The hall was spookier now that I was walking it on my own. I could hear a light hum of chatter as I passed some of the doors, so I hurried past those, rushing to the stairs, which I sped down. At the bottom, I found Logan standing there in a black cloak of his own, his face uncovered. Somehow, he looked handsome even in that getup, and you couldn’t even see his athletic frame or washboard abs. His face though, that jawline and those dark green eyes that seemed to be tuned into everything they looked at, made him sexy regardless of what he was wearing.
“Did you do anything naughty while you were up there?”
“Did you do anything naughty while you were fantasizing about me in all the lingerie you bought me?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe.” His gaze heated as he looked me up and down. “Are you wearing any of it right now?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“I might be wearing something red.” I leaned in closer and whispered, “but I might not be wearing anything at all. I guess you’ll never know.”
We stared at each other for a beat. Logan opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by a door opening behind us.
“You may enter,” Nolan said. His head was covered, but I knew his voice now. “Pull your hood up please.”
I did as I was told. I assumed Logan did as well, but I couldn’t see very well with the stupid thing on my head. With the limited sight I had, the only thing I could make out was a long dinner table with candles lit all down the middle. There were at least ten others wearing black cloaks in here. I felt a hand at my back leading me, and I walked slowly, careful not to trip over the hem of the cloak. Logan, or who I assumed was Logan, stopped me once I reached the front of the room. A black wall with an enormous gold octopus painted on it was in front of me and a stage was set up there too. An empty stage, save for a podium off to the side, and a large chair fit for a king or queen. The doors opened again, and on instinct, I turned my face toward the noise, but all I saw was a black figure moving to the stage.
“Tonight, we are welcoming you into our family. You will sign our creed, you will spill blood for us as we will for you, and you will sleep under our roof, which will soon be yours as well. Being part of our family means above all else—loyalty.” It was a female voice, and she paused. “You don’t want to test our loyalty by talking to others about us or what happens behind closed doors here. People who have done that in the past have been banished from The Eight.”
“The creed consists of five rules, five simple rules that you must follow. Much like the Ten Commandments but even simpler and impossible to forget. You will be summoned at some point throughout the night, but until then, you can relax and unwind here. We usually set up a camping night in which you will share a tent with your partner, so I’ll keep you posted on that,” she said. “That’s all I have for you right now. Welcome, and I can’t wait to meet you all without these stupid cloaks.”
A few people chuckled. My mind stayed on her words about being banished from The Eight. I wondered if that was what happened to my brother. Had he gotten kicked out for some reason? Maybe for telling Lana about the society? Had that been what pushed him over the edge?
Chapter 28
“I don’t understand how everyone can just be so nonchalant about all of this,” I whispered as I sipped on the champagne handed to me.
“I can’t speak for everyone else,” Logan whispered back. “My mind is still on whether or not you’re wearing underwear underneath the cloak.”
“You’re such a guy.” I laughed, shaking my head.
“Last I checked.” He met my gaze as he took a sip of champagne. “Are you going to tell me?”
“No.”
“Okay.” He shrugged, still staring at me. “I’ll pretend I know.”
“Let me guess, you’re going to pretend I’m naked.”
“Fuck no, are you kidding? I’m going to pretend you’re wearing the red lace. That way I can drag it off you with my teeth.”
My nipples puckered against the cloak. “You’re not supposed to say things like that. You don’t even know if I want you.”
“Don’t I?” He cocked his head. It would’ve been stupid of me to deny that claim at this point in the game, but I felt the need to add something nevertheless.
“Besides, I’m not one of your groupies.”
“I never said you were. If you were one of my groupies, we wouldn’t be having this conversation and your panties would already be on the floor.”
I tore my gaze from his, ignoring the explosion of emotions inside of my chest. There was absolutely no way I was going to get out of this ordeal unscathed. This was the guy I was assigned as a partner? How? I wouldn’t survive this and it had nothing to do with vanishing and everything to do with my overactive hormones. I drank the rest of my champagne.
“Slow down on the alcohol, Amelia.”
I met his gaze again. “You’re not my father, Logan.”
“Cheers to that.” He lifted his glass. “I’m not telling you to slow down because I don’t think you can handle your alcohol. I’m telling you to slow down because later on, you’ll wish you had. Take it from someone who got shit-faced at this thing and regretted it.”
“When are you going to tell me about my brother being here? And about Lana?”
“Can we talk about this another time?”
“No.”
“Then we need to head to our rooms because I’m not having this conversation here.”
“What a coincidence, you want to be alone in a room with me.” I raised an eyebrow. “Is that part of your plan?”
“What plan?”
“To find out what’s under the cloak.”
“I just want to point out that you’re the one who keeps bringing it up, not me.” He set his glass down. It was still full. “Let’s go.”
We walked to my room in silence. When we reached my door, I stopped walking and turned to him.
“I want to see your room.”
He walked to the door beside me, pulled a key out of his pocket, and unlocked it.
“Why do you keep it locked?”
“I don’t want any surprises.”
“Do you think someone would sneak into my room?” My eyes widened as I looked at the wall that separated our rooms.
“Only if they want me to kill them.”
I stared at him for a moment, trying like hell to ignore the way I wanted to kiss the hell out of him.
“So, talk to me about Lana. What happened? You guys said you’d give me answers. I want answers.”
“The first answer I’m going to give you, you’re not going to like.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“Your brother was the last person to see her,” he said. “He left her in the woods.”
Chapter 29
“That’s bullshit,” I whispered, then a little louder, “That’s bullshit. You’re just saying that because you don’t want to get in trouble.”