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BE CAREFUL

MILA

Sigma House makes a statement with its twisted iron gates. The large skulls carved into them taunt anyone who dares come here. A warning not nearly enough people take, given the number of cars parked outside at the moment.

Sigma House is a fraternity fitting for the devil himself, and he’s good at luring us in.

The tall peaks on the roof are razors in the night, while the brick walls are mossy and overgrown with vines, blending the manor into the unholy ground that surrounds it.

Nothing stops the shiver running down my spine, no matter how many times I’ve been here.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this outfit,” Teal grumbles, climbing out of the car.

“You look hot, Teal. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”

“I doubt it.” She tugs at her skirt, but it’s too short to hide much more than her ass. “How mad is Patience that we’re going to this party tonight? I heard you two arguing when I was doing my hair. ”

“She’ll get over it,” I lie.

Patience refuses to accept Teal spending more time with Declan. And while I know it’s a reflection of her issues with her childhood and her relationship with Sigma Sin, it’s easier for her to push the resentment on Teal than deal with it.

“I don’t think Patience will ever just get over it when it comes to this place,” Teal says, circling the car.

I use my reflection in the window to smooth my hair.

My red dress is almost shorter than Teal’s, and I’ve paired it with a leather jacket.

The perfect outfit for the emotional warfare I plan on waging with Marco tonight after the ridiculous string of texts he sent me earlier, begging me to take him back.

Spinning, I loop my arm through Teal’s. “Well, then that’s on her.”

“She hates me for talking to Declan.”

“She can’t hold Declan against you any more than she holds Kole against Violet.”

“It doesn’t seem to stop her.”

I frown because there is only one reason Patience’s judgment would bother Teal as much as it does, and that’s if her feelings for Declan are growing deeper.

“Declan represents the House to her since he’s the president. But she’ll work it out. Just give her time and try not to let it get to you. We both know how Patience processes things when she’s angry.”

“She has a right to be.” Teal sighs. “After what they did to Alex, her feelings are valid.”

The more time I spend with Alex, the less sure I am about that.

Patience uses her brother as a reason to resent what she refuses to deal with.

She’s my best friend, but the only one who really knows what is going on with Alex is Alex.

Anything else is a convenient excuse for her to wage her war against Sigma Sin.

“What happened to him is wrong, yes. But it doesn’t mean she should let it destroy all her friendships.

Do you think Alex would want that? He’s already suffered enough without his sister voluntarily adding herself to the victim list. Besides…

karma. The people responsible will get what’s coming to them. ”

“And who’s really responsible? Patience seems to think it’s Declan.”

“Only Alex knows, I guess.”

“Speaking of Alex…” Teal smirks at me. “Does Patience know how many times you’ve gone to see her brother this past week?”

“Not exactly.” I purse my lips. “But he deserves company, and I know Patience has been busy studying for finals, so I figured I might as well check in. He needs to know people haven’t just forgotten about him.”

Excuses.

Lies.

They were bound to catch up with me eventually, and I should have expected this from Teal, given we’ve crossed paths at Montgomery a few times recently. I’m being too obvious not to get caught, and I can’t help it.

Since the day I returned Alex’s sweatshirt, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. I’ve found every excuse to visit, dreading the day he finally gets tired of me and kicks me out.

It must be annoying how often I’m showing up outside his door.

But I can’t get him out of my head, especially with the bits and pieces of secrets he’s offering. Every time I go to see him, we sit in silence until one of us breaks. Me by rambling or him by sharing an entry from his journal.

I’ve yet to make sense of the meaning behind his words, but I’m getting glimpses.

The other day, he offered a page that was nothing more than the Sigma House oath scribbled over and over.

For our brothers, we live.

We die.

We honor.

To our grave and into the afterlife.

Take from the House, we take from you.

Give to the House, it gives to you.

Loyalty. Honesty. Sigma House above all.

From sin we are born, and through sin we are revealed.

Unto death and into the after.

He repeated it on both sides of the page, and even if I’ve seen the oath displayed in the entryway of Sigma House, I understood it differently in Alex’s handwriting. He pressed the pencil harder with certain words. Highlighting them. Underlining them.

Unto death.

Except, he survived.

And where did that leave him?

On another day, he shared an entry that felt a bit more intimate. It was written for a girl I sense is still on his mind, and I hated the jealous twinge that stung my chest when I have no right to Alex .

When you ask me why I couldn’t stop this from happening, I’ll tell you it was your fault for caving in on yourself in the direct path of my attention.

It was your fault, and my mistake.

You were in flames, and I was shivering.

I held my hand over the heat for too long.

Held my heart over the destruction.

I got lost in you.

Yesterday, when he handed me the journal, the entry was short. Two sentences that still managed to break my heart.

Don’t mistake the silence for peace.

Existence consumes, and the night has teeth.

I memorized every word before handing his journal back to him. Each time, wishing I could turn another page, but never being greedy enough to try when all I can accept is what he offers me.

To everyone else in Bristal, Alex Lancaster has lost his mind. But the more time I spend around him, I wonder how lost he actually is.

If at all.

“He doesn’t seem to mind your visits.” Teal smiles, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Who knows…”

“Mila, I visit him multiple times a month, and he’s never so much as looked at me. And I’ve known him since we were kids. But with you… It’s different. I can’t explain it, but trust me, it is. ”

I’ve been trying not to tell myself that very thing. I’m already in too deep with Alex.

“I talk a lot.” I shrug, brushing Teal off. “For all I know, he’s staring at me, wondering when I’m going to leave him alone.”

“Doubt it.”

“Don’t say anything to Patience, okay?” I squeeze Teal’s hand, not ready to face Patience’s wrath just yet. “She’s protective of him, and I don’t want her thinking anything.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Teal offers me a comforting smile, and I know she won’t say anything.

She’s loyal and fiercely protective of those she cares about. Patience has been so busy hating Teal for spending time with Declan, she’s forgetting what a good friend she is to all of us. One who never asks for anything in return.

We’re silent the rest of the walk up the driveway, and I sense I’m not the only one lost in thought. As usual, we have to push through the bottleneck of people crowding just inside the door to the frat house, but once we’re inside, the room opens up.

Kole and Violet find their way to us, with Declan a step behind them. The second he claims Teal with a kiss in front of his friends, I’m glad Patience decided not to join us. She might be in denial, but I see the truth in Teal’s eyes as she looks up at Declan.

He’s it for her. There’s no going back. And with how he holds her face like she’s the center of his universe, I sense the feeling is mutual.

A pang stings my heart. Watching how happy my friends are makes me think about the passage Alex wrote about some girl who probably doesn’t even bother visiting him .

Declan and Kole disappear at the start of the party, and I’m thankful to have some time with just me and my friends.

Teal, Violet, and I disappear into a bathroom to catch up. Then we dance until the guys finally return, and Violet inevitably clings to Kole’s side, while Declan disappears with Teal to the corner of the room.

Then it’s just me, sipping a drink and staring at a slowly devolving crowd.

It’s fine.

I’m fine .

I’m used to this.

As the party escalates, people get drunker. Clothes become fewer, and madness descends.

Tonight, there are no new initiates bound to the giant crosses that line the back wall of the Sigma House entryway, so it’s calmer in the front of the house.

The way this fraternity bastardizes religion will unsettle even those with little faith, like me.

It’s almost as if the members of Sigma Sin aren’t content simply selling their own souls to the devil.

They need to find a way to condemn us all for being here.

Teal and Declan have long since disappeared, but Violet and Kole stay close. Usually, they would have faded upstairs an hour ago, but tonight, Kole seems content caging Violet in his grip and offering lethal glances to anyone who so much as looks at her too long.

I was hoping to have some alone time to sneak around the house while everyone is drunk and distracted, but the later it gets, the less I see the chance of that happening.

“You okay, Mila?” Violet leans in.

She’s borderline yelling to be heard over the party raging around us. Kole offers a bit of give on his hold so she can lean closer, but he refuses to let go of her hand as he leans against the bar and watches the room.

“Of course.” I plaster a forced smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve been quieter lately. And disappearing more often.” Her eyebrows pinch. “Is it the carnival being back in town? Patience mentioned your parents weren’t the greatest. It’s not bringing anything up, is it?”

“I’m okay.” I force a smile. “But it is throwing me off a bit.”