Damon is a year older than me, and we’ve been best friends since we met at boarding school. We’re pretty much opposites in every way, including our looks, but he’s the best friend I’ve ever had. And the only friend who’s stuck by me for more than a few years.
“I can’t believe you talked me into doing this again,” he says as I come to stand with him.
“You know it’s a good idea.” I absently pat my pockets to make sure I have my phone. “It’s like getting participation points in class. Just keep your head down and pretend like you give a shit about winning, and voilà. Tons of participation points without having to do anything.”
“I wouldn’t call spending two hours being hunted down by my frat brothers in the woods while we all try to be the last man standing nothing,” he says dryly.
“You make it sound so dramatic.” I wave my hand dismissively. “It’s basically like playing flag football, only at night. And in the woods. And instead of a flag, you have a coin. And it’s every man for himself and not a team thing.”
“So, nothing like flag football.” He huffs out a soft laugh. “Your brain is a fascinating place.”
“You should try living with it.” I pat my pockets again to double-check that I have my phone. “Fascinating is not the word I’d use for it.”
The siren goes off again, louder and even more eerie, and a hush falls over the group.
“You owe me so big for this,” Damon whispers out of the side of his mouth.
“And here I thought you wanted to be a good friend and support me in my time of need,” I whisper back. “Now I find out that you expect more than just my everlasting friendship as a reward?”
He shoots me a flat look. “More like you manipulated me with your puppy-dog eyes and tricked me into signing up for something that’s not even mandatory for me,” he hisses.
“Not my fault you fall for them.” I shoot him a sweet-as-pie smile. “And like I pointed out earlier, you’re going to get mad brownie points for this, so really, you should be thanking me,” I whisper.
The corners of Damon’s lips tick up in a barely there smile. “Maybe,” he whispers back. “But you have to admit that being your friend always seems to land me in these kinds of situations.”
“It does,” I agree, keeping my voice low. “But that’s part of the fun of being my friend. You never know what kind of adventure you’ll have when I’m around.”
“Why do I put up with you again?”
“Because I’m the best. And I’m also your only friend.”
He lets out a soft chuckle. “Touché.”
“Are you for real pissed I talked you into this?” I ask as a little niggle of anxiety gets lodged in my brain. Did I ruin everything by convincing him to take part when I knew he didn’t want to?Am I going to lose my best friend because I’m a big baby and didn’t want to face this stupid challenge alone?
He shoots me one of his trademark smirks. “Nah. You know me. I like to complain, but no one can make me do something I don’t want to do. Not even you and your puppy-dog eyes.”
I breathe out an involuntary sigh of relief.
“And you’re not wrong. This will give me major brownie points and should help when I inevitably screw up later and get on one of the leaders’ bad sides,” he adds.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and a strange sense of awareness tugs at my consciousness. Instinctively, I glance to our left, and my eyes land on the group of four freshmen that everyone in the house calls the Keepers Royalty.
I’ve only known them for about six weeks now, since we were all tapped for initiation into the Keepers, and I’m not sure what to make of them.
From what I’ve heard, they’re the first sons, or the first and second sons in the case of the twins, of three of the most powerful and influential members of the Keepers alumni. Like mine and Damon’s ancestors, theirs were also part of the original group that founded the Keepers, which gives all of us the status of founding legacy, but they’re on an entirely different level than everyone else.
I don’t know if that’s because of their fathers' reputations among the alumni, or if it’s because of them.
I might have only just started at Silvercrest, but I’ve already heard plenty of rumors about how the four of them have no problems getting their hands dirty and taking care of people who piss them off or fuck with them. I have no idea if any of it is true and they really are as dangerous as everyone says, or if the rumors are all part of a carefully crafted narrative they’ve spent years cultivating. Either way, the four of them are an anomalybecause pledges are supposed to be invisible until our official initiation ceremony at the end of our freshman year.
And the royalty are anything but invisible.
Before I can look away, Anthony turns away from where he’s talking to one of the twins and slides his gaze to mine.
My first instinct is to pretend I wasn’t creeping on him and his friends, but there’s something about Anthony’s stare that I just can’t look away from.
Anthony has the most incredible eyes I’ve ever seen on anyone, and this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten distracted by them. They’re the most incredible shade of blue that’s so bright it doesn’t look natural. But right now, it isn’t the color that has me mesmerized; it’s the look in them.
