AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Valeria is a woman cut from a different cloth. She’s not from a background such as these prissy ladies around here, she’s from the other side of the tracks, a girl who was raised on laughter and love. She was taught to knock someone down or get knocked down and she just showed Rina in front of everyone that she’s never the one who gets knocked down.
I’m hard at the thought of being the first one to have her beneath my boot.
“And here comes her knight.” Mateo mutters beside me and he takes the joint from me, his keen eyes watching the way the crowd parts for Noah.
They only do that shit for us, the twomatonsof Coventry. Technically, I’m not on record as killing anyone, but the things I’ve done for Calavera Society means my hands are as red as anyone on death row…it also means my hands are clean in the eyes of the law.
Watching the ease with which Valeria violently defends herself has easily become my newest addiction.
Just when I thought I couldn’t get any harder, my cock throbs painfully at the sight of Noah. He runs a hand through his hair, the black strands curling behind his head as he gives Rina a wicked look.
Flashes of getting that same look from him swim through my mind, but I push them aside. Fucking Noah was a one-time thing. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
From this distance, I can’t hear what he says, but the way Rina—a bitch who never backs down—fearfully steps away, I can tell his threat was heard by everyone around them.
Mateo’s fists clench at his sides and I know he’s having a difficult time not rushing to Rina’s aid. I should just tell him what a sorry excuse for a girlfriend she really was, but at the moment, it doesn’t serve a purpose to break him that way.
I put my hand on his shoulder as I whisper to him, “Remembercarnal, Rina’s nothing but a cheating whore. Not evenTheylike her.”
He knows I mean the voices he hears and not the people watching Valeria and Noah. Mateo doesn’t speak or give any indication that he heard me, he only smiles as though he wasn’t just glaring murder at poor, unsuspecting Noah.
I look toward what he’s smiling at and find Valeria looking at Noah like he just pulled all the stars down to make a necklace for her.
Before I can stop myself, my fingers tighten angrily on Mateo’s shoulder.
He shoves my hand off, his voice mocking as he whispers, “I don’t blame you for looking so gloomy,carnal,it seems that look will never be reserved for you.”
I turn a glare at him, but he steps out of our spot near the west entrance of the main building near the student parking lot.
“Where are you going?” I snap at him.
He turns and walks backwards, his uniform in pristine condition and his perfect boy next door smile on display, “To say hello to my newest friend, we didn’t get to finish our conversation earlier.”
He turns and saunters toward Valeria and Noah who both walk in my direction, meeting him halfway. He says something, which must’ve been about me because both of their eyes lock on me.
Valeria’s burning with something. Noah’s as sharp and the miniscule smirk on his lips.
Just as it did when I first saw Valeria in her uniform, my cock jolts to attention, only it’s even harder now that Noah is beside her, looking equally enticing. They look like two students I want to paddle into submission.
Giving them both a wink, I toss the end of the joint to the ground and turn my back on them before I end up doing something I shouldn’t.
I step into the building, the main one where most of the classes are held. It’s a huge building with countless corridors and doors that lead to places most have never been. Of course, I know this school like the back of my hand. Having been in the Society as long as I have been, I’ve learned all of the rooms and paths better than the original architect. Of course, this place was built ages ago, modern electricity and plumbing demanded updates but it was only done in the areas where students would spend their days in. For us Society members, we get the raw bones of this place.
I turn down multiple halls, entering rooms that to the untrained eye would look like I’m just playing a guessing game for an exit. The truth is our main Society room is hidden within the labyrinth that is Coventry University.
I could take the quickest path through the Dean’s office, but I’d rather avoid the curious eyes of students. Plus, as her mother, the Dean is the older version of Rina and I’m sure I’ll end up killing her if I’m alone with her.
Once I reach the part of the school where torches are still used to light the underground tunnels, I make sure to have all my emotions in check, my steps even and unhurried, my eyes sharp and my pulse steady. It won’t do to have the president of Calavera Society to see me frayed at the edges because of a sinuous girl and her dangerously tempting best friend.
I make the final turn in the cobblestone corridor and come to a stop in front of a large wooden door with black metal hinges that look like they belong in a medieval castle. There’re two skulls, one on each heavy door, with large metal rings hanging from their mouths. The skulls themselves are created in the same way our crests and pendants are made. Only, these look like they’re not quite dead nor quite alive. Down and across their jaws, the artists created what looks like skin and tendons still clinging tautly to the bones.
I lift the ring in one hand before slamming it down in three quick knocks, followed by a pause then two more. It's a code knock but if someone happens to find their way down here, which is highly unlikely, and guesses correctly on the knock, they’d still have to face the robed men on the other side.
The doors open with your typical groan, something you’d hear in a horror movie, and allows four silent men out to search me. I lift the sleeve of my left arm, showing them the branding of the crest on my skin. I keep my eyes forward, not bothering to look at the gruesome scar. It healed just fine, but it’s a scar that will forever be hideous in my eyes.
I remember the day I received it. Under the watchful eye of my stepfather who smiled as though I was an adult getting his college degree rather than the child I was. A boy hungry for love and too afraid of the shadows.
My jaw grinds as I’m respectfully nodded to before allowed inside. I fix my sleeve, crossing my hands behind my back as I walk into the large room. This is the room initiates are brought to. Above my head is a round balcony where members of the Calavera Society stand with their masks and robes watching the novices tell us their most sacred secrets. Though we are far underground, the ceiling is tall and dome-like, with a twisted painting created by an old master who was once a member of this society.
