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“Wait,” I say, standing there like an idiot with my mouth wide open. “You knew I’d go through with it? You already had someone bring my things?”
“I hoped. And yes, I took that gamble.”
“What if I didn’t go through with any of this?”
“Then you’d be back at the dorms living your boring life.”
“You asshole. Why torture me? Why do all this?”
“Because I wanted you to know what I can do to you, Kaye. I wanted you to understand what it meant to move into my house. Once you join my society and live under my roof, I own you and everything you do.”
He walks off, leaving me alone in the basement, surrounded by sputtering candles.
Chapter5
Kaye
My room is a barely big enough for a bed, a desk, and a closet. I wake early the next day and stare at the strange ceiling, listening to the sounds of the island birds outside calling to each other. The house is quiet, and I wonder if I’m the first one up, but when I stand and pull on some clothes, I spot Lesley out my window going for a run in a black sports bra and black running shorts. Someone calls out to her and I watch as Emilio jogs out to meet her, and together they head toward the beach.
I step into the hallway and use the bathroom next door. Emilio’s room is across from mine, but he has his own private shower, which means this one’s all for me. When I’m finished, I slip down the hall and walk gingerly down the steps into the main section of the house.
I’m not sure what I expected. I figured since it’s a college student society, the place would be a mess of sticky beer-slathered floors and trash piled on all the counters. Instead, it looks like a bed and breakfast in some quaint suburban New England town. Everything’s neat and tidy, almost obsessively so, and fresh flowers are set out on the large communal kitchen table. The smell of eggs and coffee fills the space and I find Nathan at the stove, cooking breakfast.
He grins when I approach. “Morning, new member,” he says, waving the spatula. “Help yourself to coffee and food. It gets restocked daily so go nuts, everyone else does. The only rule is if you don’t clean up after yourself, Terrence will break your fingers.”
“Uh,” I say, not sure how to react to that. “Seriously?”
“Nah, not seriously. He just takes your door off its hinges and won’t put it back until you do your dishes.” He sighs and scowls off at nothing. “I learned that the hard way.”
I laugh lightly and grab a mug and coffee. I sip it and sit down at the kitchen island. The place is like a kitchen at a high-end hotel or a rich person’s house and it strikes me that it was entirely financed and built by kids under twenty-one.
“Are there always people up this early?” I ask, just trying to get a sense for what life is like in Calico House. “Are there other rules I need to know?”
“There are rules but Lesley will make sure you learn them all, so don’t worry about that. And as for early risers, that’s basically just me, Lesley, and Emilio. Sleep isn’t really my thing so I’m always around.”
“You don’t sleep much?”
He shrugs and plates his breakfast. He sits next to me and digs in with a ravenous hunger. “Just the way I’m wired, I guess. Have you met everyone?”
“I sort of know Lesley. Then there are you and Dom and Emilio. I know Terrence is the big guy, and, uh, that’s kind of it.”
“Everyone’s cool, otherwise, they wouldn’t be here. You’ll like them. There’s Paola, Jayson, Dirk, and Lesley, plus everyone you already mentioned. Members don’t have to live here, but most choose to.”
“I didn’t know that was an option, living in the dorms still.”
He glances at me with a knowing smile on his face. “It’s not for you. Everyone else can choose.”
I stare down at my coffee and blush. I wonder if he knows about theinitiationEmilio put me through, but no, I can’t imagine Emilio would share that with his brother. Not the details, anyway.
“Is your brother always so…” I trail off, not sure how to say it without insulting him.
“Intense? Terrifying? A total prick? Yes, yes, and not always but yeah, mostly.” He laughs lightly and nudges me with an elbow. “He must’ve taken a liking to you because I thought only Dom and I were being brought into the society this year. Everyone’s gossiping about why the boss would let some random without a pedigree in, no offense.”
“None taken,” I say softly sip my coffee. He must not know who I am if he thinks I have nopedigreeor whatever that means, and that’s fine. It means Emilio probably hasn’t figured out who my family is either, and the longer I can keep it that way, the better. “To be honest, I don’t know why your brother let me in either.”
“He’s like that. He’s always got his reasons and his plans but he rarely ever shares them.”
“Must be annoying.”
