Chapter 25
Kaiser
“Let me get this straight,” St. James says.
He’s gathered all the members of Fraternitas who aren’t on crowd control into a private room.
He’s speaking in Latin, which is what we do when we might be overheard.
His voice is calm, but we all hear the murderous intent.
“A pair of college students broke in and not only infiltrated our security but were on something? MDMA mixed with something else, some sort of herb—”
“My preliminary tests tell me the psychoactive compounds are from a plant called magic mint. Latin name salvia divinorum,” Atticus interjects. “It’s used in religious ceremonies. Like ayahuasca.”
“That explains the hallucinations,” Asmodeus says. “But how did they drug the entire club?”
“Someone spiked the punch,” Atticus says. St. James’s jaw clenches.
I stand. “It’s my fault. The Poisoner’s daughter has to be behind this. I thought I had her under control.” While I was thinking about how I’d make love to her, she was plotting how to create chaos.
“A failure on all fronts then,” St. James says.
“We’ve identified the original culprits.
That one is a known guest,” He points through the one-way glass to a young woman in an observation room—one of Bella’s friends, Honey.
She’s looking defeated in her angel costume, the wings drooping.
“She’s been under our protection for years, but she doesn’t know it.
She had an invite. That wasn’t the problem.
The problem is that she brought a guest named Raine.
Raine used a fake ID, but she belongs to the Saints.
Her stepbrother is Ransom Saint, and he thought she’d been kidnapped. That’s why he stormed the gates.”
Asmodeus whistles. “What a cluster.”
St. James glowers at Honey. “Indeed.”
“What will we do with her?” Atticus asks.
“Cut her loose. But no more invitations to the club. She’s officially banned from all Fraternitas property.
” St. James gives the rest of us our orders and turns to me.
“Lock her down,” he orders. “The engagement party is in two weeks, and the Vesuvios have agreed to attend and talk in terms of a truce. It needs to go smoothly.”
I nod. But when I go to leave, Atticus blocks my way. He peers into my eyes like a doctor would at a routine check-up. “Unilateral mydriasis,” he murmurs. “And subconjunctival hemorrhage. How’s your head?”
“It’s killing me,” I admit. I wait while he studies me. I’m used to him doing this after fights, to make sure I don’t have a concussion. I owe my life to him. He’s healed me up more than once.
“Your fiancée is poisoning you.”
“I know,” I grit out. “I can’t figure out how she’s doing it.” I refuse to eat or drink anything she offers me.
“Can’t or don’t want to?”
I grunt.
“Recreational drugs are a poison,” Atticus muses. “One that the victim craves. Get me samples of anything you suspect, and I’ll test them for you.”
“Will do.”
He nods and steps back. “Good luck, man.” He shakes his head, smirking.
I head back up to Bella.
She’s still stretched out on the couch, sleeping like a baby. She looks so peaceful, but she’s responsible for all the drama tonight. People could’ve been killed. Some were hurt—a few guards and club attendants when the Saints broke in. It’s a miracle that no one died.
So much mayhem, and she’s oblivious.
She’s in big trouble.
I thought I could get her under control.
I’m not one to admit defeat, but she’s chaos. Like weeds in the garden or an untamed jungle. You try to beat the wildness back, but nature always wins.
I don’t want to tame the wildness. I don’t want to break her to my will. I want her to be chaos. I want her to be free.
For the first time in my life, I’ve met my match. Because I would rather die than hurt her.
She wants to fight me? Fine. I’m always the last one standing.
But, for the first time, I want to lose.
Bella
The days after Pandemonium are quiet. Kaiser watches me closely. He finally gave in and fucked me. I’m sore but feeling good.
He doesn’t fuck me again, but he does touch me nonstop when we’re together. My plan is working. The poison is setting in.
I’m feeling like a real supervillain when it’s time for me to go to class.
Summer orientation is kind of boring right now.
They’re talking about sorting us into different Houses.
Blah blah blah, mafia alliances, blah blah.
I’m up to my ears in mafia alliances already.
I can’t focus on the Vesuvios and figuring out who framed my father until I’ve dealt with Fraternitas, so I’m only half listening as I look for Honey.
She’s not always able to sit with me; the professor pulls her up to help him with special projects.
Today she’s in the back, though. When I crane my neck and catch her eye, she gives me a grimace and looks away.
That’s my first sign that something’s wrong. But I don’t think much of it because I can be clueless about these sorts of things.
After class, I wait for her in our usual spot in the library. Typically, Raine finds me here, but there’s no sign of her.
Finally, Honey comes in, drops her bag, and slumps down. She doesn’t look happy to be here. What’s going on?
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine,” she says in a clipped way that tells me she’s really not. “I’ve been banned from Club Empire. For life. As well as all Fraternitas properties.”
“What? Why?”
“Why? Because of all the shit that went down at Pandemonium, that’s why.”
“What happened?” I’m missing something. “Is Raine okay?”
Her face softens. “Raine’s in trouble. Her stepbrother thought she’d been kidnapped. He broke into the club with a bunch of armed men and demanded she be returned to him.”
“No way.”
“Way. Now she’s on lockdown. I don’t even know if she’ll be allowed to return to school.”
“I can’t believe that happened.” I wrack my brain, trying to figure out how I missed all the action. Oh yeah, I was getting dicked down for the first time in my life. “I was… out of it. With Kaiser.”
“It happened after you both went upstairs. It was a cluster. And it would’ve been fine, but everyone was out of it by then. We shouldn’t have taken the lip gloss.”
The lip gloss? Oh, right, the drugs I gave them.
“We both took it, and it was fine. But I think Raine kept sharing it. At one point, she poured some into a punch bowl she found…”
“Oh, no. I didn’t realize that would happen. I thought it would be fun for us.”
“It’s done,” she says wearily. “It’s not your fault; we’re the ones who took it with us. It just sucks.” She looks down at her notebooks. “You know, I’m kind of out of it today. I think I’m going to study in my room.” She stands, and I rise with her.
“Wait, you’re really banned? Is there anything I can do?”
“No.” She packs up without looking at me.
I feel panicky. Is my friend breaking up with me? “I’m so sorry—”
“It’s fine. We’re fine, Bella. I just... need some space. I need to figure some stuff out.”
It’s not you, it’s me. I remember characters saying this on Vampire Varsity when they broke up with someone. This feels similar, but pointing that out won’t help.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper again to Honey’s retreating back. She’s been more stressed now that we’re about to start school, so I don’t take it too personally. But what I did didn’t help.
Not everyone’s immune to drugs like I am. I need to remember that.
I hope Raine’s okay. I send her a quick text. “Thinking of you. Hope you’re okay.”
I know her stepbrother monitors her cell phone, so when the dots appear like she’s texting back, I don’t expect much.
“Hanging in there,” she texts, along with an emoji of a rain cloud and a smiling sun.
I want to apologize for the part I played in getting her in trouble, but I don’t want to say something incriminating. So I add a heart and let her know I’m here if she needs me.
It feels lonely, sitting at the big library table by myself. But I’m fine. I’m used to being alone. If I lose my friendships, it’ll suck, but I’ll survive. And I believe Honey; she might just need some time.
I tell myself the churning in my stomach is indigestion and open my textbook to study.
We’re learning about how the mafia families sorted themselves into Houses.
It’s stupid college games, but everyone acts like it’s important, so I’m trying to care.
The Bulls undergo trials to test their strength.
The Swords do puzzles and tests that require strategy and logic.
The Saints require devotion, and the Serpents prefer deviousness.
At some point, I’m supposed to decide which House I want to try out for. When I first came to college, I was thinking I’d eventually infiltrate the Vesuvios from within, but I’m not sure if I can pull that off.
I want to stay with my friends, but Raine is already a Saint. I don’t know which House Honey will go for. She’s smart and loyal. She could be a Sword or a Saint.
I’m probably a Serpent. I feel like a snake.
I close Time for a Truce: The History of Unitas University. I can’t focus on this stuff. I’ve got too much on my mind.
Pandemonium was a cluster, and I missed it. Does Kaiser know what I did?
He hasn’t said anything about it. Maybe he doesn’t know.
Will he find out? And if he does, what will he do to me?
A few more days pass without him mentioning Club Empire, and I think I’ve gotten away with it. Kaiser and I have settled into a routine: I wake up and get some gardening in while he sleeps in, he takes me to orientation and picks me up, and we eat dinner together like an old married couple.
Something’s changed, though. It feels clichéd to say it, but he looks at me differently now that he’s taken my virginity.
I don’t feel different. Not like Luna, the werewolf queen, when she has a one-night stand with an evil vampire. Or Delilah, who fucks Thorbjorn on the Moon Altar to unlock her Valkeryie powers. Virginity is a social construct.