Page 191 of The Unravelings

“Agreed,” JJ mutters, stepping back as people loudly walk by the entrance of the alleyway. “But with you here, you’ll clean the streets up, won’t you?” He smirks.

“I fucking hope so. Listen, I should probably get back to my dorm. I’m sure Simon is wondering what the hell I got up to last night.”

“Does he know?” JJ asks, pointing to me.

“What’s underneath?” I ask, pulling at my sweatpants. “Of course. But who am I, and what am I doing here? No. Only you and them,” I huff, waving a hand in the direction of Syndicate Row. “Thanks for coming to save me.” I never did thank him for bursting into Malic’s house and disrupting the chaos my life could have been.

“Always, Liv,” he whispers softly. “224.”

Heat billows through my veins at his words. “224,” I softly say with a crack in my voice.

“Spitfire,” he says as I step away from him, heading to my dorm.

“Yeah?”

“Tonight, you need to be prepared. It’s initiation night.” He raises a brow. “Wear your Oliver clothes. The binder and everything to bed. Someone will enter your room between midnight and three; they’ll put a hood over your head and take you to a secret location.” He nibbles his lip. “It’s in the caves. You remember?”

I snort. “Do I remember? Of course, I do.”

“Whoa!” My voice echoes through the dark abyss as my flashlight beams off the sides of a large cavern beneath the Coliseum. “Is this…?” I turn to look at Mack, who grins, staring up at the tall ceilings with wide, excited eyes.

“It’s caves! This has to be the place old Captain Greenwood put his treasure, right?”

“Dude, be careful,” JJ grumbles, climbing in behind us with his own flashlight.

“This is so cool,” Mack exclaims, crawling further ahead. “I bet it’s buried under here somewhere. That treasure is ours!”

JJ’s nose crinkles. “It doesn’t look like anyone has been down here in years.” He swipes a few cobwebs away from his face and coughs. “And it’s dusty.”

“Smells musty, too,” Huxley grumbles, reluctantly following us as we make our way further and further into the darkness with only our flashlights to guide us.

“Holy shit,” Mack’s voice echoes for miles as he stands tall in the large space, looking around. “This place should become our new hideout.”

“How about no,” Huxley mumbles. “We’ll probably catch a disease down here or something. Or pneumonia.” He rubs at his chest. “Or we’ll get lost.”

“You’re such a sourpuss, dude,” Mack gripes. “This is the find of the century, and you’re bitching about pneumonia? Pu-lease.” Mack swipes a hand through the air. “I can see it now. A couch over there. We’ll hide out here until everyone forgets we exist.”

“We could definitely make something of this place…” JJ trails off, looking up at the high ceiling again in amazement. “How many people know it exists?”

“Probably nobody,” I agree, taking a step further while shining my flashlight at the cave walls.

My heart beats quickly in my chest as we continue to explore the cave system. It’s not as big as we thought, but there are a few separate chambers surrounding the large space we first found. But they’re all connected, and we could easily get lost within the darkness. After an hour of exploring and Hux complaining, we find a second entrance, leading to a large structure in the graveyard.

“It’s like one big loop,” Mack whispers as we step out of the wall of an ancient mausoleum lined with four family graves. “This is so fucking cool!” he shouts in the small building, bumping shoulders with me.

“Kind of freaky,” I mumble, looking at the four name plates attached to the wall. “It led us into a grave.”

“It’s a mausoleum,” Hux says, shuddering as his eyes dart around. “It’s probably haunted.”

“It’s not haunted, dude,” Mack says with a grin, practically bouncing in place. “It’s a fucking adventure; that’s what it is.” He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “But if it is haunted, I’ll protect you, Livy.” He winks.

“Jesus, it’s a piece of hair,” JJ mumbles, pointing to a large strand of black hair with a red bow behind a glass case. “Mary Greenwood,” he says, furrowing his brows, and then turns. “Jessa Greenwood. Johnny Greenwood. Jacob Greenwood.”

“They’re the descendants of John Greenwood. His grandkids,” Huxley says, studying an aging plaque hung above the door of the ancient mausoleum. “How have we never seen this before?” His brows furrow.

“I wonder if it’s hidden somehow?” JJ asks, shrugging.

“Weird…” Mack trails off. “You think we can break through that door and leave?”