Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nyx
The First Time – Damiano David
Iexplode in a stupid giggle the second Peach’s and Ella's faces fall. Next to them, Alex's eyes have turned heart shaped.
"You have got to be kidding me," Peach chokes out. "Like, finished finished?"
I shake my head. "No, he says he's got some stuff he wants to add, but almost finished."
"You're a muse," Ella says dreamingly. "You made Achilles compose again. I can't believe it."
Alex hugs the decorative pillow she's got on her lap, her hazel eyes blinking slowly as she observes me.
We're sitting in one of the common rooms in the castle, using an entire corner to ourselves.
It's one of the only rooms with enough gothic windows to let in the natural lighting.
Outside, the end-of-October rain batters against the stained glass, and a shiver runs down my spine.
It's been three perfect weeks with Achilles. We go to campus during the day, but spend every evening and weekend holed up at his lake house. Practicing the violin with him has always been a dream, but the fact that it usually ends with us naked and testing some new limits sexually is something I could’ve never imagined.
There's so much more than sex and music.
That alone is crazy to say, but to think that Achilles and I share what was once a shameful secret is almost unbelievable.
He hasn't shared anything about his sexual assault except what he admitted that night.
Still, the shame has been taken away, for both of us, and we've been free to explore who we are outside of the trauma that forged us.
And then there's the Circle. He taught me everything.
A little more every day. His dad is called Zeus because he's the leader.
And there are three board members. Every year, new recruits try to initiate, and they have to bring a woman with them.
She'll either become a Hera, their future wife, or an Aphrodite, who become sex toys for the Shadows. The Shadows are the initiated members. There's so much they control, things I can’t even begin to wrap my head around. Achilles shared many things he was supposed to keep to himself. Roles of their members, his friends. I know a lot about people from this university, mainly that Achilles said he’d never join, which is why his dad can't know about us.
"So…" Peach shifts closer to me. "What's Achilles like when he's not an asshole?"
Another laugh leaves me, my cheeks heating. "I don't know. Surely, you've experienced it. You guys have known him forever."
They eye each other for a few seconds.
"Not really," Alex says softly. "We love him, but he's always been the problematic friend. His caring side comes out so rarely that I'm not even sure when the last time we saw it was."
"For me, it was when my dad died," Ella admits. "He took care of me then. But that was two years ago."
Peach shrugs. "I don't know, I just argue with him. Always with love, though."
We all laugh, but they still look at me expectantly.
"Okay, um," I start thinking. "He cooks a lot, which is…a work in progress."
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. He cooks for you?" Ella says with visible excitement.
I nod as butterflies flutter in my stomach at the thought.
"That guy hates cooking," Peach insists. "What have you done to him?"
Biting my lip, I shrug. "I didn't ask for anything. He said he wants to get better at it."
"What else, what else?" Alex giggles.
"Uh, we practice the violin together. He takes the time to help me improve."
Peach slaps Ella's thigh. "Evelyn must be dying of jealousy."
My heart drops, not liking hearing her name. I know her and Achilles used to sleep together, and there's no other way to put this: I'm a jealous girl.
Every Monday, I see her at rehearsals, eyeing me while she talks with Achilles. I haven’t shown him that side of me, but I'm silently fuming while I watch them.
"Did they ever date?" I ask, trying and failing to act aloof.
"Achilles doesn't date," Ella replies automatically before it hits her. "Well, he didn't use to."
"There's no easy way to say this. Evelyn is the groupie who got lucky because they fucked more than once.
But no matter how many times she asked him to help her practice, to give her advice…
he never did. It used to annoy him how insistent she was about it.
He stopped seeing her when she went through his music sheets to see if he'd composed anything.
But then he took her to his room at the start-of-year party.
I don't know; that man is complicated, Nyx. "
I remember seeing her on her knees, with that terrarium between them, when I exited the bathroom.
"I don't think he's complicated," Alex chimes in. She looks at me with shining eyes. "I think he hadn't found the right person."
But am I the right person for him? Because I'm worried about what's to come. That not everything is going to go the way he wants it to. And Achilles is a dangerous man when things don't go his way.
"Next thing you know, Achilles is going to come on quadruple dates with us," Ella squeaks, eyes sparkling. "Changed man."
"I think he'd rather be thrown in shark-infested waters." Peach snorts.
Our laughs are cut off by all our phones beeping at the same time, and a coldness falls over the group.
"Ugh, come on," Peach groans. "Hermes has been relentless lately."
The last post was something about Evelyn, and how her brand-new relationship with one of the law postgrads, Calvin Park, gave social-climbing energy. It made no sense to me. Evelyn is rich. Calvin is rich. They're all the same to me.
"Who wants to check?" Alex asks shyly. "Because I don't have the strength."
Ella and I are both on it, Peach following a few seconds later.
"It's not that bad," I say at first glance.
Hermes posted a Most Likely To… Elite version carousel with some people's pictures. The caption reads,
Preparing our yearbook…Am I missing anyone?
#letmeintoyourCircle #theeliteoftheelite
"What the fuck?" Ella mutters, the color draining from her face.
"Shit," Peach whispers.
I look down again. The first picture is of Camila Diaz's boyfriend. She was Hermes's target when there was a series of women and the identical necklaces they wore. Now her boyfriend Marcus is the first picture on the post with the explanation written on his face.
Most likely to…spread propaganda and suppress important stories: Marcus Wesley
Thanks to…his daddy who owns two major media outlets.
I swipe to the right. It's a picture of Calvin Park.
Most likely to…feed you poison and sell you the antidote: Calvin Park.
Thanks to…his family owning a food company mass producing processed food all the while being a major shareholder of the biggest pharmaceutical company in the country.
I feel the girls shift, but my focus stays on the post.
Most likely to…steal everything you worked for: Christopher Murray
Thanks to…the law firm that hired him being responsible for 79% of hostile takeovers in the last five years.
"Motherfucker is outing us," Ella snaps. "How do they even know all that?"
I swipe to the last picture.
Most likely to…get away with murder: Achilles Duval
Thanks to…his state attorney general daddy who allows all the previously mentioned to happen under his rule. It must be nice to own us all.
When I look up, I'm faced with three pairs of helpless eyes that hide many secrets. But none of the people they belong to decide to share them with me.
"Nyx," Peach hesitates. "Did you know about any of this?"
I shake my head because I promised Achilles I wouldn't say anything. Truth is, I knew about every single person on this post.
Peach's gaze shifts from hiding something to suspicion, but she still smiles at me.
"Okay, never mind."
The air shifts as everyone around us reads the post. There's no trust between the students here, and everyone looks like both victim and perpetrator as I glance around the room.
"Is it true?" a girl asks as she walks up to our spot. "Could Achilles get away with murder?"
"Fuck off, Cassie," Peach throws back at her. She speaks in a calmer tone to me. "Don't talk to her; she secretly records everything for the Silver Students Post." Then she turns to her again. "How much do you help Hermes?"
Cassie rolls her eyes, looking right at me. "Are you officially dating? Did he share any family secrets? Who does his dad protect?"
"Uh," I hesitate, realizing more people are gathering around us, expecting answers.
From the corner of my eye, I notice Peach texting quickly on her phone, but I'm brought back to the group when Cassie keeps talking.
"If you're here thanks to his dad's scholarship, isn't it dirty money?"
"What the— How am I supposed to know?"
"Well, he fucks you, doesn't he? Doesn't he share a few things?" That's not Cassie, but it's a taunting voice I recognize all too well.
I grit my teeth as I turn to Evelyn. "Why do you want to know? Jealous?"
"Rich boy tries something new with poor girl. We all know how the story ends."
My three friends stand up at the same time. "Alright, everyone, fuck off," Peach nearly barks.
Some people go their own way, but Evelyn and Cassie don't move.
"He shared secrets with me when he fucked me. Like, you know…" She points at my left ear and silently mouths, when he told me that you're not only poor, but you're also deaf. Unlucky.
Alex, Peach, and Ella can't possibly know what she just said since I had to read it on her lips. She did it on purpose, so my reaction would look completely disproportionate.
I fall for it anyway.
"Bitch, you're dead," I hiss as I throw myself at her.
In true North Shore style, my fist flies, hitting her square in the jaw. She cries out, falling back as others gasp around us.
"Nyx!" Alex calls me as I sense everyone moving closer.
I punch her a second time, but she doesn't even try to hit back, only protecting herself and failing miserably.
I faintly hear Peach yell at someone. "Fucking do something, idiot!"