Chapter 10
I jolted awake to the sound of someone pounding on my door. My phone read 7:14 a.m. My brain was still foggy from the nightmares that had dogged me all night. Shadowy shapes chasing me around campus, water lapping at my ankles, voices whispering, Dig your grave, Suede.
I shuddered. Reality felt just as sinister. I was still locked inside my dorm with Sophie Mence’s note on my nightstand, telling me she wanted an answer soon. She’d basically broken into my room to leave it. And then Anubis had warned me about the police poking around, possibly wanting to pin me for a donor’s “allergic reaction.”
Reluctantly, I shuffled to the door, my pulse racing. What if it was campus security? Heart pounding, I pressed my eye to the peephole. My breath rushed out in relief when I caught sight of Anubis’ broad shoulders and tousled hair.
After flicking open the deadbolt, I cracked the door. “You’re up early,” I said, my voice scratchy with sleep.
He leaned in. “So are you,” he teased softly, then glanced down the hall. “May I come in?”
I stood aside, letting him pass. The battered silver watch on his wrist glinted under the dim hallway lights. I didn’t miss the tension in his stance, as if prepared for a confrontation.
Once inside, I locked up again. A soft exhale escaped him, and he rubbed the back of his neck like he wasn’t sure how to begin.
“They questioned a bunch of staff last night,” he said. “And a few students who poured drinks for the donors. But it’s dying down now, or at least that’s how it seemed when I left the Boat House this morning. Some money must have changed hands.”
“Just like always,” I muttered. “Money sweeps away the scandal.”
He gave a wry nod. “Exactly. And Sophie? She’s playing it up like the loyal daughter, telling my father how she’s ‘so glad it was just an allergic reaction’ and that you or I weren’t involved. She’s basically orchestrating a cover story to keep you out of jail, but you and I both know it comes with strings.”
I shot him a weary look and wandered to my desk to show him the note Sophie left. “Looks like she took the liberty of reminding me I owe her an answer. She wants me to join her ‘mentorship program.’”
Anubis read the note, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “This is her style. She extends a hand while threatening you in the same breath.” He crumpled the note in his fist. “Do you feel safe staying here?”
I considered it. “Not really,” I admitted. “But I don’t know where else to go. I can’t go home. I don’t even have a home to go back to anymore, not with my mom off on tour with Rock, and the house up for sale.”
He inclined his head, quietly taking in my exhaustion. “You could crash with me… or somewhere else on campus. But trust me, the Skulls’ reach is everywhere at Edenvane. Even if you stayed in the caretaker’s cottage by the river, you’d still be on their radar.”
I closed my eyes, the stress building behind them like a pressure headache. “Guess I just have to face them head-on.”
His gaze softened. He stepped closer, offering a hesitant hand against my shoulder. “We’ll handle it. Together.”
For a moment, we just stood there, the hum of my small desk fan the only sound. Memories of the caretaker’s cottage, the old ledger that revealed how thoroughly the Edenvane family and the Skulls controlled everything, flashed through my mind.
“You hungry?” he asked abruptly, as if trying to shift gears.
“Starving, actually.”
He gave me a small, tight smile. “Let’s sneak off campus for breakfast. I know a place.”
“Off campus? With security possibly still looking for me?”
He shrugged. “I’ll take the service exit that staff and Rowing team members use. It’s rarely watched. I promise, no one will notice if I drive you out in my car.”
I studied him, my heart thumping. My rational side wanted to say staying hidden might be safer. But my stomach growled, and a surge of rebelliousness flared.
“Alright,” I said quietly. “Let’s do it.”
We made our way down the dorm staircase in near silence, hearts pounding whenever we heard footsteps from an upper floor. By sheer luck or by the hush money’s grace, we spotted only a bored student worker at the front desk who didn’t even glance up.
Outside, the fall air bit at my cheeks with a chill. Anubis wore a dark hoodie and tugged me gently by the hand to the side parking lot, where the gates to a small service road stood open. Parked along the edge was his Porsche 911, looking as sleek and out-of-place among the rusted staff cars as a peacock in a chicken coop.
He opened the passenger door for me. I slid in, anxiously scanning for any sign of campus police. Then he eased into the driver’s seat, pressed the ignition, and the engine purred to life, a deep, throaty rumble that sent a shiver through me.
Soon we were rolling down the campus perimeter road, passing the wrought-iron gates with hardly a glance from the security booth. The guard seemed half-asleep, or else uninterested in a black sports car leaving mid-morning.
My tension ebbed bit by bit as the sprawling campus gave way to a local main street dotted with coffee shops, boutiques, and small restaurants. We ended up pulling into a half-empty parking lot behind a modest diner.
“This place used to be the crew’s secret hideout,” Anubis explained. “Good coffee, decent eggs. Best of all, no one from Edenvane typically slums it here.”
He parked, and we headed inside. It was a standard diner with sticky laminated menus, cracked leather booths, and waitresses with tired smiles. The overhead fluorescent lights buzzed. To me, it felt wonderfully normal.
A waitress led us to a booth in the back. We slid in, facing each other, and she poured us water. I tried not to gawk at how normal it felt to have a quiet breakfast with him, Anubis Edenvane , the so-called heir to a twisted empire.
He must have felt my scrutiny because he glanced up, arching a brow. “What?”
I shrugged, toying with the corner of my menu. “Just…didn’t imagine us grabbing diner food together at eight in the morning,” I said softly. “It’s a side of you I haven’t seen.”
His lips curved. “We all have to eat, Suede, rich or poor. I’m not always the guy you see on campus, you know. That’s a performance, half the time. The Edenvane swagger.”
“Yeah, well, the diner you is better,” I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.
He studied me with a fond glimmer in his eyes, but then the waitress returned to take our orders, omelets, hash browns, black coffee.
The moment she walked away, it was like the unspoken tension returned. So much had happened in a few short weeks, Toccara’s death, the grave, the Boat House fiasco, secret society revelations. We hadn’t had a single moment to just…breathe.
He cleared his throat, leaning closer. “Listen, about Sophie. She wants your acceptance, right? She wants you to sign an NDA and join her little circle, which is a feeder into the Skulls. The question is, do you actually want to do it?”
I swirled my water glass, staring at the condensation. “I don’t know. Part of me hates everything she stands for, but if I’m inside, maybe I’ll learn enough to truly expose them. Maybe figure out if Toccara was…” I paused, swallowing. “If Toccara was forced. I can’t just let her death be another suicide.”
His expression darkened. “I get that. But don’t forget, you’re being initiated with me. If you fail, I fail and vice versa. And infiltration into the upper circles can be risky, especially if you plan to undermine them. The Skulls punish betrayal severely.”
“You mean those suspicious suicides, right?” I said bitterly.
He reached across the table, covering my hand with his. The rough pad of his thumb brushed my knuckles, and it sent a jolt of warmth through me and a zap of desire. “I’ll protect you,” he promised. “I’m in deep, but I have influence. We can find a way to flip this.”
I met his gaze. He looked determined, a far cry from the mocking tormentor I’d known in high school. I wanted to believe him, needed to, maybe. And then part of me was wondering when the bad guy in him planned to return.
Just then, the waitress returned with plates of steaming food, cutting through our tension. We released each other’s hands, and conversation drifted to safer ground: classes, row team obligations, upcoming midterms. Even if it was small talk, it felt unexpectedly comforting to share mundane details.
Halfway through my omelet, I felt the weight of his stare again. When I looked up, he spoke in a hushed tone. “After breakfast, I need to show you something. Something about the upcoming Skulls’ gathering.”
A shiver traced down my spine, but I nodded. “Alright.”
Once we finished, Anubis paid the bill, he waved off my halfhearted attempt to chip in, and guided me back to the Porsche. We drove a winding route toward campus, but he took a detour through an upscale suburban area I’d never visited. At the end of a curved street, wrought-iron gates opened onto a spacious property, the sign reading Edenvane Senior Center & Alumni House.
“Alumni House?” I murmured.
“It’s a private extension funded by the Board,” he said. “They hold certain society gatherings here, away from the main campus. Members can come and go without arousing suspicion.”
We eased into a side lot. Anubis reached into the center console and withdrew a single stiff black envelope, sealed with a stylized gold skull.
My stomach flipped at the sight. “Is that what I think it is?”
He handed it to me. “An official invitation for us . Signed by Sophie, though she used the name Aset, her Skulls code name. It’s for this coming Friday night.”
I traced the embossed skull, reading the short, cryptic text inside:
“You are summoned to the Bone Trials. Friday, midnight. Show your worth or face the river.”
My hand shook. “The Bone Trials,” I breathed, recalling the caretaker’s ledger.
“Yes,” he said grimly. “It’s a tradition. We have to pass a series of tasks, some humiliating, some symbolic, to prove loyalty. Considering my potential rank, like I explained before, we’re being presented as a pair.”
I tensed. “A pair?” I repeated.
He gave a wry half-smile. “In the Skulls’ world, a ‘pair’ means I’ve designated you as my partner in the Trials. Normally, that means the two people are…intimately bound.”
“I get no say?” I asked, frustration flashing.
“If you or I fail, both are cast out.”
Anubis swallowed. “Sophie wants to test you and me. If I refused, the Skulls might suspect we were working against them. She’s certain you’ll either break or obey.”
My mind churned. In normal, everyday life, it would be insane to take part in something so archaic. But here, in this twisted Edenvane reality, it seemed I was already in too deep to refuse. If I tried to run now, they’d find me. My scholarship would vanish, my future destroyed. Or worse.
I stared at the invitation. “So, I guess I go. And we do these Trials. And I try not to drown in the river, or end up like Toccara.”
His jaw clenched. “I’ll be with you. We can outsmart them. But we have to walk a very fine line.”
Leaning my head back against the car seat, I let out a trembling sigh. “Then let’s do it. We’ll face them on Friday.”
“Now that that’s settled…” he started.
I met his gaze.
“About the other day, down in the archives…”
I shook my head. “You had to,” I answered for him, still not knowing if I believed him.
“I can make it up to you, you know?”
“Oh, how? Do you plan to get on your knees?”
Anubis smirked and licked his lips as he put his seat back. Reaching past me, he pushed my seat back as well. “Take off your pants, your panties so I can repay you.”
The parking lot was deserted, and his tint was dark enough. But it was the hungry look in his eyes that convinced me to unbutton my jeans and push them down. I hadn’t gotten my underwear off as his hands slid down them, finding my sensitive nub. I moaned when he caressed it. His hands slipped down further. “Nubia, you’re so wet.”
I bit my lip as his fingers slipped in me.
“Take off your shirt, your bra. I want to look at you as I touch you.”
With shaky hands, I went under my shirt and undid my bra. I took it off without taking off my shirt. Anubis’ eyes twinkled as he fingered me. I was squirming, enjoying every second.
“Take off your top, Nubia. And I’ll take down your panties and eat your pussy.” His mouth landed on my neck, his warm tongue licking me, convincing me. When he pulled back, I pulled my shirt over my head. As promised, he slid my panties down, exposing me to the air, to the daylight seeping into his car. I was naked except for my sneakers.
“You’re so beautiful, Nubia, and all mine,” he said, descending. His hot breath hit my clit, and a bang sounded in my ears. Turning my head, I saw campus police.
Holy shit.
They banged again. Anubis rolled down the window and looked up at them from my naked lap.
“She’s coming with us,” they said, opening the door. “Suede,” they started questioning me. Complaining I was naked, they whisked me out of Anubis’ car into the back of their cruiser. I covered myself the best I could as the two officers slid in the front.
My mind was gone as we left Anubis behind. I was dead from utter embarrassment. They spoke to me, but I couldn’t hear them. I couldn’t believe this was happening. But once we got back to the school, to the campus security office, I knew something was wrong. The men didn’t offer me anything to cover up as they escorted me into a single holding cell. A single cot lined the wall, usually meant for detaining unruly students overnight. They had handcuffs. Thrust onto the mattress, one of the men shackled one of my wrists to the bed frame before leaving me, locking me in the cell.
Naked, I laid there for hours in total silence, thinking about how sick this school was. The overhead fluorescent light buzzed, an irritating hum that gnawed at my last shred of calm. I noticed a red blinking light in the corner, a security camera. Someone was watching.
I feared for my life. How could I not, being dragged naked into a cell and handcuffed? No due process. No nothing. I cried finally. Afraid of what might happen to me, I finally broke down, wailing out in a loud sob. I knew once I got out, I would slip away. Leave this school for good.
Then I heard a noise. When Anubis appeared in the doorway, my heart lurched. He looked as grim as I felt, his knuckles pale from how tightly he gripped the doorknob.
I sat up, relief washing over me. “You’re breaking me out?”
He came in the cell, shaking his head. “No, sorry. This is all part of it. The humiliation. They would’ve gotten to you the other night. All I did was postpone it because I was tied up at the party.”
“So, let me go. I’m done with this. With everything. I’m leaving Edenvane.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. It sounded almost evil. “You’re going to break that easily? I told you, if you fail, what they’ll do to you. What they’ll do to me.”
“So, if you’re not breaking me out. Why are you here?”
Anubis started undressing, and I knew why he was here. To bury his bone. To humiliate me again.
As he stood before me naked, that skull tattoo across his chest mocking me, I pulled on the handcuffs. “This makes no sense. I’m willing, obviously. You talked me out of my clothes in a parking lot.”
“I told you, Nubia. This has to be hard on you. It’s about pain and fear. You were afraid and now you’ll suffer for my enjoyment.”
Though part of me was afraid, the other part was curious. “How? What do you plan to do to me?”
“This is just another test before the first trial,” he said. “Get through it, or they’ll make life impossible. They’re forcing me to do this,” he said, voice low, stepping closer.
Feeling a jolt of anger, I glanced over my shoulder at the black dome camera perched high in the corner. They were recording everything.
“They were clear. I comply, or all the footage they have on me gets out.” He exhaled, tension rippling through his shoulders. “We’ll make it quick,” he murmured.