Chapter 48
Violet
Four weeks later
The knock on my door came at exactly seven o'clock.
I'd been sitting on the edge of my bed for twenty minutes, staring at my hands and trying to calm the nervous flutter in my stomach. Tonight was the Anteros ritual. The third and final trial, though Julian had insisted it wasn't really a trial at all.
I still had no idea what he meant by that.
The door opened to reveal Taisiya. She carried a garment bag over one arm and held a large velvet box in her other hand. “Miss Calloway,” she said. “I’m here to help you get ready for the Anteros ritual.”
“I don’t suppose you can tell me anything about it, can you?” I asked, raising a brow.
She gave me a small smile and shook her head. “No, sorry.”
She hung the garment bag on the closet door and unzipped it, revealing the gown inside. It was stunning. White silk, flowing and elegant, with delicate embroidery along the bodice that looked almost like vines or flowers.
Once I was dressed, Taisiya opened the velvet box to reveal a delicate laurel crown made of gold. She placed it carefully on my head, adjusting it until it sat perfectly. Then she stepped back and studied me with an appraising eye.
“Perfect,” she murmured.
“Thanks, Taisiya.” I smiled at her. “Mind if I take a quick look in the mirror before we go?”
“Not at all.” She gestured toward the full-length mirror near the window. “We still have a few minutes before we need to leave.”
I stepped over to the mirror and studied my reflection.
The white gown made me look ethereal, almost otherworldly.
The silk caught the light as I moved, the embroidered vines seeming to climb from the hem toward my heart.
The laurel crown sat perfectly on my styled hair, making me look like something out of an ancient myth. I barely even recognized myself.
Taisiya cleared her throat behind me. “Miss Calloway,” she said, stepping a little closer. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to say to you.”
My eyes met hers in the mirror. “Yes?”
“I wanted to apologize for allowing Roman Valcourt to put sedatives in your drink a few months ago. You must think I’m a complete—”
“Taisiya, you really don’t need to be sorry for that,” I cut in, vehemently shaking my head.
“You were just doing your job, and I know it’s basically impossible to say no to these men.
And honestly, it’s fine. I understand why Roman did it, and I don’t hold a grudge against him. Or you, for that matter. Not at all.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders sagged slightly with relief. “That’s good to hear.”
“Don’t worry.” I gave her a small, encouraging smile. “I’m never going to mention it to the Council, so you’ll never get in trouble for it. I promise.”
“Thank you,” she said, returning my smile. Her head tilted slightly to one side. “And speaking of keeping things from the Council… I’ve kept your secret too.”
My forehead creased with confusion. “My secret—oh.” My eyes widened. “About me sneaking in here on the night of the initiation ritual, you mean?”
She nodded. “I’ll admit, I was upset when you told me the truth, because my job could’ve been on the line if anyone found out you were here that night and that I helped you leave.
But there was something in your eyes when you told me…
” She paused, slowly shaking her head. “Something sad and desperate. So I kept it to myself. Then, much later, I heard about everything that happened with your sister at BHU last year, and I realized why you sneaked in that night. You thought the Club had something to do with her death.”
“I did,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “I was looking for clues here.”
“I understand. And I promise I’ll never tell anyone. Just like you’ve done for me.”
“Thank you, Taisiya.” A small lump had formed in my throat. “I really appreciate it.”
She nodded. “Most of the people in this Club don’t appreciate workers like me at all. Especially the senior Council members,” she said softly. “We’re paid to do their dirty work and keep all their darkest secrets, and they don’t even learn our names.”
“I’m really sorry. I—”
She cut me off this time. “You don’t need to apologize,” she said, giving me another faint smile.
“I’m telling you this because you did learn my name, and you’ve never forgotten it.
You’ve always treated me like a person, too.
Not like a living appliance. So I can’t think of anyone who deserves to have their secrets kept more than you. The Council can just go and…”
She trailed off, hesitating, and I arched a brow. “Go and screw themselves?”
Taisiya laughed. “You said it, Miss Calloway. Not me.”
“Please, call me Violet.”
“All right.” Taisiya's smile softened. She glanced at the ornate clock on the mantle. ”Well, Violet… it's time. Are you ready?”
I took one last look at myself in the mirror. Then I nodded. “As ready as I'll ever be.”
She opened the door and gestured for me to follow. I gathered the flowing white silk of my gown in my hands and stepped into the corridor.
Taisiya led me through familiar corridors, then down passages I'd never taken before. We descended deeper into the estate, the stone walls growing older and more weathered, until we finally emerged into a large antechamber.
All of the other Selection girls were there, each dressed in flowing white gowns identical to mine, and each crowned with a golden laurel wreath. The room buzzed with nervous energy. Some girls held hands with the person next to them, while others stood alone, faces pale.
Madeline caught my eye from across the room and gave me a shaky smile. I smiled back, trying to project a confidence I didn't feel.
At the far end of the antechamber stood an ancient wooden door, ornately carved with symbols I’d never seen before. Mrs. Astor stood beside it, hands clasped.
“Ladies,” she said, and the room fell silent. “You will each be called in turn. When you hear your name, you will enter through this door.” She gestured to it. “What happens inside is up to you and your Reaper.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. I still had no idea what the third and final trial was actually about. All I knew was the name. Anteros.
I’d read a long time ago that Eros was the Greek god of love, so I could only assume Anteros was the opposite of that… and that didn’t bode well for me. In fact, it scared the hell out of me.
“Miss Ashworth,” Mrs. Astor called.
The girl who'd received a commendation with me at the second trial stepped forward. Mrs. Astor opened the door for her, and she disappeared through it.
It closed behind her with a heavy thud.
We waited for several minutes, but she didn't come back out. The room was silent except for the occasional rustle of silk or the quiet intake of breath. Then Mrs. Astor finally opened the door again.
“Miss Fontaine.”
Another girl stepped forward and vanished through the doorway. She didn't return either.
One by one, names were called, and one by one, girls in white gowns walked through that door and didn't come back. The antechamber grew emptier, and the tension grew thicker.
“Miss Birch.”
Madeline shot me another nervous glance. Then she walked to the door with her head held high, and I watched her disappear.
Now there were only three of us left. Then two. Then just me, standing alone in the vast antechamber.
Mrs. Astor looked at me. “Miss Calloway.”
I took a breath and walked forward on shaking legs. The door swung open, and I stepped through, heart hammering as it closed behind me with a heavy thud.
The chamber beyond looked ancient; far older than the ritual chamber where the Eleusinian ceremony had taken place.
The walls were stone, carved with intricate patterns that might’ve been decorative or might’ve been some long-dead language, and torches flickered in iron sconces, casting dancing shadows across the vaulted ceiling.
The room was circular, and tiered stone seating rose up on all sides like an amphitheater. Every seat was filled.
The entire Council sat in the front row. Behind them were rows and rows of Club members in dark suits. All watching. All waiting.
In the center of the chamber, standing alone on the stone floor, was Julian.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit that made him look like something out of a different era. Dark and devastating and dangerous. His eyes found mine the moment I stepped through the door, and everything else fell away.
For a moment, neither of us moved. We just looked at each other across the ancient stone floor while a hundred pairs of eyes watched us.
Then Julian crossed the space between us in long strides and stopped just in front of me, close enough that I could see the rise and fall of his chest and the tension in his jaw. He was nervous.
He'd always told me the only thing that ever scared him was the thought of losing me. So if he was scared now, it could only mean one thing. He was about to risk exactly that.
“Violet,” he said, deep voice finally breaking the silence. “Anteros was the ancient Greek god of requited love. The kind that is returned and bound by equal devotion. The Club took his name for this ritual for that very reason.”
As he spoke, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small velvet box.
Oh my god…
Suddenly everything was clicking into place in my head. The Anteros ritual wasn’t really a ritual at all. It was a marriage proposal.
I’d known for a long time that the Selection girls and their Reapers got engaged eventually, but I’d always assumed it happened after the training and trials were finished. I’d never imagined that the proposal itself was the final trial.
Julian’s words from four weeks ago flashed in my mind again. It’s not really a trial at all. At least not for you. But it could still be very hard for you. Or it could be easy.
He’d said that because it was about a choice. A massive, life-altering decision that could be very hard or very easy, depending on my personal feelings.
Julian finally opened the box and held it out to show me. The ring inside was stunning. A deep green emerald surrounded by small diamonds, set in what looked like platinum or white gold.
“This ring belonged to my grandmother Helen,” Julian said. “She wore it for sixty-three years, through every challenge life threw at her and my grandfather.” He paused. “She left it to me, and she said I'd know when I found the right person to give it to.”
He took the ring from the box and held it between us.
“I found her,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “I found you. And I love you more than anything.”
The chamber was absolutely silent. I could hear my own heartbeat, my own breathing. Could feel the weight of all those watching eyes.
“Violet Jayne Calloway,” Julian said, voice steady and sure. “Will you be my wife?”
My mind whirled as I considered my response.
I thought of my sister first, who'd stood in a motel room last October, excited and in love, waiting for Roman to find her. Who'd trusted her best friend and paid for it with her life. Who'd never get to wear a white dress or say yes to the man she loved.
Then I thought of the fear I’d felt all those months ago. Of being stalked and hunted. Of fleeing through those woods in utter terror while Julian pursued me.
But then I thought about how he'd protected me for months, risking his own life. How he'd given me space when I needed it and shown up when I asked.
I thought of how he respected me now. How he'd never once tried to control me or diminish me. How he looked at me like I was his equal, not just a possession. How he loved me so damn much, and how I loved him just as fiercely.
When I transferred to BHU four months ago, I was only looking for answers about Cal's death, and I'd planned to finish my degree and move back to California afterward. Find a normal job and live a normal life.
So all of this certainly wasn’t the life I’d planned.
But… it was the life I'd chosen.
I'd chosen it when I stayed after passing the first trial, and I'd chosen it when I passed the second one too. I'd chosen it every day for the past few months as I learned to navigate this world of power and secrets. And I was choosing it now.
“Yes,” I said, lifting my chin high.
The word echoed in the chamber, and Julian's expression instantly transformed. Relief and joy and something fiercer; something possessive and triumphant.
He slid the ring onto my finger. Then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me in front of the entire Club.
The chamber was erupting in applause when we finally broke apart, breathless and grinning.
Julian's forehead rested against mine. “Thank you,” he murmured, bringing one hand up to cup my face. “For choosing this. For choosing us.”
My smile grew even wider, and I kissed him again. Around us, the Dionysus Club kept celebrating, but somehow it felt like it was just us in this moment. Just Julian and me and the future we were building together.
A future that was undeniably ours.