Chapter 16
The caretaker’s cottage smelled of old paper and candle wax, familiar now as a private hideout for Anubis and me. But the last time we were here, we were reeling from the Bone Trials. We’d just risked everything, passing the Skulls’ first rites, forging a precarious alliance in the process. Now, as I sank onto the old wooden chair near the cluttered desk, my bandaged palm still throbbed, reminding me of the vow I’d made in that crypt.
“I can’t believe they want more from us already,” I murmured, staring at the fresh text message blinking on my phone’s screen. A summons, brief but loaded with meaning:
“Report to the Clock Tower at midnight.—S.M.”
Sophie Mence. She had used some code name the night of the Trials, but she always signed off with her initials, reminding me she was the Dean’s daughter, and, apparently, a newly crowned or rising leader within the Skulls.
Anubis stood behind me, scanning the text over my shoulder. His voice was low. “Clock Tower at midnight. That means they’re giving us the first official ‘task.’”
I swallowed. “Any idea what it might be?”
He exhaled, the warmth of his breath stirring the hair at my neck. “Tasks can range from petty sabotage to major crimes, from what I’ve gathered. They’ll test our willingness to follow instructions, no matter how unethical.”
A chill coursed down my spine. “And if we refuse…?”
“Then we risk everything,” Anubis said, laying a hand on my shoulder. “We just gained a foothold inside the Skulls. If we push back too hard, we’ll blow our cover.”
My gaze darted to the far corner of the cottage, where piles of old rosters and ledgers lay sorted. We’d hoped to find evidence about Toccara’s death, about the Skulls’ involvement in other suspicious suicides or forced vanishings.
Thad’s death was also reported as a suicide. But we couldn’t really do much to argue to the contrary since Anubis had been involved. So far, we’d gleaned fragments, enough to confirm the Skulls had a hand in everything from campus policy to personal intimidation. But we needed more to blow it wide open.
And apparently, to get it, we had to play along with whatever twisted tasks Sophie assigned.
I closed my eyes. Toccara, I’m sorry it’s taking me so long. But I won’t let your death fade away in the campus rumor mill.
When I opened them, Anubis was crouched by the old trunk we used for storing contraband research notes. He rummaged inside until he found a flashlight, two sets of black gloves, and a small zip pouch that looked suspiciously like a lock pick set.
“What’s this?” I asked, raising a brow.
He cast me a grim half-smile. “Just being prepared. If the Skulls ask us to break into something, I’d prefer we do it quietly.”
The wave of alarm that rippled through me mingled with a spark of relief: we might be forced to comply, but at least we’d be ready.
“Midnight,” I repeated. “We have a few hours until then. What do we do in the meantime?”
Anubis slid the trunk shut. “We plan. We rest. We—”
His words trailed off as our eyes locked. The air felt electric, charged by everything unsaid—fear of the society, longing for each other, the uncertain future.
I swallowed hard. “We…maybe talk,” I said softly, though a deeper part of me wanted more than words.
His features softened. “Yeah. Let’s talk.”
We made a makeshift dinner of leftover snacks from a campus cafe run earlier—protein bars, fruit, and bottled water. Not exactly romantic, but it felt oddly comforting to do something so mundane together. Then we settled side by side on the worn couch, the single lamp casting a warm glow.
“You never told me much about your father,” I said, hesitant but curious. Anubis had mentioned in passing that his dad was a powerful figure at Edenvane, even if not physically present most of the time.
A flicker of tension shadowed his features. “He’s…complicated. He travels a lot for business. Technically on the Board of Trustees, but rarely attends in person. We used to be close when I was a kid. Then, the older I got, the more distant he became. I guess once I was old enough to be shaped into a future Skulls member, everything got…formal.”
I touched the back of his hand, imagining a lonely childhood in that big gothic mansion overlooking our small hometown. “Must’ve been hard,” I whispered.
He gave a tiny shrug. “I learned not to show weakness. My mother left when I was ten, so it was just the two of us and a series of tutors and staff.” A wry smirk crossed his lips. “But hey, I got this fancy name out of the deal. My father insisted on something Egyptian. Family tradition.”
I managed a small smile. “Anubis suits you in a strange way. Mysterious, a guardian of hidden things.”
He leaned in, pressing his forehead gently against mine. “So you’re not scared of me, then?”
Memories flickered: how he’d once been the tormentor in high school, how he’d teased me about my cheap bike. Then how he’d carried my trash bags of clothes on move-in day, the gentler side overshadowed by his swagger.
“Sometimes I am,” I admitted quietly. “But maybe I’m more scared of what’s around you than you yourself. You make me feel…alive. Even if it’s terrifying.”
His breath caught. For a moment, we just hovered there, the hush of the caretaker’s cottage wrapping us in its secretive warmth. Then, as if pulled by an invisible chord, our lips found each other’s. A tender, careful kiss turned deeper, hungrier.
I think it’s time I scare you again…
It was time for more of Anubis’ punishments. My pussy wept with anticipation.
A soft alarm on Anubis’ phone woke us from our doze. I found myself curled on the couch, legs entangled with his, my head on his chest. My heartbeat quickened in realization.
He exhaled, reluctant. “It’s time.”
We quietly gathered ourselves: a jacket for me, the flashlight in his pocket, the lock pick set. We left the caretaker’s cottage in near silence, heading for the tall silhouette of the Clock Tower that dominated Edenvane’s old campus square.
Nighttime had turned the college paths into winding corridors of faint lamplight. Statues of old benefactors and academics dotted the manicured lawns. In the distance, I heard the hush of the Edenvane River, that sinister presence always lurking.
By the time we reached the Clock Tower, I was shivering. Partly from the cold, partly from nerves. The massive stone structure loomed overhead, its enormous clock face illuminated by dim lights that made it look like a ghostly sentinel.
A small, wrought-iron gate blocked the entrance at the tower’s base. Standing by it, wearing a black coat belted at the waist, was Sophie Mence. Her blonde hair gleamed in the moonlight, and a smug half-smile curved her lips.
“You’re on time,” she remarked, voice echoing in the hush.
“We’re nothing if not punctual,” Anubis said dryly.
Sophie eyed me with a slight curl of her lip. “Feeling comfortable in your new role, Suede? Or should I call you Nubia?”
The use of that code name, the one forced on me, made my stomach twist. “Either,” I said softly.
She turned without further preamble, unlocking the gate with an old brass key. “Follow me.”
We ascended a narrow spiral staircase that wound around the tower’s interior. Dust motes danced in the beam of a small overhead bulb, and the air smelled of old stone and mustiness. Each step echoed louder than it should have, heightening my sense of foreboding.
Eventually, we emerged into a cramped landing near the mechanical workings of the clock. Gears and pulleys, all well-maintained, whirred softly behind a mesh barrier. Another Skulls member, hooded, face mostly hidden, waited there.
“Go inside,” Sophie commanded, pointing to a low doorway. “Do not touch the gears. Stand in the center.”
The hooded member opened the door for us. Anubis’ grip on my shoulder gave me a brief sense of comfort, then we stepped through.
Inside, a ring of small LED lights flickered on, revealing a circular space. The mechanical heart of the clock whirled on one side, ticking away the minutes. I realized with a jolt that the clock face was directly in front of us, a huge glass circle tinted from the inside, providing a shadowy view of the campus lights below.
Sophie joined us, her expression triumphant. “Now we begin your first real test as novices. The instructions are simple: sabotage the library’s security system.”
I blinked in confusion. “Sabotage the library? Why?”
Sophie gave a languid shrug. “Does the reason matter? We want to prove your loyalty and your skill. The library’s security network is a key point of campus integrity, records, rare manuscripts, financial documents. We want it vulnerable.”
A sinking feeling spread in my stomach. I worked at the library. Margrett, the head librarian, had always been strict but fair. She’d lose her mind if she discovered us tampering with the new security cameras and digital locks.
Anubis’ jaw tightened. “There must be dozens of ways to do that. What exactly do you want us to do?”
Sophie’s smile was razor-sharp. “We’re not your babysitters, Captain. Figure it out. You have three nights to deliver evidence the system is compromised, screenshots, printouts, something tangible. If you fail or refuse, we’ll know how to handle you.”
She turned toward me. “Better not let your sentimental attachment to that library deter you, Nubia. Sentimentality kills.”
Cold dread settled around me. I forced myself to nod.
The hooded Skulls member stepped forward, passing us a small plastic bag with a flash drive inside. “Consider this a…tool. Use it carefully if you must.”
Sophie brushed invisible dust from her coat sleeve. “We’ll expect results. That’s all, novices. You may go.”
With that, she turned, motioning for the hooded figure to follow her out. Their footsteps echoed down the spiral stairs, leaving Anubis and me alone in the tower, a swirl of unpleasant tension in their wake.
He exhaled, combing his fingers through his brown hair. “Sabotaging the library. Great.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “We can’t just break the system. It’d hurt so many people and my job depends on it.”
He slid an arm around my waist, pulling me close. I realized how shaky I was. “We’ll find a way to do it partially,” he said, voice firm but soft. “Cause minimal damage. Enough to fool the Skulls but not enough to truly harm the library.”
I nodded, relief warring with anxiety. I had to trust Anubis on this one. He was the computer science major. “Yes. That’s our only choice.”
The metallic ticking of the clock mechanism filled the silence between us. We lingered a moment, gazing out the tinted clock face at the campus below. Even though the world looked peaceful, I felt as if everything had changed.
“Let’s get out of here,” Anubis whispered finally.
By the time we returned to the caretaker’s cottage, it was past one in the morning. We sat around the desk, heads close, whispering.
“Security system sabotage,” I muttered, flipping through some technical manuals we’d dug up. “Margrett installed new cameras and digital locks just last semester. They’re on the campus intranet, which is also connected to the student records. That’s probably what the Skulls want, access to grades, transcripts, financial stuff.”
Anubis scratched his chin. “Could we do a partial infiltration? Make it seem compromised but not give them the real keys?”
I thought back to my work shifts in the library. “We might create a dummy login for them. They’d see what looks like a wide-open door, but really it’s just a small slice of data that we control.”
He nodded. “That way we’re technically sabotaging the system while limiting the Skulls’ actual power. We can feed them nonsense or partial info.”
“But will that be enough to fool them?” I worried.
His gaze flicked to the flash drive Sophie had given us. “This drive might install a backdoor. If we run it on the library’s main computer, they’ll see the infiltration. But if we add our own failsafe first, we can block them from deeper layers. They’ll only see what we let them see.”
Our eyes met, and a tiny ember of hope flickered. “Let’s do it,” I said. “We’ll need to be stealthy.”
He set a hand on mine. “We have three nights, right? Let’s pick a time when the library is deserted. Possibly very late, after your shift ends.”
I let out a shaky sigh. “Okay. Tomorrow’s Saturday, so the library closes earlier. That could work.”
“We have a party first, remember?”
I rolled my eyes. But I’d said I would go.
We spent another hour drafting a plan, deciding which computers to target, how to disguise ourselves from the cameras, and how to slip in and out without triggering suspicion. By the time we finished, my eyes burned from exhaustion, and dawn was only a few hours off.
“Come to bed,” Anubis said softly, nodding toward the small cot we kept in the back room for stolen naps. His voice was laced with concern. “We can’t think clearly if we’re dead on our feet.”
My heart fluttered at the invitation. Part of me wanted to run back to my dorm to maintain some semblance of normalcy. But the caretaker’s cottage was turning into a second home, a space where we could hide from prying eyes. I gave a nod.
We lay down on the narrow cot, pressed close for warmth and reassurance. The hush of the pre-dawn hours enfolded us, turning each heartbeat into a shared promise. Sleep claimed us in a tangle of limbs, the plan and the dangers overshadowed by the comfort of not being alone.