springs, and as with most secluded mansions, it was out in the middle of nowhere. The house also looked big enough that it could have been a hospital or school, but as we were all gathered in the ballroom, it had obviously been someone’s home at one point. Hospitals and schools didn’t have goddamn ballrooms.
While the outside looked like the makings of a horror film, and the inside looked no better, the ballroom had been cleaned, that much was obvious. Of course, who cared how clean the room was if the entire structure came down on our heads? But thems the breaks, I was guessing.
The room came withan honest-to-God stage where our initiation panel were gathered. There were new chairs arranged for their seating, of course, plus a small table on the right that was stacked with files on each girl, and probably us, too. The only other chairs in the room were the five reserved for the girls, and they were placed directly in front of the stage, approximately five feet apart from each other. Our place was to stand behind the chair that seated our chosen supporter.