XXXXIV
Royal
W hen I was six or seven, I asked my oldest brother, Wesley, if he wanted to play with me. Being the youngest of four, there’s nearly nine years between me and Wes, so we didn’t play together very often anyway. I remember Wes turning to me and telling me that when I finally understood the concept of money and how much we had, the most valuable thing in the world was time. And he had zero to give to me.
It had taken a few more years to understand what he meant, and that him not spending time with me had little to do with the age gap.
The members of the Elite come from some of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the country, but it’s easy to see who has generational wealth and who was brought up by a parent or grandparent who made it lucky, just by how they act when summoned at such short notice.
Punctuality is a sign of respect.
But how early you are is a clue to how long your family has had money.
Generational wealth members arrive no more than ten minutes early, and no later than five minutes early. Anyone else will be there either side of that.
Most meetings are attended by the executive committee, and any which require the whole society are usually planned with a little more notice—unless it’s during the initiation. Regardless of how much time or information anyone gets, no one is ever late.
As unforgiving as Syn is, it’s been this way since I was an initiate, and even back when my grandfather was one. Syn, Preston, Garret, William—all the Elite presidents from when I started—are the most powerful people in the room, and even if you can’t stand them, you don’t be late.
Syn makes us walk straight to the church, calling Gemini and telling him to meet us there. The first people arrive a few minutes after us. All of them, as expected, are those new-rich students.
Syn’s already standing at the front of the room, arms folded as he glares at them. I can sense their nerves as they keep shooting furtive glances over at their president, but I doubt they can tell Syn’s ready for a massacre. In their eyes, that’s how he normally acts, and to the untrained eye, it would be hard to tell otherwise.
But I’ve known Syn all my life, and I can tell.
There’s a single finger tapping his arm.
Considering the cold, disapproval on his face, that won’t stand out to anyone else, but to me, it’s like he’s holding a banner. My problem is that I’m not sure what underlying emotion is poking at the surface.
Someone’s gone directly against him, so anger makes sense, but I don’t think that’s it. Or, at least, I don’t think that’s just it. Despite being a starring member of the video, I know it’s not embarrassment. When Syn announced to the Elite that Tori was to take part in the initiation, he told everyone then that we had been the ones to take care of that part of the ceremony, so it’s not like there’s a person in this room that doesn’t know it’s us, even if you can’t tell from the video.
It's certainly not a concern—for Tori, at least. The last person he cares about is her. Maybe it’s the fact that this is now out on the internet, and someone might link it back to him, and therefore his father might find out.
But I’m sure there’s something else.
I’m just not sure what…
Almost on cue, at the ten-minute mark, the generational wealth members start to appear, almost in one continuous line, into the room. With them is Gemini, who walks over to me.
“Anything?” I ask.
Gemini frowns. “The files were deleted just before midnight last night. And whoever did it was able to delete their access log.”
“We were hacked?”
Before Gemini can respond, Syn clears his throat. The effect is like he’s told everyone to be quiet as the room falls into silence. One of the freshmen gets up, moving to the doors to close them, then quickly returns to her seat.
“At ten forty-five this morning, the video of Victoria Reynalds’ initiation ceremony was released. I want to know who did it,” Syn says without wasting any time on pleasantries.
Like Syn and Gemini, I scan the room, looking for anyone’s reaction that seems out of place. There’s a mixture of surprise and confusion as people quickly figure out that Syn wasn’t the one behind the release, but there’s no one who looks smug or even scared.
“Why? You going to give them a reward?” Rylan Parrish mutters, just loud enough to be heard over the hushed whispers that started up the moment Syn asked the question.
“Actually, yes,” Syn says, giving Rylan a smile.
Syn has this ability to turn a smile into a weapon, but this one is what I call the politician’s smile: friendly but fake. I’ve seen his genuine smiles, and this isn’t one of them. But it’s also one that makes him seem sincere and charming.
Instead of shrinking back into his seat, Rylan, like almost everyone else, sits up, looking at both Syn and each other with interest. As they do, I realize that there are a few people missing from the room.
“Although these videos are filmed with your consent, it is never the intention of the Elite to release any of them,” Syn says. “They exist so that we can protect each other as we thrive, but after that initial performance, they are forgotten about. As I hope you all figured out, Victoria Reynalds was never going to join the Elite. In fact, I was preparing to tell you—and her—this decision in a special closing ceremony next week—”
The door to the room opens, and the two missing people, Declan Salaway and Katherine Clemments, walk in. Syn doesn’t say a word, just glares at them.
“I’m so sorry,” Katherine mumbles as she sits in the first available seat. “I was too drunk to put my phone on charge last night.”
“Fell in the snow,” Declan mutters, unable to make eye contact as he hurries across the room to the only available seat. To be fair, he looks like he rolled to the bottom of the hill, because his clothes are rumpled, and there’s a scratch on his face.
Syn sucks his teeth and shifts his weight. In the blink of an eye, his politician smile is back on his face. “As I was saying, whoever released the video, did me a favor, and I would like to reward them, so whoever it was, please stand up and take a bow.”
No one stands. As more time passes, the whispers are getting louder as people look around the room.
“I’m not sure why this person is being so shy, and I do hope they will reach out to me after, but I would like to thank them and acknowledge them with a round of applause.” Syn starts clapping his hands, and although everyone—including myself—is a little thrown by this, we all join in the applause.
Gemini leans over to me. “Why’s he doing this?”
“Acting nice or the meeting?” I ask.
“Syn acting nice is scary as fuck, and he would get a better response if he threatened everyone instead, but I mean, the meeting.”
I stop scanning the crowds and look at Gemini with a frown. “Because someone released that video without his permission.”
Without dismissing anyone, Syn comes to join us. “You’ve found them?”
“No, and I’m not sure you can,” Gemini tells him before I can reply. “The only people with access to the Elite files are members of the executive board, but the folders with these videos are password protected, and the only ones with the password are us.”
“And yet, the only ones aware that those videos even exist in the first place, and that she is an initiate, are in this room. And if not, we were hacked.” Syn gives Gemini a smile. Not his genuine one or his politician one. It’s his cold, dangerous smile.
“Whoever did it deleted their log. I didn’t have time to look into it more, because I had to be here.”
“Which narrows our field further, because who in this room do you think has the skills to hack your security?”
“No one,” Gemini says loud enough to draw some attention.
“And yet…” Syn walks back to the front of the room, just before Gemini can punch him. “Okay, this is the last chance I’m going to give for someone to stand up and take their much-deserved credit.”
Once more, no one steps forward.
The fake friendliness evaporates, and the cold, dangerous smile curves on Syn’s face. “Then let me put it this way. The person who did this will make themselves known before the end of the day, otherwise every person in this room will find their own videos uploaded onto the internet tonight.”
“You can’t do that!” someone cries out, though I don’t catch who it was over the sudden uproar.
“I absolutely can,” Syn disagrees. “And I absolutely will. And because I’ve wasted enough of my time with this, you can figure it out amongst yourselves.”
“Are you really going to release them?” I ask as Syn walks back to me and Gem.
The look he gives me makes me realize I asked a stupid question. If Syn says he’s going to do something, he will.
“Now what?” Gemini’s watching the chaos in the room with a big grin on his face.
“We head back to the house, and you can figure out how the hell someone hacked your computer.”
The grin vanishes from Gemini’s face, but before he can respond, Syn is already walking towards the door. Despite the uproar in the room, he still manages to glide towards the exit with everyone stepping back out of his way, like nothing has changed.
Both Gemini and I follow, and although I can feel the irritation radiating from Gemini, he says nothing until we’re outside and walking back towards the house. “I wasn’t hacked, Syn.”
The snow is falling heavily now, and it’s starting to become difficult to see where the path ends, and the grass starts. Any footprints that had been made as everyone walked up to the church are already invisible.
“At Thanksgiving, my father told me he knew Victoria was here, that I shouldn’t have allowed her into the college, never mind let her take part in the initiation. Then he told me that she needed to go. Last night, Preston turned up to wish me a happy birthday, and to make sure I’d carried out my father’s orders.”
“You think Preston released the tape?” I share a look with Gemini.
Gemini shrugs, stuffing his hands into his hoodie. “We weren’t hacked, which means the only people who could access the files are those with a password. But so what if du Prick did release it? He did your job for you, you keep your hands clean, and Vicki the Vixen is gone. Or did you want to keep her fur as a trophy? Why go to all the trouble for that meeting?”
Syn shoots Gemini a withering glare but doesn’t stop walking. “This morning, I went to visit Cole Reynalds. He told me he killed JP.”
“So what?” Gemini asks.
“I don’t believe him.”