43. Rurik
FORTY-THREE
RURIK
The final event for Legacy is only masked as a trial.
It’s really one of our biggest parties of the year.
It also involves celebrating our new members by getting them high out of their minds with an array of Viv’s designer drugs and the best way to test them in real time.
We all partake. It’s not just hazing. They show up to the location and are given a token for a gumball machine.
I’m offered a gumball like everyone else, but I pocket the pill I’m given.
Viv told me what they all did and how to rig the system depending on how I want my night to go, but I wasn’t going to risk it.
I can’t be high if something happens. As all her pills work sublingually, they take effect pretty quickly.
After they all take their pills, the recruits are dressed in black robes and lead through campus to the Vault.
I’d normally wait at the Vault for the new recruits, but I don’t trust Ash out of my eyesight.
Not with Mikel out there roaming the streets so I make the whole trip through campus with Ash.
Frederik assured us Ash’s bodyguards were part of Levi’s team and that Levi was cleaning house and would make sure none of them were compromised.
But I still don’t trust it, so I have King looking into them as well.
Just to make sure there are no obvious bribes or red flags.
My father is a snake. He’ll wriggle his way into any place he can.
Mom and Locke found no trace of him, but the Jackal promised to let us know if Mikel returned to the property, but I have no faith he will.
He’s either hiding in New York or near Exitier.
I can’t shake the feeling he’ll come back, even though I have no reason to believe he could still get his hands on Ash.
Which means I’m not leaving Ash alone for the foreseeable future.
I got a doctor’s note and emailed all my professors too, and they gladly switched me into online sections.
So no one can even complain that I follow Ash around all day.
I’m not even stalking him. He knows and holds my hand between classes.
What a long way we’ve come.
Every current member of the Legacy Of Power and some alumni are standing outside the Vault when we approach in their robes and masks, chanting.
The new recruits are brought inside and herded into our ceremony room to take the oath and swear allegiance to the power.
Everyone is high as fuck for this. It’s the only way to get through the boring tradition of it.
We used to just do shrooms or take E, but since Viv joined, we have a lot more fun.
Finally new recruits get to choose their own mask, one they’ll wear for the remainder of their membership in Legacy, and then we party.
It starts inside the Vault but quickly spills out to the courtyard where we have a large bonfire.
It’s pretty trippy as a new member with all the masks and rituals. But still a good time.
I grab a drink because I’m way too sober to deal with a room full of people tripping balls. The music is pounding, and someone upgraded the lighting system to involve strobes and lasers. And, of course, the fog machines are going.
I didn’t see which mask Ash picked because of the long cowl of the robes making it hard to tell which freshman is which. So I comb through the crowd, looking for him. There’s less than a dozen new members, so it’s not that many to search through.
At least I spot what I’m sure is his lanky frame staring at a wall. I laugh to myself and slip up behind him. “Feeling good, baby?”
He turns towards me, and I get a glimpse of his mask for the first time. It’s a beautiful porcelain face like he’s marble, but with raised ornate designs framing the face and growing up one cheek. It’s perfect for him. I couldn’t have picked better.
He stares for a moment before he answers. “What in God’s name did you give us?”
I laugh, sliding a hand around the back of his neck to draw him closer. “You tell me. What color pill did you take?”
Ash tries to rub his eyes. “Pink? I think….”
“Baby, you sound so fucked up.” I can’t help but smile. “Pink is like an LSD trip on ecstasy with the horny from GHB. We’re going to have a good night.” I’m dying to kiss him, but we aren’t allowed to take off our masks until the party is over.
“I’m already feeling that part.” He leans into me and takes my hand, directing it to his dick.
“Fuuuuuck. Baby, that is cruel.”
He laughs, so much lighter than I’ve seen him, and I’m glad. I want him to feel good.
“It’s not cruel. You can fuck me any time you want.” He meets my eyes, daring me.
I exhale, trying to find a scrap of dignity or willpower. But when it comes to Ash, my dick is in the driver’s seat. “You’re trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you?”
He straight up giggles, half-falling into me. “No! But Viv said you wouldn’t be able to resist me and to try it.”
“That asshole set me up for failure!” I glance around for her. “I bet she fucking gave you pink on purpose!”
I pull the slightly disintegrated pill out of my pocket and narrow my eyes. It’s blue, but not tealy-blue pills she’s passing out. It’s just straight up a little blue pill. I gasp.
“What?” Ash looks at my hand. “What’s that?”
I grab his arm and drag him through the throngs of people, finding Viv. “You bitch!”
She bursts out laughing. “I had to!”
“Is this just Viagra?!” I shove it in her face.
“Hey! You broke the rules. You have to take that.” She shoves my hand towards my mouth like she can make me take it.
“Answer the question, dick,” I demand.
“I made it. It’s not only Viagra…it’s also all the horny of ski and a bit of amp.” She keeps laughing. “I made it special for you. You said you didn’t want to be high because you were worried, so I made you hyped up and horny instead. Take it.”
I narrow my eyes. “What’s the bet?”
If there’s one thing we love to do at Legacy, it’s bet on fucking everything.
We have an entire room in the basement dedicated to long-term bets.
There are hundreds of little vaults to write out the bets and the odds, and we keep them there until the event happens.
They bet on everything from who will end up dating, to who will get in trouble later in their career at The Velleity.
Alumni come back all the time to retrieve bets they’ve won and claim victory.
Viv won’t look at me and can’t stop laughing.
“Spill it.”
“I can’t! Locke will get so mad at me. Now take the pill and go enjoy yourself.” She shoves at me.
I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you made a bet with my brother.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t take the pill,” Locke says, appearifying behind me.
“Motherfucker, will you wear a bell?” I exhale and shove the pill back in my pocket so no one can make me take it.
“No.” He assesses me. “Why didn’t you take it?”
“Because I’m not taking a risk. This is already chaos.”
“Mikel wasn’t a Legacy member. He doesn’t know about our events.”
I shrug not gonna argue with him and still not taking the risk. “What was your bet?”
“I bet Viv you could keep it in your pants for one night. But now I’m seeing she’s cheating.”
She giggles again. “You didn’t say I couldn’t influence it!”
“Everyone ends up fucking by the bonfire. That’s hardly fair.” They just have to keep their masks on for it, which after all the drugs makes for a really interesting night.
“I’m far too stoned for this. What did you give me?” Locke closes one eye.
“Something to make you lighter. Enjoy it!”
He huffs at her. “I don’t need to be lighter.”
“Yes you do. You are always scowling!”
I turn to see Ash wandered off. “I need to go herd sheep. Next time, if you want to use me in a bet, fucking tell me, and I get half.”
She rolls her eyes but says, “Deal.”
I find Ash trying to get into the bathroom by pulling a push door. I help him inside and get him into a stall. “What would you do without me?”
“God only knows.” He laughs.
“Do you need me to hold your dick for you?” I ask jokingly.
Ash falls back out of the stall, pointing at me. “No, I can piss just fine.”
I grab his elbow so he doesn’t fall on his face. “For that, I’m glad.”
“Can you kiss me now?” He slides his mask up, revealing his perfect face.
I push my mask up and walk him back into the wall before claiming his mouth.
“Fuck.” He grids his cock against my thigh, and I’m really glad I didn’t take that pill, or I’d have him bent over the sink.
Ash and I dance for a while before making our way to the bonfire.
Half the members end up sleeping in the field passed out in front of the fire, and a bunch of them are already more than halfway gone.
Sprawled all over, some with friends, some fucking, while others dance around the fire. It makes me laugh every year.
Ash lays his head on my shoulder, and we watch the fire. “Thank you.”
“For what, baby?” I tug him closer.
“For everything you’ve done this year.” He glances up at me.
The sentimental part of the high is hitting him. I fucking love it, and I am going to feed into that shit. It’s good for his brain to have the therapy of it all. Be happy. Let go of some of the stress and sink into the good feelings.
“You are worth it. I’d do it a hundred times over.”
“I don’t know why.”
“Because I love you, baby.” Breaking the rules, I push his mask up and raise mine at the same time.
“We can’t!” he says but doesn’t fight the kiss.
“The party is nearly over anyway. Locke can blow me.” I lick the words over his tongue and lay us back on the grass. It’s chilly, and I want to go back to our warm bed, but it’s also nice to just lay here and kiss my boyfriend.
A prick hits the side of my neck, and injecting warm solution into me.
Instinct kicks in, and I swing wildly toward the needle. I make contact with the arm, knocking it free before grabbing the needle and pulling it out of my skin. I check it to see how much I was injected with before I got it out. At least half.
Motherfuck.
I’m going to have a headache.
A team of masked men face me, one of them with Ash over his shoulder.
“Mikel, I swear to fucking God, I’m going to watch the life go out of your eyes tonight.”
Robes are the fucking worst for guns. So I pull my knife out of my boot and throw it at the guy in front of me, who’s already pulling his weapon, It hits him in the chest. I decide who’s the next threat and throw my other knife, but he moves, so I only catch him in the arm.
At least it takes him out of the fight for a minute.
Fuck.
I awkwardly get my 9mm from my armpit carry and stand up, but whatever they injected me with is hitting, and my vision goes blurry. I blink, trying to clear them before I shoot because I don’t want to hit Ash.
I stumble forward, following the guy carrying Ash, but the guy who I caught in the arm is on me, gun pointed at my face. We clash, trying to disarm each other before the other can get a shot off. I throw him to the ground and put two bullets in his forehead.
“Locke, Nik, Viv, where the fuck are you?” I call out, limping toward the guy with Ash. But he shoves him in the back seat of a car, and peels off.
Locke comes running up and takes in the scene. “Ash?”
“Yes.” I drop to a knee, fighting the blackness eating at the edges of my vision. “They stuck us with something. I got two of them, but the third got into a black Range Rover with Ash.” Darkness creeps in and I strain every muscle in my body, fighting passing out.
Nik, Viv, and Kiho find us. They must have heard the gunshots.
“How the fuck are you still awake?” Locke asks, checking my neck.
“Fucking spite.” I grit my teeth.
“Who’s sober enough to follow the car?” Locke asks.
“I’m on it.” Kiho takes off towards his bike parked out front. “Which way did they go?”
I point. “Viv, tell me you have some kind of upper.”
She digs through her sling back and pulls out a syringe. “This is going to hurt.”
“What is it?” My eyes close. It feels like they are glued shut.
“Straight adrenaline just in case someone has a bad reaction.”
“Fuck it.” I gesture for her to give it to me.
“I’m sorry.” She stabs me in the thigh.
It burns like fire going into “Goddamnit!”
“Who else wants something?” Viv asks then doses out what she can give everyone to counter act the drugs in their system at least a little.
“I’m calling Finn. He’ll be more sober than the rest of us and can help.” Viv gets on the phone.
I knew Mikel would use tonight against us. I had a bad fucking feeling.
My phone rings—it’s Kiho. “I think I’m behind them. Did you get a plate?”
“No, I can’t exactly see.”
“Fine. I’ll keep following. Not like there are many Range Rovers out right now.”
Locke opens up his phone. “I got your location. We’ll follow shortly.”
“We need guns.”
“I don’t need a gun. I’m using my hands. I want him to feel how personal his death is.”