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I couldn’t help but note that Maria’s expression fell, devastation sparking to life in her eyes, before she cleared it away.
“I came on my own,” she said with an imperious set to her chin. Her eyes gleamed with defiance. “I overheard—”
“You overheard?” Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose. “Which fucking idiots were talking about it where you were able to ‘overhear’ it?”
Oh…
Oh fuck.
I remembered the glimpse of blonde hair in the corridor during my conversation with Kelly. I suddenly wished I could disappear in the floorboards, becoming nothing more than a puddle of goo that everyone overlooked and ignored.
Nothing to see here, folks. Just a disgusting goo puddle. Move right along, thank you very much.
The glare Aiden threw me? I had a feeling he knewexactlywho to blame for this fiasco.
“Guys…” Heath warned in a singsong voice. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Fuck. Okay! Fuck!” Aiden ripped at a lock of his hair once again. At this stage, he wouldn’t have any hair left by the time we got to…wherever we were going to go. Turning to address the group at large, he said, “I know a lot of you don’t know what’s going on, but I have to warn you…it’ll be dangerous. Extremely fucking dangerous, so if that bothers you, then stay behind. I won’t be coddling any of you.” At the last statement, he turned towards me to stare directly into my eyes.
I flipped him off.
Kelly took a step forward, her expression one of determination, and the four men she’d brought with her stepped forward as well. I didn’t even think they realized they were flanking her in a protective formation—one in the front, one at the back, and two on either side—but they were. Caleb’s hand twitched as if he wanted to grab her and pull her against him. Or maybe he just wanted to spank her for getting him and his friends into this mess.
“Oh my fucking god!” Aiden threw both of his hands up into the air before leveling us with an incandescent glare capable of burning the hair off of our arms. Heaving out a sigh, he turned towards the hidden staircase. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Maria asked anxiously, inching a step closer to Beau. He immediately glanced in my direction, his blue eyes pained, before hurrying away from her and towards me. His hand went to the small of my back, guiding me towards the staircase, but I shrugged him off and hurried down before he could catch up.
Behind me, I heard Tanner release a bark of laughter, though I didn’t dare look behind me to see Beau’s reaction to that.
We ventured down the steep, rickety staircase in relative silence. All I could hear was the deafening sound of my heart pounding in my ears.
“What the fuck…?” Brett, the muscleman, murmured from behind me when we reached the bottom of the stairs. Kelly gasped.
“We found the tunnel months ago,” Aiden told them, and I would’ve almost described his tone as casual if I hadn’t known him as well as I did. There was an edge to it that hinted at the anxiety he wanted to keep hidden. The fear that this entire plan would go to shit because of what I did, who I trusted. “We believe others were attempting an escape before a cave-in blocked the entrance. Kace, Tanner, Beau, and I were able to break through the rocks to get to the other side. From what we gathered, these tunnels will lead to…um…it will lead to a way out of here.”
Heath chuckled drolly from behind me, and when I turned to stare at him, he rolled his eyes, almost as if he found Aiden’s antics both hilarious and exasperating. I wanted to glare at him, but I understood where his amusement was coming from.
We weren’t telling the newcomers the truth. How could we, when we believed that the tunnel would only lead to the next circle of Hell…or the next circle of Purgatory, as the case might be?
Lust.
Who would believe us when we said we were traveling to the realm of Lust?
“We’ll stick together, at least until it’s safe to separate,” Aiden continued, once again stepping into his role as the unofficial leader. He had a way of innately commanding respect from anyone who listened to him. No one would dare question his decisions, at least not to his face. “We don’t know what we’ll face—”
“What we’ll face?” The man Kelly introduced as Travis broke into harsh, nervous laughter. “What the fuck are you guys talking about? We’re at school. There’s nothing nefarious going on—”
“Then turn around and go back to your dorm,” Aiden retorted, glancing at his watch. “But I recommend waiting twenty minutes, when the monster is away.”
“Monster?” Maria’s voice shook.
“This is your last chance.” Aiden twisted his head to meet everyone’s eyes, including mine. I held his stare defiantly, not allowing myself to be cowed, and I swore I saw his lips twitch into the beginnings of a smile. “Turn back now.”
Travis nervously glanced down at Kelly, nearly a head shorter despite him being the smallest of all the males, before swallowing and straightening his spine. The poor kid looked absolutely petrified, but he kept his chin raised like a real trooper.
Maria once again moved to stand beside Beau, who in turn, moved to stand on the other side of Kace.
“I always had a feeling that there was something weird going on,” Maria admitted, glancing from face to face anxiously. “But I don’t… I mean…” She shook her head slowly, a strand of blonde hair escaping her ponytail. “I want answers.”
