Page 78 of River of Deceit

“If I fail, my dad will kill me,” he’d confessed to me last night.

Yeah. I highly doubt he means it the way I would, and it had made it hard to empathize even though I do feel bad for him. My father hadn’t ordered me to join Kappa Alpha or any other fraternity, but once he’d gotten wind of me joining, he’d been all-in on the idea.

Now I really could end up dead if I don’t make it through this bullshit—and not necessarily in these woods.

Not that he’d know for who knows how long; it’s not like he checks up on me.

Even my mother doesn’t reach out. She’s probably too afraid of pissing him off, but then, that’s always been the case.

“All right, listen up, fuckheads!” Zayden announces.

I turn my attention to him, already ready for this to be over with. I wonder ifhecould be one of the bodies someone could kill and dispose of out here. It wouldn’t even be hard, spoiled rotten rich kid that he is.

Except I don’t know Zayden’s background. With how he clings to Blaze, I have my suspicions about Zayden’s family.

“The Nu Upsilon Chi chicks are doing their own pledge challenge tonight,” Zayden continues. “Those girls have to survive the night out here in the woods.” He grins at all of us.

That opens things up to all sorts of possibilities, and I wonder if the other guys pledging to Kappa Alpha are half as sick as some of the bastards I’d grown up working with.

I wonder if they’re half as sick and twisted asIam.

“Your job is to track those chicks down and give them a real good scare.” Zayden goes over to Franklin and claps him on the shoulder. “And after one week of not touching any girls… well, we won’t hold it against you if touching happens.”

Blaze, standing with the other frat brothers, coughs. “It’s not just foryouthough. We’ll be right behind you. Any girls you catch are fair game, but the brothers get first dibs.”

Franklin’s mouth drops open. “But isn’t that?—”

“The girls know what they signed up for,” Zayden interrupts. “We talked it out with the Nu Upsilon sisters, don’t worry.”

I narrow my eyes at him. I wonder if their pledges really know what they’re getting themselves into. If they don’t, well… It’s not like I’m going to contribute to the problem. I’m not interested in touching them.

I’m not interested in touching anyone but Pandora.

I grit my teeth at that realization. She doesn’t deserve my devotion. She’s as much a snake as Blaze Bouchard and his lapdog Asch.

“All right. Those bitches had enough of a head start by now,” Zayden announces. “Anyone who doesn’t catch a girl tonight is out of the fraternity, by the way, so don’t think you can simply stand around and do nothing.”

Blaze nods approvingly, and I narrow my eyes at him. Maybe he did lure Rachel out here with his flowers.

No sign of Asch, though. Apparently he wasn’t invited for this event.

“On your marks, get set… go!” Zayden shouts.

I know that at least a few of the other guys will hesitate, but I’m not one of them. I dash forward into the woods, wielding my flashlight as I work on getting through the underbrush without tripping. I don’t want to embarrass myself, but I also don’t want to be the last one to find a woman, either.

They want us to scare the Nyxie girls? Fine. I can do that.

If they want us to do more, though, they can go fuck themselves.

Thankfully, even at this late part of summer, the leaves are still soft beneath our feet. All I have to worry about is branches making noise, and it gets easier to avoid that as I adjust to being out here. I may have grown up in a major city, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never had to find my way around the heavily wooded areas outside of it.

I prowl between the trees, slowing down as I get ahead of the others, and I start to look in earnest.

We aren’t that far away from the campus, and I can see lights through the trees behind me. I also notice the scent of smoke, and I know none of us lit a fire. Zayden had said the Nyxies had to survive a night in the woods. That might include a campfire.

I start walking in the direction I think the smell is coming from. I hear low voices, and I angle my flashlight down so as not to alert anyone to my presence.

Then there’s a shriek, and a female voice yelling, “Fuck! Run, run!”