I preferred keeping myeyes intact, thank you.
“My son was supposed to be a Night Son!” Reginald shouted from his tier, every word laced with venom. “The problem was, none of you would approve him! Had it not beenthisgroup, we wouldn’t have had an issue.”
Chairs scraped against the floor as Cedric, Brooks, Emeri, Cassian, and Nico stood.
Every one of us had voted against Jett joining the Sons.
He’d been a bigger liability than if Benedict Arnold had become a Son.
I paid a glance to Brooks, crossed my arms, and waited—prayed—that Reginald would keep running his mouth, so I could punish him for it.
Unfortunately, he knew when to shut it.
We sat back down, and I scanned the room again, this time my target was Blair’s stepfather. He had to be here. It was his stepdaughter’s Selection Hearing.
“Any other objections that have actual merit?” Brooks asked the room.
No one spoke.
Brooks struck the gavel down against the table. “Prospective Fawn approved. Prepare for Initiation.”
Fourteen
Enzo
The Past
Initiation Day: Sophomore Year at Saint Vale University
Age Twenty
I pulledmy hood over my head and stepped inside the Initiation Chamber.
Adrenaline moved steadily through my bloodstream as my eyes adjusted to the dark. The space was swallowed by darkness.
But I knew I wasn’t alone.
The Night Sons were watching and waiting.
Flames sprang to life around the chamber, dozens of candles placed along the outer ring of stone. Their light revealed what the darkness had blocked.
Symbols carved deep into the walls and floor.
Only the men who had survived their Initiation knew what they meant.
Soon, I’d be one of them.
I rolled my neck slowly.
Whatever they had waiting for me, I was ready.
I had no idea what was coming, but I knew one thing: there’d be no hazing.
It made sense why they’d never incorporated it.
Humiliation was a weapon for insecure men. Men like us didn’t tolerate that kind of weakness. I couldn’t remember a single moment in my life when anyone had tried to humiliate or degrade me.
Let a motherfucker dare, and he’d be in the ground by nightfall.
