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My arms and legs give out beneath me, yet I don’t even feel the pain as I faceplant the wooden floor. Right before unconsciousness claims me, the last thing I see is the toe of brown suede loafers, and with the last of my energy, I manage to drag my eyes upward to a black rubbery face making a weird, heavy breathing sound.Great, I’ve been lured into a trap by demon monsters, and now I’m going to die.
* * *
It’sthe stinging pain of a cold stone floor digging into my knees that rouses me, followed by the stiff ache of my neck, as if I’ve been sitting in the same position for hours. Opening my eyes, I blink several times, but still, all I see is pitch-black darkness.
Wariness begins to grow inside me, a low groan escaping my lips as I stretch out the kinks in my neck and strain to see through the darkness. A noise on my right has me looking in that direction, squinting. Before I can call out, a hiss echoes around the room, quickly followed by a flicker as flames ignite all along the walls.
I blink. Then blink again.Huh.Either I’ve been given some seriously high-quality hallucinogenic, or I really am surrounded by mysterious cloaked figures. I slowly turn my head, noticing that I’m positioned in the center of a ring of black cloaks. Two other guys I recognize as seniors in the frat are on their knees beside me, taking in the weird-ass scene with similar wide eyes and wary expressions.
Focusing straight ahead again, there are three cloaks standing front and center. I’m guessing they’re the ones running this show. My eyes rake over their robes, hoping to find some identifying feature, but the only difference I can spot is the gold stitching in the middle guy’s robes and the corresponding silver in the two cloaks standing on either side of him.
“Welcome to the King’s conclave.” The middle robe’s voice booms out around the chamber, reverberating off the stone walls and drawing my eyes skyward to the pitched roof disappearing into the darkness high above me. “Your bloodlines have marked you as our new initiates, and should you succeed, you will be welcomed into the ranks of the King’s Elite.”
I haven’t the faintest fucking clue what he is going on about. Hell, I’m still not entirely sure if this is real, a drug-induced hallucination, or maybe I hit my head when I passed out in the library.
My eyes again dart around the room, and I try to peer under people’s hoods, hoping to identify Robbie amongst the statuesque figures. When I have no luck with that, I return my attention to the man in front of me as he steps forward.
“Over the coming weeks, each of you will be given tasks you must complete. A point of contact will be individually assigned to you. For now, it is imperative that you do not speak of this to anyone. I cannot emphasize enough that the consequences will be dire.”
The man must give some sort of signal that I don’t notice as, in the next instant, a hood is thrown over my head, blocking my vision. I immediately begin to fight against whoever is holding it in place until a voice I recognize hisses in my ear, “Calm down, asshole.”
“Robbie?” I whisper-hiss.
“Shh.” Yanking me to my feet, he directs me to god knows where. I can hear the other initiates being wrangled, but considering the number of people that were in that room, I don’t hear any other footsteps or noises.
We move in silence, Robbie only murmuring a word here or there when we turn or begin climbing a set of stairs that feels as though it goes on for-fucking-ever. It’s not until we’re standing back in the library that he whips off the hood, and I turn to glower at him, noting that we’re alone.
“What the ever-loving fuck was all that? Did you drug me?” I snarl angrily.
He just rolls his eyes like I’m being fucking dramatic. “Of course not.”
“So that weird-ass robe shit was real?” I point toward the door, but honestly, I have no idea why. I have no fucking clue how we got back to the library or where the fuck that chamber is in relation to here. “What the fuck even is the King’s Elite? Sounds like some fucking power trip shit for egotistical assholes.”
That snarky comment earns me another eye roll. “That,”he emphasizes, “was your legacy.”
I just look at him in confusion. “I thought Kappa Epsilon was mylegacy.”Using my fingers, I put air quotes around the word legacy.
“I mean, yeah, it is. Kappa Epsilon is the first stepping-stone to the King’s Elite.”
Still confused, I ask, “And what’s the second?”
“Coming from the right family. Clearwaters have been Kings since the beginning of time.”
I scrunch my nose. “Honestly, it just sounds like a bunch of elitist bullshit to me, and that’s not really my thing. I couldn’t give a crap about ensuring the rich stay rich, all so they can lord their money over everyone else.”
Robbie is already shaking his head. “It’s not like that.” Seeing my skeptical expression, he tacks on, “Okay, so I’m sure there’s an element of that, but don’t you want to be a part of something our forefathers helped build?”
“Not really,” I state, scrunching my nose. If the Clearwaters aren’t interested in treating me like a member of their family, then why should I care about being a part of somethingtheybuilt?
“This could be your opportunity to prove yourself to the family,” Robbie continues.
“How is joining some creepy as fuck club proving myself?” I argue skeptically.
“The Kings matter to us. They’re our bloodline. Our birthright. We are as much a part of them as they are of us.”
Oookay.My brows scrunch in confusion.
“If you can prove to the family that you are taking your initiation tasks seriously, then Grandfather has already agreed to accept you back into the family. I already know you’re nothing like your father, so prove that to them and come home where you belong.”
