Page 47 of Merciless Prince

Derrick nodded slowly. “That’s smart. But… hold on,” he said, scratching at the side of his head. “We’ve looked into her before, and she’s never done anything bad or illegal. Nothing we can use to blackmail her into staying silent.”

“I know. So we’ll manufacture something.”

“How the hell would we do that?”

A broad grin stretched my lips. “Don’t worry. I knowexactlyhow to do it.”

14

Shay

With a wide yawn,I stepped out of the bathroom and headed into my dorm to get ready for the day. My black silken bathrobe fell open slightly at the front, but I didn’t bother tying it back up. I was too tired, and I was going to be taking it off in a few seconds anyway.

I rubbed my eyes and stepped over to my closet with an anguished groan. Even though I’d slept for a full ten hours last night, I still felt completely exhausted. It was like the last few weeks of stress had caught up with me all at once, hitting me like a truck.

Something suddenly caught my attention from the corner of my vision—a flash of red. I whipped my head around and spotted an envelope on the floor by my door. Someone must’ve slid it under there late last night or early this morning.

Curious, I stepped over to the door and knelt to look at the envelope. It was a deep shade of vermilion with gold calligraphic writing on the front that saidMs. Shay Sinclair. Beneath my name was a black and gold crest—a five-pointed star inside a shield with some sort of Latin phrase written at the bottom. On the back, there was a golden wax seal with two letters stamped on it.HC.

My chest tingled with a blend of nerves and anticipation as I stood and carefully slit the side of the envelope with a fingernail. At first, I’d assumed the letter was another message from my masked Mystery Man, but it clearly wasn’t that. A party invitation, perhaps.

I pulled out the card within the envelope, opened it, and scanned the page.

Dear Ms. Sinclair,

It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been selected for initiation into the Hellfire Club.

The Hellfire Club is an exclusive brethren of men and women who have united in pursuit of a shared purpose. We are obligated by oath to seek the worthiest people to join our ranks. After carefully watching and studying you over the last few weeks, we have chosen you to join this year’s group of inductees.

Should you wish to accept our invitation, follow the instructions below. We hope to see you soon.

The initiation ceremony will take place on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.

Do not speak with the other initiates during the process.

If you fail any part of the process, you must leave immediately.

Do not speak of this to anyone, before or after the event. We will know if you do.

To locate our meeting place, you must solve this riddle:

Here we are, the brethren that you seek

Find us if you dare; we are not for the weak

Follow Alice to the place I will always be

I am inside you but you can also be in me

If you are exposed you will be made to pay

And those who love you will be left to pray

With my heart pounding, I stepped over to my desk and set the card down. Then I looked up and stared into space, pondering what I just read. It had to be a joke, surely.

Last night, after Francesca assured me that the Hellfire Club was an urban legend, I ended up spending several hours Googling it just to make sure. Every single source confirmed what she said—it wasn’t real. There was no tangible evidence of its existence, only random anecdotes, and everywhere I looked made it clear that it was just a fictional story made up to freak out Bellingham freshmen.

So what was this letter, then? Who would go to thismuch effort to pull a silly prank on me? There was even a rhyming riddle in the card, for god’s sake.