Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Chris
Monster - Shawn Mendes, Justing Bieber
“ C hristopher.”
My eyes reluctantly leave the door Ella just slammed to turn to the plea coming from Celine Baker.
“You have to marry her. You have to bring the Baker family back into the Circle.”
I feel my features twisting in a sorry face. This woman is desperate enough to marry her only daughter to a Shadow when she’s experienced exactly what it entails for most of her life. It says a lot about her or her predicament. Or both.
“Mom, that’s enough,” Luke snaps next to me. “For the last time, we are not involving Ella in this. She’s a fucking kid.”
She’s twenty-two , I don’t say. She’s his little sister, so he’s always seen her as a baby.
“And”—he gives me a quick tap on the shoulder—“no offense, Chris, but there is absolutely no chance in this fucking life I’m letting you anywhere near my sister. Ella, whenever she’s ready, and whenever she wants, can introduce a guy to this family who isn’t part of a secret society, and isn’t a man I’ve seen fuck countless women. Thank you very much.”
I’ve fucked your sister countless times already. That I definitely don’t say.
All of Luke’s friends got the talk when Ella started high school. We were in senior year.
Stay away from her unless she needs help. Don’t touch her. Keep other guys away from her. And do not, under any circumstances, have sex with her.
We had been neighbors our entire lives already; he should have said something before I fell for her. And I fell hard way before high school.
“She deserves a chance at staying out of all this mess, okay?” my friend insists. “Give me some time, and I’ll find a solution.”
“Time?” Celine starts laughing hysterically. “The Circle killed your father today, Lucas. I don’t think you understand time has already run out. We need to get back in, or we’re dead. We need to choose her a husband.”
“There is still a possibility he killed himself.”
“You’re so na?ve.”
“Celine.” Cutting off their useless back-and-forth, I move toward the door Ella closed.
It’s automatic for my lungs to inhale deeper when I stand where she was. I want to smell her. Her perfume of sweet vanilla with undertones of lavender feels like a bittersweet memory. The sweetness of the vanilla brings out who she really is, and the touch of lavender reminds me of spring. Like Persephone herself gave her the fragrance. It’s her favorite season. She always says when she sees flowers on the trees, everything starts all over again .
I focus on Ella’s mom again.
“You know the process to bring a potential wife into the Circle,” I say calmly, trying to defuse the tension. “We can’t just bring someone in, say ‘I choose her,’ and put a ring on her finger. It’s more complicated than that.”
“Not to mention, he’s already bringing in Megan,” Luke adds. “You know? His actual girlfriend.”
A topic I don’t like to touch upon, so I ignore it. “All we can do is bring a woman to the initiations. Whether she becomes a Hera or Aphrodite is not up to the person who brought her.”
Luke’s head turns to me. “What does that even mean?”
In my pocket, I play with a pearl I roll between the pad of my thumb and forefinger. It keeps me collected.
“When we want to become a full member and bring someone to marry, they have to go through initiations. It’s a one-night event where…” I hesitate, knowing his own mother went through the process. It’s best to keep it PG. “They go through some tasks, and by the end of the night, the Circle decides if they’re fit enough to be a Hera. The wife. If not, they become one of the Aphrodites.”
“Aphrodites?”
“The mistresses.” And that’s putting it in a nice way.
Luke brings a hand to his face, massaging his temples with his thumb and middle finger.
“See, this is why I keep Els away from all this. This is fucked up. This whole process doesn’t even make sense. If you bring Megan to be your wife, why can’t she just be your fucking wife?”
“Because that’s not how it works. Women are like a payment to get in. It doesn’t mean Megan will be my Hera. Well, in my case, she probably will, because God knows the woman won’t let anyone near me, but the rule is that you bring someone and then they have to fight to get to you,” I explain, rolling the pearl again. “The potential wives we bring compete against some women who enter by themselves, hoping to become a Hera to a Shadow. But even the women who enter by themselves technically have to get an invitation by a Shadow. It just doesn’t have to be a new Shadow. It can be an established one.”
His hanging mouth and wide eyes are pretty much how I reacted the first time I was told this. Did it make sense to me? Absolutely not. Did I have a choice in it? Not really.
“You could bring both Megan and also get Ella an invitation.” Despair is dulling Celine’s usually bright blue eyes. She brings her handkerchief to her cheek. “Please, Christopher.”
“That would be a terrible idea. The balance isn’t fair. There are too many women for the number of Shadows. The Shadows are not good men. The whole process is rigged so they know they’ll have a pool of mistresses once the initiations are over.”
Luke turns an inquiring gaze toward me. “How do you even know Megan is going to become a Hera?”
I wave a hand, barely able to fake caring about her. “Megan is not only a legacy, but her dad is also a board member. She would never become an Aphrodite.”
“Ella could get an invitation...”
“ Mom! ” Luke barks.
“We have to do something!”
I shake my head. “Those girls never stand a chance. She will most certainly become an Aphrodite then. That’s… Celine, you know that’s not a good thing.”
“Is it not? When a Shadow becomes a widower, they have to pick a wife from the pool of Aphrodites. This might not be ideal for her now, but it will be down the line. And it means the Bakers are in again.”
“You would not be in by having a daughter as an Aphrodite.” It’s becoming harder and harder to argue calmly, but I respect this woman. Or at least I did until she started pushing her agenda on me. Ella’s future is in my hands, not hers. And only I will decide how this is going to go down.
“We would be in enough that our debts would be wiped. That’s all I want.”
“It would be a nightmare for Ella. Once you initiate, you can’t go back. You’re either a Hera or an Aphrodite, but you don’t get to be normal again. What if no one ever picks her to be a wife? She wouldn’t be able to pull back. She’d be stuck as a mistress. Like I said, women who enter on their own still have to be vetted by someone to come to the initiations, and I won’t be that person.”
She stands up, walking slowly toward me, hope helping her stay balanced in her grief.
“You might not have a lot of power within the Circle right now, but I know you have enough to get my daughter an invitation to the initiations.”
I open my mouth, but she cuts me off.
“Initiations are in two weeks. Think about it.”
My mouth drops open. This woman has lost the plot. Shaking my head slightly, I put my hand on her shoulder to lessen the blow.
Images of the kind of initiations Ella would have to go through almost make me weak at the knees.
“I’m sorry, Celine. This goes against everything I stand for. And I could never do that to my best friend’s sister. What I will do, though, is mention Luke to the board. If I convince them he’ll bring someone, they might let him get initiated.”
I can practically see the hope shattering in the depths of her eyes. She has no faith in Luke getting in. But when I hear the sigh of relief from my friend, I know I did the right thing. After all, I need him to believe I have his sister’s best interest in mind.
Ella Baker will be mine again.
But only on my terms.