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“He seems broken up.”
“Or is he—” I stop myself. I don’t know what I was going to say. Allude to the fact that he may have helped kill my sister? I can’t lay my cards down like that.
“Maybe he realized what he had after she was gone.”
“Or maybe he’s just a dick. Guys like Keegan Forbes don’t feel anything past their cocks. He’s more apt to feel grief over one of his side pieces.”
“That’s a cynical view of this world,” Alaric responds quietly while we make our way into the main chamber where everyone else is. Luckily, you can’t hear what’s going on outside from in here. I don’t know what kind of trouble Leo would get in for fighting—if any.
“It’s the only one I know,” I say.
“Not everyone in this world is like that,” he replies, guiding me closer to where the Knights are congregating, and I can’t help but think he’s doing the exact opposite of what his words imply.
The Knights are the enemy, and he’s leading me right to them like a lamb for slaughter.
20
Eden
Oliver arrives just in time for us Pledges to be blindfolded. Leo follows him in like he didn’t just have an altercation with someone out front. I don’t see Keegan enter, but the complete and total darkness I’m suddenly plunged under might have something to do with it.
My breathing picks up, memories from just a few days ago closing in, but then a strong hand grips my forearm, centering me.
I’m not sure whose grip it is, but it helps alleviate the helpless feeling. They’re here, and for the time being, they’ve promised to protect me, even if it is for the sake of their own Knight standings.
I’m led down a corridor with only the footsteps of those around me reverberating off the walls. A blast of cold air snaps at my face, and I realize we’re being led outside again. Panic starts to hit home. I move in closer, sure it’s Alaric who has me now. He’s already aware how well I handled the last challenge. Instead, it’s Leo’s voice that rings out. “I’ve got you, Little Astor.”
I immediately pull back, but he doesn’t let me get away with that. “Oh, you thought it was the professor? Too bad. You’re stuck with me.” He’s silent for a moment as we walk down the sidewalk. Distrust rings through me. He might lead me right into a brick wall. Instead, he says, “There’s a bus up ahead. We’re all loading. I’ll be right here.”
I do as he says as he directs me up a set of steps and to a seat, scooting me all the way to the inside where the cold steel of the bus brushes my arm. It’s freezing tonight, as if Mother Nature has finally decided it’s truly fall. And I can’t even wear the hoodie he threw at me earlier.
When the bus’s engine roars to life and starts to pull away, voices rise up around me, chatting happily. I don’t know if it’s just the people who aren’t blindfolded or if it’s everyone. I turn in Leo’s direction. “Where’s Oliver?”
“Across the aisle from us with Alaric.”
I nod, grateful that he’s here. What kind of best friend would start going to college and attempt to join a secret society for you?
Apparently someone who wants to be more than a friend.
“Talk to me about Forbes,” Leo grunts.
“What about him?” I sigh, annoyed he’s taken me out of my thoughts by talking about someone I despise.
“He seemed pretty adamant in protecting you.”
I roll my eyes. “Your guess is as good as mine. He’s loathed me since… Well, since I grew a backbone and told him to fuck off when it came to my sister.”
After a moment, Leo says, “Never liked him.”
“Welcome to the club. He’s a cocky, overindulgent bastard who thinks women should get on their knees for him just because of his last name.”
Leo makes an amused grunt. “And your sister wouldn’t do that?”
I press my lips together. It was well known that Keegan and Delilah had an agreement. It was also well known that Keegan went ahead and did exactly what he wanted, anyway. Just like my father, the understanding in this world is that if the guy wants to fuck around, he can. After all, the women get all the positives, right? The money, the parties, the distinguished pleasure of being on their arms.
Fucking gag me.
“It was different for Dee. She actually loved him.” I shake my head while the sadness threatens to take me under. “No idea why. She deserved so much more.”