Chapter 19
KILLERS SURROUND YOU
Killian
My fists curled at my sides as I resisted the urge to break Micah’s bones. After making it clear that Lexi was off-limits, I’d thought the pledge would back off. But here he was, with her on his arm like his little trophy.
“Micah asked me, and I accepted.” Lexi lifted her chin and flicked her auburn locks behind her. “Honestly, it’s none of your business.”
A humorless laugh burst out, its edges lined with sharp blades. “None of my business?” Since she decided wreck my life at Stonewall, everything this girl did was my business.
Micah took another step back. “Maybe I should get a drink… ”
“Yeah, you do that, pledge.” I gripped Lexi’s arm. “We need to talk.”
As I dragged her toward the small dance floor, eyes raked her curvy form from all directions, men salivating over the blue-eyed temptress in red.
Of course she’d worn red tonight. To torment me, no doubt.
I yanked her into me, our bodies colliding and shooting sparks through my dick.
Lexi struggled in my grasp as my hand slid down her back to rest on her ass. “Why are we dancing, Killian? I’m not your date.”
My gaze dropped to her chest, the low neckline revealing the creamy mounds of her breasts. I licked my lips, craving a taste. “You shouldn’t be Micah’s date either. In fact, you shouldn’t be anywhere near this house or these people.”
I’d been able to keep her away from Bass so far, but she wouldn’t go unnoticed at this party, especially not in that dress. Add to that he was already still on my ass about finding the mystery girl from the masquerade party.
So he could, what? Question her?
Doubtful.
Kill her?
Probably.
“I’m at this house all the time.” She forced my hand from her ass and rested it on her lower back as we swayed to the music. “What’s the big deal suddenly?”
She seriously had no idea how much danger she could be in. Lexi’s curious—and stubborn—mind would seek answers. She’s always been that way.
“You have a target on your back, Red.” I skimmed my fingers up her spine and drew a bull’s eye. “Sooner or later, someone’s going to take aim and shoot.”
Lexi scoffed, rolling her blue eyes. “Stop trying to scare me. I’m not going to fall for your bullshit, Kill.”
This girl had a fucking death wish. I was stupid for putting her in their crosshairs, but the need to keep her close ate at me.
“You have no idea the killers that surround you.” I leaned forward, my lips brushing her neck as I inhaled her intoxicating fragrance. “And I’m one of them.”
Shivers raced through her, and the way her hips tilted into mine told me they weren’t from fear. “Are you planning to kill me when I’m done being your servant?”
A sinister chuckle rattled my throat, and I pressed my knee between her legs, rubbing against her pussy. “I’m going to do worse than kill you, Red.” If I didn’t have other priorities tonight, I’d force her into another room, rip that damn dress off, and bury my cock in her until she screamed.
I hated this girl, but I’d developed a sick obsession with ruining her—for anyone else.
“Kill, it’s time.” Gage appeared over Lexi’s shoulder, his pierced brow arching at our proximity.
Did he have any clue this was the same girl from the party?
As if his voice reminded Lexi that we weren’t alone, she tried to push me off. “Just because we have an arrangement doesn’t mean you can touch me any way you want, Killian.”
“Actually, it does. And I think you like it.” I sucked on her earlobe and bit it, earning a gasp. “Be a good girl while I’m gone, and maybe I’ll reward you.”
Lexi gave me a death glare as I drew back, but she couldn’t hide the storm of lust brewing in her eyes.
I left her on the dance floor and flanked Gage’s side as we headed to the back of the house.
Lexi should be fine since the worst of us would all be in the catacombs, including Bass.
Of course, if I found some asshole touching her when I returned, he’d discover what it felt like to have his face broken by yours truly.
Still, I whipped out my phone and sent a text to Owen, a Sigma Delt who played football with Axel, to keep an eye on Lexi. He responded seconds later with a thumbs up.
“Have they been gathered yet?” I asked, shoving my phone back into my pocket.
“There’s eight of them.” Gage’s dark, unnerving eyes made me squirm. “What’s the deal with you and that girl?”
Of course the asshole picked up on it; he missed nothing. I gave a nonchalant shrug. “Revenge. That’s all.”
“Oh, is that all?” The edges of his lips twitched.
“Shut the fuck up.”
As we emerged into the archaic stone atrium below the house, other Lords filed in. While the elegant party continued upstairs, something older and far more dangerous awakened beneath the house.
Gas lanterns flickered along the stone walls, their flames bending in the draft that crept through the ancient chamber.
The massive hearth roared like a beast awakened, throwing long shadows across the floor.
Twelve Ascended already sat upon the raised dais, silent and unmoving in their high-backed chairs, ebony cloaks pooling around their feet. White masks obscured their faces.
They looked less like witnesses and more like judges.
The Grand Domnus’s daunting ram skull always sent frost over my flesh, even though I knew it was only my stepfather behind that morbid guise.
A door opened, and the Domnus marched in, his goat-skull mask peering from the hooded black cloak with the red embellishments signalling his status.
Eight guys with black sacks over their heads and their hands tied behind their backs stumbled in, a few brothers helping them to their spots on the ground.
The Domnus spread his arms wide. “Congratulations to you eight Neophytes chosen to join this exclusive organization. Should you make it to the end, your life will be prosperous, and the world will be yours for the taking.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration. Senators, judges, CEOs—half the powerful men in this country had once knelt in this very room.
“He really loves this shit, doesn’t he?” Gage murmured beside me.
“Bass gets a hard-on any time he can showcase his position of power.” Of course, Sebastian Davenport assumed the leadership role of the Serpents & Daggers his senior year at Stonewall.
My thoughts flickered to somewhere upstairs, where Lexi Vega was being eye-fucked by hungry frat boys.
And if Bass discovered she was the girl from the masquerade...
She was dead.
If the rest of the brotherhood discovered she stumbled upon a murder, there was no amount of pleading I or anyone could do to save her.
My blood ran cold at the thought, and chills skated down my spine. No matter how much I claimed to hate her, the image of her dead, broken body made my knees threaten to give out.
The Domnus cleared his throat, drawing my attention to the matter at hand.
Gage and I stepped forward and plucked the black hoods from the tapped pledges. Micah kneeled on the far left, his glasses askew as he blinked rapidly from the sudden brightness.
“We’ve brought you here tonight to face the first of many trials to prove yourselves worthy.” Bass extended his hand toward the alumni. “Our esteemed Lords, Ascended, and Grand Domnus are here to witness your evolution.”
Bass bowed and then vanished through a door on the left as the Grand Domnus stood.
“Your first test will prove your desire to be one of the few.” He walked toward the stone altar and grabbed a dagger. “One of you will perform the act, but all of you will be irrevocably linked by it.”
The eight young men, even Micah, eagerly awaited their first trial. They had no idea of the shit show about to unfold. They thought they were joining a brotherhood.
In reality, they were kneeling among killers.
Killers they were about to join.
When Bass finally emerged again, he dragged in a woman dressed in white, blindfolded, bound, and gagged. Tears streaked her splotchy face as the cloth tied around her mouth drowned out her cries. A collective gasp erupted through the eight initiates.
“This woman has threatened one of our brothers with her lies,” Bass said, an eager grin curving his mouth. “Brothers above all. We protect our own, and she must be dealt with.”
The Grand Domnus shortened the distance between us and placed the dagger in my hand. “You pick the candidate.”
I knew just the man for the job. Thankfully, the mask hid my evil smile as I slipped behind Micah and used my pocketknife instead of the ceremonial dagger to cut the ropes from his wrists.
“It’s your time to shine, Preston,” I whispered and hauled him to his feet. “Fail and you’re out.”
He licked his pale lips. “W-What am I supposed to do?”
“What do you think?” I slapped the dagger into his palm. “We’ve made it easy for you. Aim for the mark on her chest.”
Sweat poured down Micah’s face as he studied the blonde woman who couldn’t have been older than twenty-one. “You really want me to kill her?”
I chuckled at the unadulterated fear in his hazel eyes that had his knees quaking. “If you can’t handle it, drop out now. Maybe you’re just not cut out for this.” Once the initiates completed this test, there was no dropping out.
His hand trembled as he lifted the knife, positioning it over the snake and dagger symbol drawn on her chest in red. His hand stopped its movement. “I-I can do it.”
Part of me was hoping he’d pussy out. Then I wouldn’t have to see his smug face around here anymore.
The terrified Neophyte pushed his glasses back up his sweaty nose, panting as he teetered on the verge of becoming a killer. His entire body trembled, but before I could taunt him any further, he moved the dagger’s tip toward the woman’s chest—and pushed it in.
Her muffled shriek ricocheted against the stone walls, and she collapsed into Bass’s arms.
Holy shit. The fucker actually did it.
Micah sucked in a ragged breath and stood frozen, the dagger still buried in the woman’s heart as the horror of what he’d done sank in.
Then his expression faltered.
There was no blood.
His shaking hand pulled the blade free. The steel gleamed, clean and untouched. “It’s... not real?”
“But you believed it was,” the Domnus replied, steadying the woman on her feet. “The dagger is only a prop.”
Applause echoed through the chamber like thunder. Not because Micah had killed someone. But because he’d been willing to.
Micah sagged, and the sacrificial lamb smiled behind her fabric gag, revealing that she’d been part of the ruse. The other initiates gave relieved chuckles.
They had no idea what was to come. This made the whole thing seem like one big game, so they’d pledge their lives to the Serpents & Daggers without a second thought.
I took the knife from Micah’s trembling hand. “Rejoin the other Neophytes.”
Micah stumbled back to the seven other guys and crashed to his knees, his sweaty blonde hair sticking to his forehead. Another brother took the girl, Victoria Ashby, from Bass and led her through the door, her blindfold, gag, and binds still in place.
Outsiders were never allowed to see within these hallowed walls.
And while the girl wasn’t one of us, most of the men in her family were, including her father.
Jonathan Ashby was part of the Inner Circle, and he’d be the one to gut his daughter if she so much as breathed a whisper of this to another soul.
“Repeat this oath.” Bass lifted a golden goblet from the altar as if presenting a sacred relic.
“Our blood is from one cup. Our bones are from one beast. Our soul is from the same shadow. Brothers above all. We enter this world together. And we shall only leave with a dagger pressed against our throat and the serpent’s poison in our veins. ”
The words echoed off the stone walls like a curse.
The Neophytes repeated the oath they would soon live by and drank from the goblet as Bass pressed it to each of their lips. Gage stepped behind them to cut the ropes tying their wrists together.
“Your next trial will be an individual one that will test your loyalty.” Bass set the empty goblet on the fireplace mantel and motioned to our mantra carved above it. “Fratres Super Omnia. Brothers above all. Committing this act will permanently tie you to the Serpents & Daggers.”
Once this trial was complete, none of them would ever leave the Serpents & Daggers—at least not alive.
“Should you fail to complete your mission, you will fail to ascend to the next level.” Bass nodded toward Gage and me, and we grabbed the crimson envelopes from the altar to pass out.
Just before I handed over Micah’s, my stepbrother intervened. “This one’s been altered.” He produced another envelope from the pocket of his robe.
My head snapped back at the unexpected change. “Why?”
“Something more important came up, and this Neophyte is perfect for it.” Bass’s mask couldn’t hide the smile crinkling his cruel blue eyes as he leaned closer. “You were floundering, so someone else is taking over.”
Frost crystallized over my flesh as a boulder dropped in my gut. My attention remained on Micah as he opened the envelope, tension thickening the air. Bass wanted to make sure I saw Micah’s new task.
The first page held only two sentences.
This is a dangerous loose end that needs cutting. Death is the only recourse.
My stomach dropped.
No. No fucking way.
When he flipped to the next page, his face drained of color, as did mine.
The picture, taken from a security camera outside the house, showed a girl in a red dress and butterfly mask.
Auburn hair.
Blue eyes.
Oh fuck.
Bass tasked Micah with killing the girl who overheard us.
He marked Lexi for death.