My back stiffened. “Not happening.”
“I don’t—”
“Surprise.” Quinn’s head popped up between us. Trey frowned and dropped my hands, slinking away. Quinn grabbed me and spun me in a wide circle until the room lurched and the faces and lights blurred together. Other bodies moved in around us. Nancy grabbed Trey and swung him around. The music changed to something modern and upbeat, and Quinn grinded against me. I tried to let loose and enjoy this farce of a teenage party put on by people who’d trapped their own children as revenants. I was a pretty good actor, and it helped to have Quinn’s hands sliding over my hips.
The rest of the party was pretty lame. Tables of fancy food I didn’t dare eat, a playlist of out-of-date music, and boring conversations I’d never be allowed to take part in. Most of the kids filtered out around nine, leaving the faculty and alumni behind to discuss their secrets.
Students mingled in the quad, whispering about tonight’s afterparty and pulling hip flasks filled with booze from the folds of their costumes. I couldn’t see Courtney, Tillie, John, or any of their other friends anywhere. They must have already made their way down to our meeting place. We waited for our whole group to gather.
“Where’s Quinn?” Trey demanded.
“The party can start now. I have arrived.” Quinn jogged up and struck a pose, his toga flapping around his bare legs. “I was just saying goodbye to my mom.”
I glanced up at the dining hall entrance, and noticed Quinn’s parents standing together under the arch. Damon Delacorte held court amongst a group of alumni, telling some elaborate story with lots of gestures and facial expressions. Quinn’s mother clutched her husband’s arm, tossing her head back and laughing at one of his wild tales. They looked like the perfect couple, if you didn’t notice the dead look in the woman’s eyes or the faint shadows of bruising on her neck and wrists.
I wonder how she feels about what goes on at the school.Clearly, Quinn was her beloved son. How much of a say did she get over what happened after the fire? Did she like these alumni outings because she could see Quinn again, or was it a painful reminder of what she’d allowed to happen to him in exchange for her perfect life?
I wanted to ask Quinn about it, but he was skipping ahead of the group across the lacrosse field in a jolly mood, quoting lines from Shakespeare’sJulius Caesarand pretending to stab Trey from behind the rose bushes. We hit the trees and followed Quinn’s bobbing lantern to the narrow steps leading around the back of the grotto and down into the ancient ruins.
“I know you’re going to make it tonight, Hazel.” Nancy grinned as she gathered her gauzy dress in her hands and she descended the steps. Paul followed behind her. One by one, the monarchs disappeared down the side of the cliff while the roar of the ocean raged inside my head. Greg and Andre pulled up the rear until Ayaz and I were the only ones left.
Ayaz cleared his throat. “Remember that the vertical lines on a sigil point to—”
I closed my hand around his shoulder. “You’ve told Greg, Andre and I everything we need. It’s up to us, now.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Ayaz muttered as he followed me down.
“Me too,” I muttered as I clutched the edge of the cliff, grateful for my sturdy boots. “Me too.”
At the bottom, the three Kings flanked me and we walked across the overgrown garden toward the rotunda. My mind cast back to the last time I’d been here, when the guys tried to convince me to get on a rickety boat and sail away from Derleth forever.
Which is exactly why you can’t trust them, because they’re selfish. If the Kings knew me at all, they’d never have asked me to leave Greg and Andre behind.
I told myself that, and I knew it to be true, and yet the idea of including them in my punishment still made my stomach churn with dread.
A group of students gathered between the crumbling columns of the rotunda. I’d expected to see the afterparty in full swing, but the place was mostly deserted. Members of the maintenance staff flitted silently up and down the stone path leading to the woods, carrying trays of food and a sound system. Even for their illicit parties, monarchs didn’t lift a finger themselves.
We marched up to the rotunda, facing off against the monarchs that made up the Eldritch Club, who fanned out in a circle around a crackling fire. Courtney stood in the center of the circle, her green eyes shimmering in the pale moonlight. She wore a sexy cat costume that accentuated her feline features and predatory stance.
“These three outsiders have dared to lay claim to our club’s protection,” Courtney lifted a stick out of the fire, and I could see the tip was wrapped with a gas-soaked cloth, making a torch. The fire danced over her face, giving her the appearance of a pagan queen. “We all know they are not worthy. Tonight, we shall be proven right.”
“I’m not making you captain of my cheer team,” I sneered.
I ducked as the tip of the torch sailed through the air, where a moment ago my head had been. “Don’t you dare address me,” Courtney snapped. “You’re not my equal. You’re a gutter whore, and after tonight you’re going to be adeadgutter whore.”
Just like you,I wanted to retort. But Greg moved closer to me, his fingers reaching for mine. I squeezed him back and held my tongue. My agreement wouldn’t allow me to speak and reveal the secret of this school, even if I’d wanted to.
“You know the rules, Courtney,” Quinn stepped forward. “You can’t interfere once they’re inside the caves.”
“Of course.” Courtney flipped her hair over her shoulder and grinned at Quinn. “I wouldn’t dream of breaking ourprecioustraditions. Not that you’ve done us the same honor, allowing that piece of trash to wear our symbol.”
“She’ll earn her place,” Trey said, his voice full of scorn.
“We’ll see about that.” Courtney held out a blindfold. “Turn around,” she commanded.
I snorted. “So you can blindfold me and walk me off a cliff? No thanks.”
“She can’t do that,” Trey said. “It’s against the rules.”
