Turning his back on us, Pops lifted a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo from the bookshelf and then pushed the door inward.
He waved us forward. “In you go.”
I poked my head into the dark passage and shook my head. “No, I’m not… You can’t make me.”
Pops flicked on a light and then gestured for me to step inside. “It’s okay. No one is going to hurt you.”
Apprehensive, I entered the room, surprised to find wall-to-wall books and a massive table at the center. The room, which was all oak, had a rich scent with undertones of cigars.
“It’s a library,” I said to my brother.
“Yeah, I can see that.”
I expelled a deep breath. “I thought it was a closet.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “What are we doing in here, Pops?”
“There’s more to the story about the Salvatores,” he explained as he plucked a giant tome from the shelf.
He set the leather-bound book, about five inches thick, on the table and told us to sit. We each took a chair between him and leaned over his shoulder to examine the strange book.
“You are both direct descendants of the United States Founding Fathers.”
A shiver slid down my arms at his confession. “Which one?”
“Alexander Hamilton.”
I gasped.
“Five descendants of the Founding Fathers formed the Founders Society in the late 1700s in Philadelphia.” He flipped a page and pointed at a yellowed image of five men. “The secret society started as a transfer of information and power. But over time, they allowed more people to join the society, realizing there was strength in numbers.”
He turned a few more pages filled with rules, codes, and things that made no sense to me. Strange symbols and letters marked the corners of the parchment.
“I am one of the five elders of The Founders Society,” my grandfather told us. “Bastian Salvatore’s grandfather is the head Elder. One day, Bastian will take his place. And if you were to become his wife, you would also bear the responsibility of that role.”
“What about the other three?”
“Damian is a Townsend by blood. When the time comes, he will take his biological father’s place at the table. However, Luca and Marcello’s family is from Italy. Only through marriage and an heir could they become members.”
“That’s why they need me.”
He nodded. “We only offer one seat at a time, which would go to Arlo after Luca or Marcello replaced him as the Grand Master of The Devil’s Knights.”
Flicking a few more pages, he stopped on The Devil’s Knights. At the center, a knight in full armor held the Scales of Justice, but the weight was unbalanced. It dipped to one side from a giant serpent holding it down, slithering up the arm of the knight.
“In our world, there are several secret societies,” Pops said as if telling us a children’s story, “The Founders Society governs the smaller ones, including The Devil’s Knights. After the first Salvatore settled in Devil’s Creek, he founded The Knights. It was initially a Mafia-run group, but over time it changed. Arlo Salvatore wanted to make them more legitimate in the eyes of The Founders.”
My lips parted in shock. “So, the Salvatores are like… Mafia? Like The Sopranos?”
“They still have ties to certain families. And those connections proved to be useful.”
“Wow,” I mouthed. “So, Arlo is the Grand Master of The Devil’s Knights… and after I marry one of his sons, he will become a member of The Founders Society. And one of Arlo’s sons will take his place. Did I get that right?”
I was a little confused, but I understood the basic concepts. There was so much to take in that my head spun.
He bobbed his head. “Aiden, you will join The Devil’s Knights after college.”
“No,” he shot back. “I don’t want to be part of some dumb secret society.”
