As soon as I moved toward the stage, I knew. I knew they’d demand an audience with me. The DuPont name does many things in Chicago, in the country, but here, down in the muck with the rest of rich and affluent, I’m just a number. Special privileges are reserved for the Eight and Kenji. He might be the only thing that gets me out of this mess with my head still attached to my shoulders. That, and it’d just be plain sloppy to execute a man because of a Market girl.
She’s more than that.Yes, I know that, but in their eyes, through the society’s lenses, she’s nothing more.
I nod and follow them through the labyrinthine hallways that lead to the Sovereign Chamber. The name is typically whispered among members as some ominous black hole, and once you go there’s no coming back. But the threat of the room has never bothered me—I’ve been there before.
The Chamber sits at the heart of it all, hidden in the middle of the underground fortress. Doors and hallways weave throughout, while the elevator can either take you up to the parking garage or down to the Ritual Chamber, but in the center is the Sovereign Chamber. It’s accessible only one way.
The walls in the hallway upon approach are dark, an obsidian black with a sheen similar to glass. There’s no art. Only a solid mahogany door at the end.
Security for the Chamber staysinthe chamber, so the guards who’ve escorted me here don’t have clearance to go inside. They press a red button then turn their backs as the door opens.
Chamber security greets me and allows me in.
The room itself is quite large, but it feels even more massive with the mirrored walls that arc all around the room. They’re floor to ceiling, edge to edge, though they aren’t mirrors, not truly. Inside, it’s as though you’re looking out of windows. Every pane is one-way glass, peering out into sections of the underground society.
“Slade …” The growl comes from none other than my grandfather, and it’s followed up with the snake oil hiss that leaks from his downturned mouth. He sits leaning back against the red leather lounge, elbow resting on the arm of the couch. My eyes barely need to gloss over his face to find ire. He’s disappointed, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Behind him, the one-way mirror into the main room shows the members continuing with the evening as if I were only a blip in their depraved schedule. The Culling looks to be canceled, but they’ve lowered the cages and brought the dancers back on stage.
Opposite him, a massive committee-style cherrywood table looms with Senator Graves seated in one of the black leather chairs in the middle. He twirls a silver pen through his long fingers but stops when he realizes I’m staring. “Congressman DuPont. Do you mind telling me what the hell kind of stunt that was?”
I shrug. Stunt. As though the entirety of my actions until this point were voluntary. They’re not. I’m caught in a snare.
“This was an embarrassment for the DuPont name, Slade. A disgrace to the Chicago chapter. We’re the oldest, most revered chapter in the organization, and to have one of our members,mygrandson interrupt the Culling like that is unacceptable.”
His tone takes me back.
Reading so much is unacceptable.
These grades are unacceptable.
Hiding is unacceptable.
I glance around, noting some of the one-ways are blacked out. The Market Quarters in particular. Did they watch her in here? Or just from the camera footage? My nostrils flare, and when I turn back to Graves, he’s studying me.
Here’s a prime example of two men masquerading as something they’re not. They aren’t loyal leaders concerned forthe “good” of their members. They don’t even truly care about how the chapter looks to the outside. No, it’s all about the money. The guard coin.
“No need to fuss, Henry. We’ll postpone the Culling for now, and as a show of good faith to the other chapters, the Chicago chapter will provide a complimentary private online viewing room to some of our more … zealous dancers. What is it you want, Slade?” Graves asks, dropping his pen on the table. “You want the girl? Take her for a while. Use her. Get her out of your system because sheisto return here. She’s bought and paid for by the society, and I will not have my members taking what isn’t theirs.”
Return her? Back to this.
“He shouldn’t get to take her at all. This isn’t a charity. Then every member is going to think they are entitled. The design is for the girls to make money. When they stop making money, they’re useless.” My grandfather stands, pulling the lapel of his suit taut.
“Ah, yes, but what Slade doesn’t know—” Graves smirks and a knot forms in my stomach. “—is that he just signed her sentence.”
I stiffen.
Graves wipes the smirk off his face, and his mouth twitches, his glare pinning me to the very spot I stand. “Because seven-fifty-five will now be in demand upon her return as our beloved members wonder what it is aboutthisyoung woman that tempts the great Slade DuPont.” His tone is sarcastic. “May this serve as a reminder. Market girls are just that. Caring for them, wanting them is futile.”
This isn’t cruelty in the obvious sense. It’s a cunning rage, a power play. Not because he has to, but because he wants to. To put a DuPont in his place. And my grandfather? No help.He made things worse, but what should I expect? He’ll crawl up Graves’s ass until the Severing.
Steeling my expression, I focus past him, on the diamond chandelier anchoring the room. What have I done? I’ve sealed her fate worse than before. Deliberately taking her, showing all of EV I’m powerless when it comes to this woman.
“You are aware of the measures we take to ensure EV remains secret. Keep that in mind as you enjoy your limited time. See yourself out.”
I adjust the frames on my face—a deflection, maybe—but a distraction from the flicker of defiance heating my blood for sure. I had it mapped out—every move and calculated risk I took with the girls, offering them GHB. Then she showed up, and it all shifted. I thought I could fold her into the plan like I do every new girl, but that was before I started caring more about her safety and comfort than my agenda.
Now, my long-term plan has a crack in it, and I’m worried it may explode altogether. For her … I might let it. Even if it wrecks everything else.
