Greg scrambled up, his eyes wide. I grabbed his hand, squeezing tight. “It’s okay. He’s on our side. Sort of.”
“What…” Greg spied Ayaz on the other side of the room, the machine buzzing as he formed the tattoo on Andre’s skin.
“Motherfucker,” he swore. “Look what those bastards are doing to Andre.”
“It’s for his own good.” I showed him mine. “You’re getting one next.”
“You…” Greg’s face screwed up in confusion.
I tightened my grip on his fingers. “Courtney and the other monarchs nearly killed you tonight. They have this secret club with their parents, you see – the Eldritch Club. It’s like one of those collegiate secret societies where rich bastards dance around in their underwear and make secret deals and outrageous bets. They have it in for you because you’re my friend and I’ve pissed them off. So they knocked you out and left you in this ancient cave on the school grounds. They justleft you there. You could have died from the cold or starvation if I hadn’t found you.”
I knew from experience that a lie that was as close to the truth was easier to maintain.
Greg glanced at the dried dirt on his arm. “Is this why I smell like a slaughterhouse?”
I nodded. “Trey and Quinn and Ayaz found me and told me what happened. We located you and carried you back here. You’re so cold. I think if you’d been out there much longer…”
My breath caught. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened to Greg if I hadn’t been there to deal for his life.
“I don’t know that I am okay,” Greg rubbed his head. “I feel all foggy, like something’s been picking around inside my skull. I should see the nurse.”
I pushed him back against the couch. “You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“How much do you trust me?”
Greg winced again as his head knocked against the sofa arm. “Considering you’re one of my only friends in this place, a whole hell of a lot.”
“Then trust me on this – you don’t want the nurse. The faculty… they’re notinthis club, but they’re controlled by it. They do its bidding. I don’t know if that includes Old Waldron, but we can’t take the chance. You know some weird ass shit is going down in this school, right? Like, Loretta coming back all strange and being moved upstairs?”
Greg nodded.
“Tonight, I found out what all that shit’s about.” I thought fast, trying to concoct a lie that was close to the truth without breaking my oath. “The rich bastards who run this school deliberately choose scholarship students who are orphans. It’s a centuries-old tradition, where the alumni pretend they’re doing this big favor, pulling all these smart kids out of the gutter and giving them a better chance at life, when really it’s about finding four new victims for the Eldritch Club members to bully.”
Greg’s eyes widened.
“It’s sick, right? Scholarship students have even died and… and…” I tried to sayand they’re buried in the cemetery down the back of the school, but my tongue wouldn’t form the words. It froze in my mouth like a piece of dead meat.
It must be some part of my pact with the god, some spell preventing me from breaking our vow. I hope Ms. West has bound herself by the same strict criteria.
“And?” Greg pressed.
“…and other bad stuff,” I finished off. “The senior members of the Eldritch Club – like Vincent Bloomberg – run theworld, and they believe they can do anything they like to people like us and there are no consequences.”
“This is someHandmaid’s Talelevel chaos,” Greg said, rubbing his eyes.
“Tell me about it,” I said darkly. I hated lying to Greg.Hated it.But the truth was so much worse than the lie I’d told him, and if I had the chance to save his life and give him a future, I would take it. “The guys have agreed to give us this Eldritch Sign—”
“—Elder Sign—” Ayaz corrected, not looking up from his work.
“—whatever. It’s their symbol. It says we’re under their protection and the other students can’t touch us. Which is good, because apparently they were planning some next level shit for all of us this quarter.”
“Do I have to get it tattooed?” Greg whined.
“Quit being a baby. You can get it removed when you’re a rich Broadway director.” I yanked his arm out straight. “Be a good boy and hold still for Ayaz.”
Ayaz changed the needle and tube and came over. Greg kept his eyes closed the whole time. When Ayaz finished, Greg let out a long breath. His face was deathly pale as he settled back into the sofa.
