by Ivy Fox
“It was my mistake. I know now that a man like him could never be part of such a club.”
“How can you be so sure? The fucker ticks all the boxes of a sociopath primed to do The Society’s dirty work.”
I shake my head.
“No, he doesn’t. And you’re wrong about him being a good candidate for The Society. He told me himself they want nothing to do with him.”
“Wait?! Hold the fuck up, Em. The fucker admitted he knows them?”
“No, not in those words.” I bite my inner cheek.
“Em, look at me,” Colt orders, grabbing me by the shoulders. “If you know who they are, then you have to tell me.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I did.”
“I will. I promise. Now please, Em. Just tell me.”
It’s the urgency in his voice that does me in.
“The reason why I think Montgomery could never be a member falls down to two other men who I believe are.”
“Okay… who?”
This is it.
Oh, God.
“I believe that your father is a member and… your cousin, Lincoln.”
His eyes go wide as he stares at me like I’ve grown an extra head.
“Emma, you can’t be serious,” he blurts out.
Knowing that he won’t believe me until he sees actual proof, I jump off the bed and go into my closet. Behind the hanging winter coats, dresses, and other various skirts and blouses, I pull the book I stole from the Charlotte Library. I run back to the bed, Colt’s confused expression still intact. I flip page after page until I find the entry he needs to see.
“Just read this.”
He takes the book out of my hands and begins to read the sentence word for word.
‘Born from the ashes of civil strife, a new dawn arises and with it a symbol of an unmerciful future, where all evil men must be judged and punished for their offenses. Only the selfless and earnest can sacrifice their lives to the betterment of humanity and ensure evil will never have its day.
‘In the very heart of Asheville, one family heard the call of righteousness and vowed to assemble like-minded individuals to fight the arduous battle for mankind’s soul.
‘Their name is as rich as the fields that stretch out beyond both of the Carolinas, and their hearts, just as pure as the cotton grown there.’
“It goes on and on about all the good deeds The Society did after that, but see this,” I ask, pointing excitedly to the last passage. “I think this is code. ‘Their name is as rich as the fields’—Richfields. Your family, Colt. And this pentagram drawn under it, I saw a similar one sketched inside one of your family’s ledgers in the library. You have to agree with me that the coincidence is suspicious.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” he says, slamming the book shut and throwing it to the floor.
“You don’t believe me?”
“Em, you’re making it very difficult for me to be able to. My dad and Linc, members of some a goody-two-shoes society? Impossible. My father is a philandering womanizer that wouldn’t know a good deed if it slapped him across the face.”
“And your cousin? Lincoln?”
“Trust me, Em. He’s not a part of any of this. And I can tell you this right now, this stuff about The Society being selfless and righteous is complete bullshit!”
“I don’t think so. I’ve spent years researching them, and all my findings tell me that throughout history, The Society has always been on the right side of it. They are not the bad ones here. They are just out to set wrongs right.”
“They are vigilantes! Tell me who has the right to be judge, jury, and executioner? Because that’s what they are, Em. They’re a corrupt militia with their own agenda, wanting to impose on others their beliefs of what is right and wrong. What if they decide you writing this book is evil? That by exposing them to the world, you are putting all their efforts in jeopardy? Tell me, Em, who is going to protect you if they come after you?!”
I press my palm to his face, the deep-rooted fear inside him gnawing at my insides.
“No one is coming after me, Colt. I’ve never seen you this riled up.”
“Well, excuse me if hearing that a secret society that has blood on their hands could be linked to my family in any way. Shit! That’s not even the worst part. Just thinking that somehow my girlfriend might get on their radar and piss them off is enough to have me lose my mind.”
“Girlfriend?” I choke.
“I said it, didn’t I?” His nose crinkles.
“Sometimes I forget how young you are.”
“Not this shit again,” he belts out, turning his face away from me, but this time I stop him before he gets away.
“That’s not what I meant, Colt. It’s sweet. That’s all.”
“You and I both know I’m not sweet.”
“No, I know that. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be sweet too when you feel like it.”
“Only with you, Em,” he confesses truthfully, his green eyes softening.
“I like that about you,” I whisper, hugging his waist and cradling my head on his chest.
He hugs me closer, placing a chaste kiss on top of my head.
“Well, don’t tell the world about it. I don’t want to ruin my rep.”
“My lips are sealed,” I tease, kissing the special place where his heart beats.
“This conversation isn’t over, Em. You know that, right?”
“For tonight it is. Just hold me, Colt. The Society can wait.”
And as I’m about to shut my eyes, his whispered reply unsettles me and causes the first sliver of fear to reside in my bones.
“The Society waits for no one, Em. Not even for us.”
Chapter 25
Colt
After being away from it for the past ten days, returning home gives me a strange new perspective on the cold mausoleum. There was a time I thought these walls cold and heartless, but now as I stand here taking in what used to be familiar surroundings, I see something far more sinister at play.
I step into the large foyer of my home with Emma clinging to my arm, and all I want to do is grab her and turn back to where we came from. I’m very aware of the influence her research has done on me and how it’s affected how I view my childhood home in an entirely different light—a much darker one at that.
Even this elaborate display of power under the disguise of a New Year Eve’s bash reeks of control and dominance over its guests. It’s a reminder that our family is not to be trifled with. Most of Northside spends the twelve months out of the year bending the knee to us Richfields, lusting after the possibility that their names be written into the guest list. They all know that falling under my family’s good graces is crucial to their survival in this town. No one casts a colder shadow than a Richfield when someone doesn’t fall in line with our wishes.
Before Emma came into my life with her conspiracy theories, I wouldn’t have batted an eye at anyone here. I’d be bored out of my mind, counting down the minutes I could leave, while looking for a warm mouth to entertain myself with. Now, as my eyes scrutinize my crowded home, filled to the brim with Asheville’s high society, I can’t help the sinking sensation in my gut screaming to be cautious. I don’t see women dressed in their finest jewelry, laughing away at some boring anecdote done by their monkey-suit companions. I don’t hear the celebratory clinking of champagne flutes or the live orchestra playing their violins and cellos. I don’t register the loud gasps of appreciation of the over the top décor or the bustling of waiters offering hors d’oeuvre.
Everywhere I turn, all I see is the sway of one cruel and unyielding entity—The Society.
Can Emma be right?
Did my family birth the nemesis that has blackmailed my friends and me since school began?
And if so, then why come after us? Why punish would-be heirs to their cause?
After the night Emma revealed who she thought was behind The Society, I persuaded her to hand me her manuscript to read
for myself what her findings were. As incredulous as I was going in, once I read her extensive research and established for myself how all the pieces seemed to fit so perfectly, her written facts were hard to ignore. Surprisingly enough, the thing that had the small hairs in the back of my neck prickling in fear wasn’t how she concluded that my family was the one behind the nefarious boy’s club, but how she portrayed the bastards. Emma painted them as selfless soldiers fighting the good fight against all the evils in the world.
But if they are the good guys in this story, then what does that make me?
Make us?
“Colt, are you okay?” Emma questions, beside me, her golden eyes filled with concern.
“I’m good, Em,” I reply warmly, kissing her temple to soothe her worry.
Her rigid stance immediately relaxes at my lie, and when she throws me one of her glowing smiles, it sends a punch to my gut.
“How about we do the rounds in this place and then bail early?” I whisper in her ear, wanting to get her and me out of this house as fast as possible.
“Didn’t you say this party was important to your family? Won’t your parents be cross with you if we leave so soon?”
Fuck my parents.
If they are the ones who are making my life and that of the people I care about a living hell, then they can take a long walk off a short pier.
I’m about to open my mouth and give her any excuse that would persuade her to leave early when I hear a girly shriek nearby.
“Colt!” my sister Abby yells as she flings herself into my arms.
She wraps her skinny tree trunk for arms around my waist, her head pressed on my chest, and immediately a sense of guilt washes over me. I never did reply to her countless texts. I ghosted the only sister who gives a crap about me, and now I feel like shit.
Fuck.
I didn’t even get her a Christmas present.
Jesus.
Merideth and Irene are right. I am an alphahole—or whatever the fuck that means.
“You scared the bejesus out of me. Where the hell have you been?” she accuses, slapping my chest after she’s made sure I’m in one piece.
“With my girlfriend. Abby, meet Emma. Emma, this is my kid sister,” I state, tilting my head to the woman beside me.
“Girlfriend?” she yelps excitedly, taking in Emma from top to bottom. “You’re the professor, aren’t you?”
“I am.” Emma blushes. “It’s very nice to meet you, Abby. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Whatever you heard couldn’t have come from my brother since he didn’t so much as call me on Christmas.” Abby pretends to pout.
“I’m sorry, shortstop. But I’ll make it up to you. Whatever you want is yours. Just name it.”
“Even your Bugatti?”
Why you little extortionist.
“You said I could ask for anything, big brother.” She points an accusing finger in my face. “And don’t say I’m too young either. I already have my driver’s permit to learn how to drive, which by the way you offered to teach me.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
My family must be The Society. Blackmail is in our blood if my baby sister is any proof of it.
“Fine. If you want the Bugatti, then it’s yours.”
“OH, MY GOD! For real?!” She shrieks again, piercing my eardrums.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I’ll only give you the keys after you passed your exam. Not a day before.”
She jumps yet again into my arms, happier than I’ve seen her in months. The warmth that trickles down to my cold heart coaxed by my little sister’s happiness feels oddly magical.
I love my Bugatti.
I fucking love that car, but somehow it pales in comparison to the wide smile I was able to put on Abby’s face.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She continues to jump for joy but then remembers her manners when the mingling guests milling about begin to look sideways at her. “Nice to meet you, Emma. Sorry, I didn’t say that before.”
“It’s quite alright.” Emma smiles brightly.
“You must be quite the good influence on my brother for him to have become so generous,” she goads, her eyebrows jumping up and down her forehead.
“You can stop gawking at her now, Abby.”
“Sorry.” The little heathen smirks.
“And who is this?” Just the sound of my sister Meredith coming from behind me has my spine going ramrod straight.
“This is Emma. Colt’s girlfriend,” Abby explains excitedly, as Meredith comes to stand beside her.
“Is that so?” she counters with a snarl.
While Abby looks at Emma with unconcealed delight, my older sister glares maliciously.
“Is that a problem, Mer?”
“Not for me.” She tilts her head to the side to take Emma’s measurements. “But I’m sure Momma might be of a different opinion.”
“I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention or not, but our mother’s opinion has never interested me in the slightest.”
“Yes, I can see that. Come along, Abby. Let’s leave Colt alone with his girlfriend and find Irene.”
Her snarky parting comment makes me want to wring her little neck.
“You were right. Abby is lovely, Colt. Your older sister, on the other hand, is… what’s the word I’m looking for?”
“A raging bitch? You can call her a bitch, Em. Lord knows she takes pride in being one. She takes after our mother.”
“I’m sure she has her qualities.”
I laugh.
“If you find any, let me know. Cause I sure as shit haven’t found any worth mentioning. Come on. Let’s find my friends. I want to introduce you to them.” I place my hand on the hollow of her back, loving the fact that her black dress is backless and that I’ll be able to touch her skin whenever I feel like it.
“Are you going to be introducing me to everyone tonight as your girlfriend?”
“Don’t see why not?”
She pulls at my elbow and stops at the entrance of the ballroom to stare me deep in the eye.
“How about we make this night as painless as possible and not do that.”
“So, how do you want to play this?” I counter, crossing my arms over my chest, not ecstatic that she wants to keep us on the down-low.
“You can introduce me as your date, or your teacher even. I don’t care. I just don’t want to cause you any more grief with your family than there has to be.”
Too late for that.
You shouldn’t have told me they were members of the same society intent on ruining our lives.
“Whatever you need, Em. Just so you know, they’ll figure out you’re my woman anyway when they see me kissing the shit out of you at midnight.”
“I forgot how incorrigible you are.” She laughs.
“One of my best qualities, babe.”
When she punches me in the gut for the nickname, I can’t help but chuckle.
“Shall we, professor?” I wink at her, offering my arm.
She laughs under her breath as I lead her into the lively ballroom. As we begin walking through the crowd, my previous reservations come at me at full throttle. Every familiar face I encounter feels like an unseen threat that I should keep cautious of.
I watch Sheriff Lee stuffing his face with caviar and crème fraîche tartlets. At the same time, Betty Lee entertains herself by throwing fuck-me eyes over to Governor Peterson’s young assistant across the room. Tommyboy’s sleazebag of a father has a whole entourage surrounding him as he relays his presidential plans. Montgomery Ryland is trying to pretend he knows how to waltz on the dancefloor with who I would bet my left nut was my Physics Professor Freshman year. I observe Walker’s folks talking animatedly with Easton’s parents, ignoring the passerby onlookers who give Naomi Price dirty looks.
I take stock of all of them, unable to tell the difference between friend or foe.
It’s only when my gaze finally lands on the people that I trust w
ith my life that my tense shoulders start to ease. I lock hands with Emma and slice through the busy crowd until I’m in the midst of my real family.
“Well, look who we have here? About time you showed up to your own party,” Kennedy teases, her big blue eyes falling on our entwined hands. “Ms. Harper, I didn’t realize you were going to be here tonight, too. What a happy surprise.”
“Emma, these are my friends,” I introduce proudly.
Kennedy, Stone, and Finn all greet Emma with warm, welcoming smiles, just as I knew they would.
“We missed you at the Price’s over Christmas,” Kennedy adds afterward, trying to hide the worry in her voice. “You and East still haven’t made up, huh?”
“It’s fine, Ken. Emma and I decided to stay home anyway.”
“Did you, now?” she retorts playfully, her gaze sparkling with mischief.
“Has anyone seen my cousin?” I ask before Ken opens her mouth and puts Em or me on the spot.
I know it’s futile trying to throw her off the scent that Emma and I are together. Especially since when Ken smells something in the works, the woman becomes a bloodhound and will chase you down until you confirm her suspicions. Can’t get anything past this one. It’s a fucking miracle we have been able to conceal The Society from her as long as we have, but then again, we had to for her protection.
“I saw him earlier tonight, but then I lost him,” Finn explains, his gaze also promptly fixed on my date. Even Stone has a sly grin on her lips as she stares at both of us.
These fuckers act as if they have never seen me with a woman before.
Hmm. Come to think of it. They haven’t.
But, fuck. Act cool, assholes!
“I um… I’m going to grab a drink. Be right back,” Emma stammers, obviously unsettled by the way my three friends can’t stop gawking at her.
I kiss her cheek, and she quickly goes about her business.
“Would you guys fucking cool it already? You’re scaring my date.”
“Oh, my God! You fucked Professor Harper, didn’t you?!” Stone blurts out.
“Jesus, brat. My mom is right over there,” Finn chastises, waving impishly at his mom, hoping Charlene didn’t hear his girlfriend’s outburst.
