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The waitress brings us our food, and I wait until she leaves as I smile and incline my head in thanks.
“Seriously? When did you find out?” Ash asks.
“A few minutes before I met you in the parking lot,” I answer. “Dad called me to tell me during my office hours. You all know that the last trial binds you to The Locked Souls Society, and it’s often in blood. We call it being locked in.”
Bast nods, swallowing a bite of his food. “Yes, it’s to show our loyalty and commitment to The Society,” he murmurs. “The first trial tests our mental strength; the second, our intelligence; and the third, our ability to follow orders, no matter what we’re told.”
“That’s exactly right. The trial isn’t an easy one, and may cause you to question the morality of the mission, but it must be completed so that you can proceed to your initiation,” I tell them.
Ash hums in agreement, thinking. “When is that, anyway?”
I can’t tell them exactly when the third trial is because I don’t know the exact day, so I’ll explain what I do know. “The third trial is happening within the next week, and then your initiation will be the night after.”
“That’s really soon,” Ash mutters.
“Have you decided if you’re going to be Chastity’s for a night or forever?” I ask. “She believes this initiation is more than just a one night stand, so if you’re going to choose something different, let her know. I will not have her blindsided.”
“Yeah,” Ash says, rubbing his hands on his thighs with nerves. “I’ll know by the time of the ritual, and I’ll be sure to tell her.”
“I can’t tell you who your marks are for your trial, but you’ll receive a folder containing all of the information you’ll need. Do you have any questions?” I ask.
“Only about a million,” Bast mutters. “But something tells me that you won’t be able to say shit.”
“You’ve always had good instincts,” I praise mildly, taking a bite of my taco.
Rolling his eyes, he smirks. “So, what can you tell us? If not about the trial and initiation, how was your honeymoon with our girl?”
“Chastity is amazing.” I grin. “We spent a lot of time naked.”
The guys groan, and I chuckle, raising my hands.
“Alright, alright. I took her on a picnic, did some sightseeing, and I loved seeing the world from her point of view. There’s so much she hasn’t experienced because she was locked away. I want to burn that Institution to the ground, so she’ll never be scared of returning because it won’t exist,” I growl. “Her memories are returning, and her nightmares are intense. Her screams scared the shit out of me.” Leaning forward, the guys look concerned. “She was trapped in her own memories, and couldn’t even see me when she had her nightmare. I’m hoping she can tell me more about the hospital, so we can obliterate it.”
“More secrets,” huffs Ash, and surprisingly, Bast cuffs him over the head.
“It’s not a secret if she doesn’t remember,” he growls. “You don’t know everything about everyone. There are things you don’t know about me, and you’ve always been okay with that. Why can’t you extend the same courtesy to Chas?”
I’m strangely proud of Bast as he glares at Ash. I’ll never encourage dissent within them, it’s not conducive to their work within The Society. I want them to be a unified force, but calling each other out on their shit is necessary.
“Because I don’t fucking trust her,” Ash grumbles as he glares back. “What do we really know about her anyway? This is all happening so fast.”
Jonas shrugs. “I pretty much fell for her the night she made me lemon squares, and she didn’t look at me with pity when I mentioned that I couldn't sleep,” he says softly.
His mom’s death hit him hard, and his anxiety has led to insomnia. It’s been a little better I think since his sister became a student at the Academy though.
“I fell for her as soon as I saw her in the tunnels, being a timid rebel,” Bast snorts.
“I don’t believe in love at first sight,” Ash scoffs and I shrug.
“I’m an asshole, no one can deny it,” I tell them and they chuckle. “Chastity Cross crashed into my classroom, a mess of chestnut hair and chaos, and the first thing I wanted to do was bury my cock inside of her.”
Bast’s face grimaces. “Very romantic, man. That should have gone in your vows.”
Smirking, I roll my eyes at him. “I was mesmerized with her, and then got really pissed when I found out she was my student. Chastity got under my skin like no other woman. She’s it for me, forever. Ash… sometimes you just know. We’ve all got our shit, our baggage, but I am working on it for her,” I explain.
I didn’t plan for this to become a heart-to-heart, but he needs to hear it.
Blowing out a breath, he pushes away his plate of half-eaten food. “I never thought I’d see the day where you’d fall head over heels for a—”
