XXV
Tori
R ight now, aside from myself, the only person I trust is Penny. And even then, I’ve not mentioned the tattoos to her.
So why the hell am I telling Dr. Payne Wright?
The guy who has made it clear he likes me almost as much as Syn does.
Did I manage to give parts of my brain frostbite last night?
“It’s nearly Thanksgiving,” I tell him. “I have until Christmas before my initiation is over, and I know I won’t make it. I know I won’t be coming back to this college in the new year. Whether you like it or not, I’ve only got a few more weeks, and I’m going to do my best to see this through to the end.”
Payne lets out a long sigh as he shakes his head. “It’s not worth it, Tori.”
“Maybe not to you, but I’m going back.”
Leaning back, Payne stretches his arm out over the back of the sofa as he stares at me. “You should at least head home for Thanksgiving. Have a break and spend it with your family.”
I’m not sure what image of a family Thanksgiving he’s got in his head, but I doubt it looks like mine. Since Cole went to prison, Mom has spent almost every single day drunk, and my dad… who knows where he is.
“The only person I want to see is Cole, and I’ll be visiting him on Thanksgiving. But otherwise, I’m staying in Denali House. Hopefully, Syn, Royal, and Gemini will go home to their families, and I’ll have some time to search their rooms. There might be some files on their computers.”
Payne arches an eyebrow. “You know how to hack a computer?”
“I’ll try to be there while they’re using their computers and watch them type their password.” Maybe if I get Royal alone, I might be able to convince him to let me borrow his laptop if I tell him mine isn’t working.
“Are you…?” Payne rubs his hand over his face. “When they’re gone, call me.”
“Do you know how to hack a computer?”
“More than you do.” With a sigh, Payne shifts his weight and leans towards me. “You’re really going to go back, aren’t you.”
It wasn’t a question, but I nod.
Shaking his head, he stands. With no explanation, he leaves the room and heads upstairs. I hear his footsteps above me, the floorboards creaking, then he comes back down and stands in front of me, holding his hand out. “Here.”
I hold my hand up, and he deposits something in it.
A key.
“This is the spare key to my office. If you’re in trouble, and you need my help, call me. If you need somewhere safe to hide, go straight to my office, lock the door behind you, and wedge a chair under the handle. There’s a landline in there…” He tilts his head. “You know how to use one of those, right?”
I’d never actually used one, but I had seen them on old TV shows before. “It’s just like a cellphone, but on a wire.”
“Just like a…” Payne shudders. “Dial 9 before you dial my number. I’ll make sure it’s written down in the office in case you don’t have your cell with you.”
“Thank you.” I slip the key into my pocket.
It’s just after lunch when Payne drops me off on campus. Only the official banners hanging from flag posts and lights give any indication that the place was full of basketball fans yesterday.
Since most people stayed for the game and the Elite party, there are more people walking around today than there usually are over the weekend. I pass several members of the Elite, so I’m not surprised to find Syn, Royal, and Gemini waiting for me when I walk in through the back door.
“Where the hell have you been?”
Gone is the basketball shirt and jeans. Syn’s back in his usual attire, wearing a gray shirt with the top few buttons undone, and charcoal pants. If I hadn’t seen him in jeans yesterday, I wouldn’t have believed he owned a pair.
“You said not to get caught, so I didn’t.”
“You missed breakfast.”
There isn’t a single part of me that thinks he’s even vaguely concerned about my welfare, especially considering only a few weeks ago, he was dictating what and how much I could eat.
“You said not to get caught before sunrise. You didn’t tell me when I needed to be back. I wanted to make sure I passed your test.”
Syn’s eyes narrow. “Who helped you?”
“I thought you were watching?” I almost forgot about the drone until Payne drove me past the place where he found me. The tire marks from Ross’s car were still in the grass, burnt rubber on the road, but the drone was nowhere in sight.
Gemini jumps down off the kitchen counter and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “You owe me a new drone. That one is beyond fucked. Who the hell shoots one up anyway?”
“Sounds like something you’d do,” Royal says.
Gemini purses his lips as he looks at his friend. “You know, that does sound like fun.”
“Who helped you?” Syn repeats, flashing Gemini a look that even I can read as irritation.
“The drone was facing the other way when someone decided to shoot it from the sky. So unless you want to pay for the damages…” he prods me just below my collar bone. “You’d better tell us who to send the bill to.”
If Gemini is trying to play the good cop here, he’s not succeeding. Both Payne and I assumed Syn would have seen it was him, but if they really don’t have a clue, then I’m sure as hell not going to tell them.
“I’ll pay for it,” I say. I have no idea how much a drone costs, but knowing Gemini, it won’t be cheap. Even if it drains my savings, and I have to pay him back until I’m forty, I’m not giving Payne up.
Syn sneers. “You’ll have to spread your legs until you’re thirty to pay for that.”
After last night, I’m sure he’s just wanting to get a rise out of me, but he’s not going to. “I will if they don’t tip like you do,” I tell him, calmly. “People making minimum wage tip better than you.”
Beside me, Gemini bursts into laughter like that’s the funniest thing he’s heard.
“Unless you have any specific tasks for me, I will—”
“Get showered, get yourself fucking presentable, then get your ass to the church. You’re not sleeping tonight until that place is spotless,” Syn says through gritted teeth.
On a good day, the last thing I know I should be doing is provoking Syn, but there’s something really satisfying about getting under his skin. Royal and Gemini being here is probably just delaying whatever punishment he wants to deal, but I walk out of the kitchen with my head held high.
Syn hasn’t given me a timeframe, but there’s only so far that I’m willing to push Syn when he’s in this mood. I hurry through my shower, do my hair and makeup like I’m about to attend class and not spend the next few hours cleaning, and then dress in my maid outfit.
The church is a mess.
It’s not a big building, although there are enough rows of pews to seat nearly all four hundred students. Last night, they’d been pushed back to make room for a dance floor, and most are still lined up along the wall. From the few parties I’ve been to, I know a DJ booth is set up on the altar, and there are usually two pop-up bars at either end.
While the DJ equipment and bars are gone, there’s trash everywhere.
Unlike most college parties, the Elite don’t use the infamous red solo cups. They don’t use anything disposable—it’s all glass.
The floor is covered in glasses of all shapes and sizes, most empty, but some with drinks still inside. Last night, food was also served, because there’s a hot food dispensary with half-full containers, as well as plates, cutlery, napkins, and dropped food all over the church. It’s mainly focused to the edges of the room, except for the middle which is blanketed by broken glass.
And that’s just this room. There’s the balcony above me, and if Syn had something planned for me down below in the crypt, it was likely that would need cleaning too—although that room required a code to unlock.
“Apparently, religion doesn’t require respect if you’ve got enough money.”
The sound of Penny’s voice has me whirling around. She’s wearing leggings and an oversized hoodie that I’m sure she’d say are her ‘scruffy clothes,’ but are still probably brand new. Her pink-tipped hair is pulled back into a high ponytail.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Arching an eyebrow, she looks me up and down. “I’d ask the same, but the outfit is a dead giveaway. I mean, I’m not sure it’s suitable for the location, though I guess we’ve already established the church means s-h-i-t.”
“Penny?”
“Helping you.”
I’d had a couple of messages from Penny that I replied to on my walk over. After assuring her I was fine, I told her I’d call her later and explain why it took so long to reply, since I had to clean the church.
“I was going to call you as I cleaned,” I told her. “You don’t need to be here.”
“Name one TV show or movie where the aftermath of a college party didn’t look like Hazmat was required.” She wrinkles her nose as she picks up an empty wine glass by the stem. “This place is gross.”
“Exactly. You don’t need to help.”
Penny sets the glass back down. “I don’t see anyone else here, helping. And I doubt anyone’s coming. Besides, if I’d smoked enough crack to try to be in the Elite, you’d be here helping me.”
“I think I love you.”
“You do,” she says with a nod. “It’s hard not to. But you need to keep those feelings platonic, because I’m already in a committed throuple.”
As she joins my side, I turn back and survey the church with her. No matter how long I stare, it doesn’t look any better. “I came up here to see how bad it was, and what I’d need to clean. I’ll head back and get some supplies.”
“This place may be more club than church, but I’m willing to bet…” Penny frowns and looks up at one of the murals before sighing. “If I was a gambling person, which I’m not—I bet this place is like my synagogue. There’s got to be a cleaning closet somewhere.”
“Penny, I’m going to remind you that we’ve drank in this place before,” I tell her in a theatrical whisper. “On a Sunday, too.”
She turns, folding her arms. “FYI, Saturday is the Shabbat, not Sunday. But that was before you moved into Lucifer’s house. While you’re in there, I’d rather not piss off any god, especially if we’re going to be asking favors of him in the future.”
I knew she was trying to make light of the situation, but I wasn’t sure any god was going to help me with what I was prepared to do anyway.
While I start collecting glasses, Penny walks around the room, disappearing behind every door she can open. It’s not long before she’s carrying a stack of cardboard boxes in.
“Good news,” she says, setting the pile down. “Whoever set up left all the boxes for the glasses, plates and silverware.” She points at the box. On top is the JKU crest with Dining Services printed below it. “Who’d have thought the college would supply the means for underage drinking and debauchery. I was expecting a service from the city.”
“I’m sure the paperwork says something like, student-teacher conference.”
“I also found the cleaning supplies.” She pulls out two brand new pack of rubber gloves from her hoodie pocket, passing one to me. “I’m taking the glasses, and you can deal with the trash.”