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The man finally stepped forward, beckoning for me to follow him with one black-gloved hand. Instead of leading me toward the sycamore at the back of the church grounds, he directed me through a side door into the church itself.
The interior of the building was dark and silent, with only a few flickering candles casting a dim glow. I trudged down the aisle after the tall man, eyes scanning the pews for any signs of life. When we reached the altar, I saw a small trapdoor that had been left ajar. The man motioned for me to climb down the ladder behind him.
I followed his silent instruction and found myself in a chamber lit by a circle of candles. Five more third-degree members stood on the far side, staring at me through the eyeholes of their gold masks.
“Welcome, Jensen,” the middle member said, lifting a hand. “Tonight, you are permitted to remove your mask and speak freely.”
Heart thudding, I slipped off my mask and lowered my cloak. “I’m guessing none of you are taking yours off?” I said in a lighthearted tone, hoping to gauge the general mood in the room.
The silly joke landed, and the third-degree members all chuckled softly. Thank god. That meant I probably wasn’t in trouble with the society over all the shit I’d been getting up to with Amerie lately. They’d brought me here for some other reason.
I noticed that the murmur of amusement from the shorter member on the far left sounded a lot like Zara’s voice, but I couldn’t prove it was her without charging at her and ripping the mask right off her face. I was certain it was her, though. Her father was once a de-facto leader of the society, so she’d probably inherited that high-ranking status.
“You’re probably wondering why we invited you here tonight,” the middle member said, cocking his head.
I nodded. “The suspense has been killing me for days.”
“No doubt.” He chuckled again. “Well, without further ado, we’d like to congratulate you on being chosen for your first mission.”
“Mission?” I said, brows rising.
“That’s right. You understand what that means, don’t you?”
“Mostly.”
He cocked his masked head again. “Mostly?”
“Well… I have a question about the missions, actually. One that hasn’t been addressed in the lectures. And you said I could speak freely tonight, so…” I trailed off, waiting to see how that remark would land.
The man nodded. “Of course. Ask away.”
“I’ve heard a few rumors going around at parties lately.”
“Ah, rumors. Our favorite thing,” the man said in a buoyant tone as the other members laughed softly.
I smiled thinly. “I heard that a lot of second-degree members received missions quite a while ago. I also heard that they had the society’s third-degree secrets revealed to them.”
The man dipped his chin in a nod. “That is correct. Sometimes, second-degree members are told everything if we deem it necessary for the mission we need them to complete.”
“Will it be necessary for mine?”
He chuckled again, head shaking. “I know how eager you first and second-degree members can be to learn the society’s secrets. But no. In your case, that information is not necessary.”
Fuck. That meant I wouldn’t discover the location of the Playground tonight.
“But not to worry,” the man went on. “It will all be revealed to you eventually, as long as you stay on the correct path.”
My jaw clenched. “Great.”
“Now… onto the mission we have for you. It’s not a big task, but it’s still something we require nevertheless. You seem to be the only person who can aid us.”
“Oh?” I tilted my head. “What do you need?”
He took a short step forward. “We’ve heard through the grapevine that you and Amerie Warnock are rather close.”
“Yeah, we’re friends,” I said, nodding.
“Our source informed us that you’re more like—” The man paused for a beat. “I believe the term our young friend used is ‘friends with benefits’.”
