AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Now, seeing as our Sergeant-at-Arms needs replacing, I am relying on you all to make sure that message is delivered very clearly to all members of the Elite.”
“Yes, Syn,” they mutter.
Syn arches an eyebrow. “Was there another reason for this meeting?”
Very quickly, the room empties, and the last person closes the door behind them.
“Unenrolled,” Gemini says, setting his phone down. He looks over at Syn and shrugs. “Told you so.”
“You’re a dick. Why the hell did you let it come to this?”
Gemini’s like a brother, and I love him. But sometimes, I think he needs to be medicated.
Like now, as he grins insanely at Syn.
“Because that was hilarious. And besides.” He shrugs. “You wouldn’t listen to me if I told you that it looks like you’ve got a soft spot for your little pet.”
“Her brother is the reason JP is dead.”
“And yet you brought her into this house and did what? Made her sleep in the basement in a dog basket and wear a kink collar? Ooooooh.” Gemini raises his hand and wiggles his fingers. “You could have sent her to the basement of one of the Elite dorms and let them treat her like an initiate—they’d make her life miserable.”
Crazy, maybe, but Gemini is also a genius. Not that it takes that many IQ points to come to the same conclusion.
But as Syn is starting to turn red, and I don’t want to live in a house with these two at war, I clear my throat. “Your father hates it when you call late with things like this,” I quickly tell Syn. “You should go deal with Alice and Eddie. And as for Tori, we can have her abducted after my game.”
Abductions are just part of the initiation. Usually, the initiates—or the female initiates, at least—are abducted in small groups, and dropped off somewhere with minimal belongings, before they’re told to get back to campus. Guys are left to fend for themselves, but the girls always have a member of the Elite close by to keep an eye on them.
“I can supervise.”
Syn switches his attention from Gemini to me, and for half a moment, I’m subjected to his murderous glare. “Abduction…” He nods. “I think we can do something a little special for her.”
XX
Tori
Even before Cole started the enrollment process, I’d heard of James Keyingham University. Who hasn’t?
James Keyingham, Harvad, Yale, Brown, Princeton…
When it came to academics, JKU was the place to go—provided you had the money.
But athletics?
Despite its reputation, James Keyingham is small. And as such, the athletic program consists of a men’s basketball team and a woman’s swim team.
As the university has the lowest percentage of scholarship students in the country, it’s clear the focus is not on recruiting members of either team. Then again, I also doubt that any member of either team is here because they want a future in sports.
Which is why the Patrington Center, the home of the Keyingham Wildcats, feels like the academic equivalent of an average guy with a Ferrari. Over-compensating much?
I’ve never been into sports—none of my family has—so I’ve never got caught up in spending evenings in a gym or stadium, watching a team fling around a ball of some sort.
But I have watched enough television to know that for most colleges, come game day, family, friends, and fans flock to the campus. Cars, trucks, and RVs line the roads as the area turns into a sea of college colors.
JKU feels like a college decorated for a film set. Overnight, banners and flags were hung from posts, trees, and buildings. Everyone—even Syn—is wearing a T-shirt or sweater with Keyingham Wildcats on it. The college even has an enclosure with a pair of real wildcats called Tooth and Claw.
But none of that feels sincere. There’s been no real buzz around campus. Until an hour before the Patrington Center opened, there weren’t even extra cars on campus besides the coach’s, the visiting team’s coach and their fans. They did come with cheerleaders, but they’ve been forced to sit in the bleachers with the fans.
Last night, after the emergency meeting for the Elite exec ended, Syn left the room with a twisted smile on his face. Annoyingly, I wasn’t able to hear anything through the doors, and short of yelling that I had no right to be there, I didn’t get anything from the couple who left either.
