“They assumed Bellamy fell into the lake, based on the drugs and alcohol they wound up finding in my system. I’d been… Well, someone had left their mark on me. Literally and figuratively. They’d slipped something in my drink, dragged me out to the woods, and…”
I trail off, gritting my teeth against the feeling of foreign hands violating my body. Forcing me to pleasure them while they crowned me with a role I didn’t want.
Most of it is blurry or blocked out by my subconscious, but theknowledgethat it happened remains.
“Who pulled you out?” Elle asks quietly, squeezing my hands. She pushes my sleeve back, smoothing her thumb over the faint scarring there, and I let my forehead drop to the back of hers.
That three-headedbeasttook years to fade. They’d burned it into my flesh, tying me to them permanently.
“I don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. No one found her.”
Elle releases me and twists, looping her arms around my neck. She looks at me for several long, tense moments before sliding her knees on either side of my hips, settling more firmly in my lap.
Swallowing hard, I let out a breath and flatten my palms against her ass.
“Is she the reason you’re still here?”
“She’s why I took the teaching job. It felt…wrong, leaving her behind. Then there was Beckett to consider. I…” I lick my lips, my mouth suddenly the desert. “I didn’t want to fail two siblings.”
When she leans in to kiss me, I can’t tell if it’s out of pity or comfort, but the air shifts anyway. I glide my hand around, cupping her breast, and let myself get lost in the moment.
Lost in her.
32
ELLE
The week after midterms,a party’s held in the basement of the Apollodorus, and even though I know I shouldn’t, I agree to meet Lexington and company there. Aurora refuses to join, citing the fact that the basement is off-limits and in general creepy, though I hear the click of a phone call when I slip out of our dorm room anyway and the familiar rasp of a certain traumatized musician.
Neither of them are as slick as they think. Especially not when Foxe texts me constant strings about how in love with Aurora he is, though I don’t need the news alert. It’s been obvious since they were teenagers.
I used to be so envious that Asher had Lucy and Foxe had Aurora growing up. No matter how many friends I accumulated or how much attention I sought, it never felt like any of them were my person. Never felt like they understood me implicitly.
Maybe I’m still a little jealous, I don’t know. Having someone look at me like I personally put all the stars in the sky wouldn’t be terrible, I don’t think.
Goose bumps line my skin as I enter the Apollodorus, and regret constricts my throat, but I push on. The upstairs is quiet,though there’s an air about the lobby that feels tense and rife with anticipation.
Better than a quarry party at least. My history with those is what makes me slightly hesitant about attending tonight, but I push on anyway, needing to be among people. My siblings are drained by company, but I’ve always felt more alive in a crowd.
I spot Lexington and Percy arguing in line for the bathroom and head their way.
“Ah, a fellow founding family member finally makes her appearance!” Lexington cheers, instantly throwing an arm around my shoulders. “I was wondering how long it’d take for you to come to a Curator party.”
“Wait, what? This is a Curator function?”
“Nobodyactuallyknows who’s throwing it,” Percy answers. “Visio Aternae hostsgalas, not parties. Daughters of Persephone soirees don’t send out invites, though, and Death’s Teeth usually puts theirs on in the forest.” He pauses, squinting at me with his head tilted. “The Curators are just the most logical conclusion.”
“So we’re here, but we don’t know why?”
“We knowwhy,” Lexington says, turning me toward the basement stairwell, where a girl in a Ghostface mask stands guard, stamping wrists as people pass through. “It’s to have fun, m’lady.”
I let the girl stamp my hand even as unease swashes in my stomach, and I don’t protest when they lead me down the stairs. The levels twist as we navigate them in the near dark, and my anxiety ratchets higher and higher the lower we go.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Percy whispers fiercely as we come to a stop three floors beneath the main lobby. “I feel like I’m going to puke.”
“That’s because you pregamed on an empty stomach, you dumb fuck,” Lexington says, shoving his shoulder. “Which Iwarnedyou against.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Percy replies, leaning against me. “You also made me pregame alone, so your point is moot. I bet Elle wouldn’t let her friend drink by himself.”
