Chapter 7
Leo
Iknew this fucking day would come. No matter how much time passed, no matter how hard I tried to push it from my mind, it stayed there, a lingering presence hovering, waiting.
My father’s lineage is a direct line to Isabel Ashcroft; of course it would come, and no amount of willing it away would prevent it from happening.
You’d think we were fucking Targaryens, minus the incestuous relationships, with the way my dad treats us.
From the moment I was born, there were expectations, which is probably why I’m such an uptight asshole most of the time.
I never wanted to attend Corvus College, and I sure as shit never wanted to major in political relations and affairs, like my father did.
I wanted to go to a college outside of Massachusetts and study art.
The one perk that’s come out of attending here is Mia.
And I can’t even have her all to myself. Nothing can be simple.
The room hushes within a split moment, and my head jerks to one of the carved arches off to the side of the room just as The Keepers of the Veil enter in a single file line, their dark crimson cloaks covering their bodies, hoods pulled up over their heads, concealing their faces.
God forbid we know the identity of these fuckers.
Five of them walk in, not a single step to be heard, not a whoosh of their cloaks, only the flicker of candles sitting in their sconces.
Complete silence falls over the room, and I swear, if someone swallowed, you’d be able to hear it.
They take their places at the head of a stone altar that sits in the center of the room, one standing at the head, two flanking either side of them.
It takes everything I have not to roll my eyes to the back of my head at the spectacle.
“If you’re standing here today, it is not by accident, nor by chance or search, but by blood.
It’s your inheritance, a privilege unlike anything you’ll ever receive again.
You are the blood-bound descendants of the five founders of Crimson Veil.
Abel Thorne, Edmund Mortwood, Francis Harrow, Isabel Ashcroft, and Cecelia Grimsley.
For generations, Crimson Veil has endured in silence, hidden among the shadowed halls and candlelit chambers, watching, manipulating, guarding.
Our founders swore that their descendants would one day return when called, and we have maintained that vow since the beginning.
Now, that call has reached you. Time tries to erase all, but it’s failed to erase the names etched in blood into the very ground we stand upon.
They may have long left this world, but you walk it still, their legacy that’s been sleeping in your veins, finally being called forward.
Sanguis vocat ubi verba silent.” The blood calls where words fall silent.
Peachy. Because blood is everything. Fuck, this is insane.
“You will undergo a series of trials that will test your commitment to the Veil. Those who pass will present themselves for initiation. Your trials are an obligation owed to those whose names are carved into the first stones of this society, to the blood that flows through your veins.”
Parker and I look at each other at the same time, our eyes meeting over the altar in the center of the room.
I knew these were coming, and I have a good grasp on the possibilities that could come my way.
I may be in competition with Parker for Mia, but I’ve got this shit in the bag. Game on, motherfucker. Game on.
The keeper continues to talk, but my eyes dart back to Parker, and I can’t help but notice how uncomfortable he looks.
His hands are shoved into his pockets, and he stands off to the side by himself.
I don’t revel in the fact that he looks out of place here.
Hell, if he looked like he fit, I’d question how Mia could be in love with us both. Even if he drives me nuts.
I had no idea he was related to one of the families.
Not that we’ve had many getting-to-know-you sessions.
In fact, Parker and I seem to do our best to pretend like the other doesn’t exist. We’re standing in each other’s way of what we really want, with Mia rotating us around like stars in her orbit.
Now that I think of it, I don’t know a single thing about him other than he was dating Mia for a long-ass time before I came into the picture, and he lives here at Crimson Keep, which means he’s some type of literature major.
Also surprising, now that I’m processing that information.
The candles go out suddenly, all at once, cloaking us in complete darkness.
“Sub velo rubro, veritas dormit,” they say in unison.
Under the red veil, truth sleeps. Thank fuck I’ve stayed on top of my Latin, something my dad required me to study growing up, knowing it would serve me here at Corvus and when the Veil called.
One at a time, each candle around the room reignites, and I take in everyone’s hushed gasps, my eyes lingering a little too long on Parker’s reaction. His cocky demeanor is replaced with a calm surprise. Interesting.
The Keepers walk out the same entrance they came in, disappearing into the darkness.
There’s a moment where we all stand quietly, anticipating something else, but I know better.
Shaking my head, I approach the spiral stone steps that lead upstairs to the hidden door on the side of Crimson Keep.
It opens up to miles of forest stretching out in front of me.
I register the faint steps of someone following me, but I don’t pay them any attention, ready to get some fresh air and find my girl.
Just as I round the corner to the front of the large building, I spot Mia sitting on a bench under one of the lights, bouncing her knee.
She looks up immediately, as if she can feel my presence before she sees me.
Her face lights up for a split second, and then it morphs in horror. Confusion fills me until I catch Parker coming up next to me. For fuck’s sake, can I catch a break? Mia jogs over to us, and I want to reach for her, but the look on her face holds me back.
“Both of you?” Mia’s eyes snap to Parker, her face conveying the same confusion I felt.
I expected this; my family has prepared me for it.
Seeing Parker down there was more than unexpected.
Students at Corvus who are descendants are treated like royalty, and Parker here hasn’t been much more than a fly that won’t stop bothering you, no matter how hard you try to swat him away. “Park, how is that possible? Why?”
Parker grips Mia’s elbow and starts to usher her toward a tight alley between Crimson Keep and the dining hall.
A growl works its way up my throat, involuntary and loud.
Parker throws up his middle finger, shuffling him and Mia out of sight.
I follow them, annoyed that I’m curious what the fuck he was doing down there, but also not liking him touching her.
Mia stands in front of him, her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer. I feel like I’m intruding on something personal with the way they’re looking at each other. Even though she’s pissed off, and he’s clearly annoyed, the tension between them is palpable.
Parker reaches out, tucking a strand of Mia’s silky chestnut hair behind her ear.
She melts into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed.
She’s my girlfriend, and yet they’re so familiar, so comfortable, and so .
. . in love. It’s clear to anyone with fucking eyes and a working brain.
She looks at him exactly how she looks at me.
I’ve known it, but seeing it hits different.
I don’t want it to change things, because fuck him, but I feel like I hate him a little less.
I let out an annoyed huff, breaking whatever trance they were just floating in together. “You gonna share your news, or are we gonna stand here the rest of the night? I’d like to get my girlfriend home and remind her who she belongs to.”
That does it. Parker puffs up his chest slightly, taking a step in my direction. I brace for him, ready to fight this fucker again. “Thought we already had that talk, buddy? You an only child? Never learned to share in kindergarten?”
“Fuck you, Parker. I don’t fucking share. She’s with me, you’re not in the goddamn picture. Spill your fuckin’ secrets so we can all move on.”
“Both of you shut up, for fuck’s sake. I can’t believe you two are adults sometimes. Just put your bullshit aside for five seconds. Parker, what the hell?”
“I’m adopted. It’s not something I broadcast. The parents who adopted me are my parents. I don’t have this desire to go run off and find out more about my biological donors, so I’ve never brought it up.”
“But if you were brought into Crimson Veil, that means your bio parents are descendants of the founders.”
Parker shifts on his feet, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. He’s clearly uncomfortable. The smug satisfaction I expect to feel doesn’t come. Instead, I’m a little jealous. Growing up an Ashcroft has sucked ass.
“Which family?” I say, suddenly nervous, not putting it past my fucked-up dad to not have some love child he gave up twenty-two years ago. Wouldn’t that just fucking figure.
“Harrow.”
Well, that’s a bullet dodged.
“Parker, how did you keep this from me?” Mia whispers, her face falling.
Parker’s eyebrows pinch, his shoulders sagging.
I don’t take any happiness from it, and seeing Mia upset wrecks me.
I take a large step forward, crowding her space, running the back of my fingers down her cheek in an effort to comfort her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s not something that I think about. I was adopted as a baby, and my parents are my parents. I don’t differentiate between blood and adoptive.”
“We’ve known each other for so long, Park, you had to have known being pulled into Crimson Veil would be a possibility.”
“You’re right, I knew it was possible. But I hoped that it wouldn’t come, and I pushed it out of my mind. You have no idea how shocked I was to see that envelope.”
“Not as shocked as I am, apparently,” Mia quips.
Parker looks pained. “I’m sorry.”
“So now what? How did it go?”
“We’re not supposed to talk about it. We can talk in private, but . . .” I pause and look toward the opening of the alley. “We can’t talk out in the open like this. There are ears everywhere.”
“Pretty sure they’ve even got the ravens listening and reporting back,” Parker jokes, and I grunt in a half laugh.
He’s not wrong. This place has always been creepy as fuck, and I’m not above believing it’s haunted.
There’s definitely something darker going on here that I wouldn’t be able to explain.
“Okay, well, do you at least know what to expect? How you’re going to get through the trials?”
“No idea. Kinda assumed all of us would be going in blind, but clearly, I was the odd one out.”
Mia’s eyes snap in my direction, and I start shaking my head, reading her pretty little face before her words speak it all to life.
“Baby . . .” I warn.
“You’ve got to help him. Leo, please. You’ve been conditioned for this your entire life; he hasn’t.”
I card my fingers through my hair, continuing to shake my head. “You know what you’re asking?”
“I do. And I need you two to work together, please. For me. I don’t know what awaits you guys.
The stories are insane, I can’t imagine where the truth lies.
Please, Leo.” I could never tell her no, not if she asked me to walk across hot coals, not if she asked me to help out the other man who’s stuck between us.
Even if I would rather the first option.
“Alright, baby, yeah, I’ll help him.” Mia releases a pent-up breath of relief, and out of my peripheral vision, I clock Parker’s head bop back like I smacked him. He’s probably just as shocked as I am that I’m offering to help.
Really wish Parker wasn’t so embedded in every area of my fucking life.