Mercy: A Dark College Romance (Somerset University Book 3)

by Ruby Vincent

  “Waiting for me?” I twisted to find my love. “Maverick!”

  “Leave him,” Sabrina said. “He’ll try to stop you.”

  I narrowed on her. “Why would he need to do that? What exactly is waiting for me upstairs?”

  “Your initiation.” Teagan’s eyes were hard. “Do it or leave, Val. The choice is yours.”

  I hesitated.

  I came this far to find the truth. Maverick could be right that we know all we need to now, but the twist to Aiden’s enigmatic smile says there are a few more secrets to uncover... and I’ll find out what they are tonight.

  “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Maverick didn’t notice us leave. I know because he didn’t throw bodies across the room coming after me.

  Stepping out into the hall, the noise muted behind shut doors. Silently, I followed the women through the colorless hallway to a winding staircase.

  I set foot on the tenth step and heard, “Val?”

  Teagan picked up the pace, expecting me to do the same. Maverick was looking for me.

  We reached the second-floor landing and turned to continue up.

  “I know it’s in the rules somewhere to layer everything in a double dose of creepy,” I began, “but could we dispense with that this time and you tell me what’s going on?”

  “We did tell you,” said Eve. “It’s your initiation. You don’t want a club for the Sallys—that’s fine. If you’re going to be in this one, though, you have to prove yourself same as everyone. You’ve dodged the other challenges. This one is just for you.”

  Sabrina squeezed my forearm. “You can do it, by the way. I’m dropping the creepiness to say you’re badass and Aiden has no idea what he’s dealing with.”

  The niggle of warmth broke through, reminding me sharply of the summer we had before it soured. “You guys really want this? To be a part of it? To have a club of our own? I get that it’s a lot of money. I’ve been poor. Poor poor. Sleeping-on-a-street-corner poor. I haven’t fallen so far into my new life that I’ve forgotten the girl who would’ve done anything to get her mom and son out of poverty. But is playing their games truly worth it?”

  “We’ve all got our reasons for being here, Val,” Eve replied. “Should we ask what yours are?”

  I said nothing.

  “Thought so.”

  I didn’t attempt to appeal to them again as we topped the third landing. A hallway of closed doors greeted us—just as gray as the last.

  Teagan led the way to the fifth entrance on the right. We tromped in and Hayes’s voice reached me. I looked and didn’t see him anywhere in the grand room. His mother’s bedroom if the photos of a pretty woman and Hayes at various stages in his life was anything to go by.

  “Ben,” Eve called.

  A head poked inside the room. Hayes waved from the balcony, signaling us to join. “Right out here, Val.”

  “What’s out there?”

  “See for yourself.”

  I stepped over the threshold and came face to face with three guys, two patio chairs, and a table. No one was wearing a mask. “This is it?” I asked. “The way y’all were going on, I expected a cocktail of loopy juice that would crack my mind and reveal my mission to save the universe.”

  Nasir laughed. “I do like you, Val. It’s a shame you’ve capped your harem at four.”

  “Why does everyone call it that?” I muttered under my breath. Louder, I said, “What do I have to do?”

  “It’s simple.” A soft trill slid into my ear, spinning me on my heels. Aiden stood half out of the shadows. The half I laid eyes on had a smear of blood on his cheek. “Get up on the balustrade.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You. Balustrade. Now.” Aiden stepped into view. Under his arm, he carried a small bucket. “Please.”

  I looked at the stone balustrade wrapping around the balcony. Then I looked for wide eyes or opened mouths, and saw none.

  “Are you serious? You expect me to climb up there and do what? We’re three floors off the ground, Aiden.”

  “What’s that saying?” Aiden brushed past me. “It’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the impact. Well, if you do neither, you won’t have a problem, will you?”

  “What the fuck are you going on about?”

  “It’s simple.” Aiden parked himself on one of the chairs. “Think of it like that absurd game show you’re planning for the pledges instead of the real initiation. You stand up there and I’ll throw these”—Aiden pulled a ping-pong ball out of his basket—“to you. For each one you catch and hold on to, I’ll ask you a question about Zeta Rho Sigma. If you catch and answer ten, you’re in. Easy, right?”

  I nodded, lips pursed. “Aiden, let me ask you a question? Are you out of your damn mind?”

  He cracked a grin. “Figured you might have that reaction, but don’t worry, the same rules apply. The pot must be appropriately sweetened before we ask you to do anything risky. Want to name your price?”

  “I’m sorry, maybe I’m being too subtle. I’m not getting on that ledge, Aiden! You can shove your head in the fucking pot and suffocate in it!”

  I turned to go and bumped into a fleshy wall made of Teagan, Eve, and Sabrina.

  “Yee-ouch.” As usual, Aiden was as relaxed as a spring day. “If you don’t want to name it, I’ll give you my offer. Get up on that ledge and I’ll tell you the true purpose of the club.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “—and the truth about my file,” he added.

  “Fuck you twice,” I spat. “In the mouth and up the ass. I won’t do it.”

  He continued like there wasn’t an interruption. “I’ll tell you how I get my information.”

  “No.”

  “Teagan and Sawyer will reveal where they truly were during their sabbatical.”

  “N—” The automatic refusal lodged in my throat. After months, bordering on years of denial, Aiden casually dropped that on the table like it was nothing. I gaped at him, eyes sliding to Teagan, who nodded expressionlessly.

  “No,” I croaked. “I don’t need to know where you’ve been to accept you were caught up in something bad. Maverick was right. The few weeks have told us everything we need to know. This is all some sick game. A game you didn’t start, but one you’ve embraced. Twisted games have even worse consequences and whatever they were,” I said to Teagan, “I’m done trying to help.

  “I’m done with all of this,” I said to my silent audience. “Finally, I’m going back to my life before Sawyer asked Ezra to help him with the keg. Good luck to you.” I stuck my hands through Teagan and Sabrina and parted them like the Red Sea. I didn’t spare a look back as I marched out.

  Aiden was in front of me in a flash. I raised my fist prepared to force him out of my way.

  “And my final offer,” Aiden whispered, speaking for my ears only. “If you pass this initiation, I’ll tell you about Leighton and Logan Bilius.”

  I froze.

  “Come on, Val. We all know she isn’t dead. At least, you and I do. Anyone that can disappear a body will know a few tricks to disappear herself. Want to know the truth about that night and who Leighton Lewis really is?

  “That’s what I’m offering, Valentina,” he said in a louder tone. “A prize of equal or greater value. The truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And all you have to do is...”

  “Step onto the ledge.” I spoke so softly I hardly heard myself.

  “Exactly. Never say we don’t give fair compensation.”

  I swallowed hard. “How could you possibly know about Logan?”

  His eyes flashed. “I know everything about that night. Down to the revenge your boyfriends enacted. It was elegant, I’ll give you that. But if it was me, I would’ve killed those bastards and put their bodies somewhere they’d never be found. Leighton and I did make such a good team.”

  “Who are you?” I whispered.

  Reaching over my shoulder, he pointed. “You know how to find out.”

  I didn’
t want to. My muscles screamed, tightened, and ached to stop me, but Aiden’s growing smile told me they failed. I was walking onto the balcony... past Hayes, Rowes, and the girls... and up to the ledge. I peered over the stone, stomach dropping as though the unforgiving fall had taken me already.

  “I catch ten balls and answer ten questions.” The voice coming from my throat didn’t sound like mine. “That’s it.”

  “Catch and hold,” Aiden replied. “Drop any and you get more questions thrown at you.”

  Nodding, I took off my mask and shoes. I paused a brief second to consider what Maverick would do if he came out and saw me up here.

  He’d kill them. He would kill them all.

  I threw my leg over and carefully got my feet under me. Standing up, I turned to face them. The ledge wasn’t wide enough for me to stand securely. The top half of my feet hung clear over the balcony.

  “Let’s get this over with.”

  “Ladies,” Aiden said. “Gentlemen.”

  The others went up to him and reached into the bucket. I went cold in understanding. They would all lob balls at me like a human target. I had to keep an eye on all of them, ready to grab a pong coming from any direction.

  “Don’t worry,” Aiden said. “We won’t be assholes tossing it high over your head or ten feet to the left. We play fair.”

  “Play,” I spat. “That’s your problem, Connelly. You still think this is a game.”

  He threw the ball at the end of my sentence. Quickly, I slapped my hands over it, catching it before my thighs. That simple movement rocked my foundation. I wobbled, heart leaping in my throat as another night and another ledge roared through my mind.

  “The Sallys and Sams were founded in honor of who?” Aiden asked.

  Only when I was steady did I answer. “Sally Hollenbeck.” I shoved the first pong down my dress.

  “Smart,” Nasir praised in the midst of tossing his. I caught that one too—sans wobble. “What year were we founded?”

  On it went. I dropped more balls than I caught. Eons passed and my bra held five. They stuck to their promise to throw them directly at me, but terror of knocking myself off-balance again stopped me from trying to catch most of them.

  Hayes’s ball sailed in a beautiful arch, dropping easily onto my cupped hands. “Nice,” he said. “Who was president of the Sallys in 1990?”

  “Blair’s moth—”

  “Val? Valentina, where are you?”

  I nearly dropped the ball. Maverick’s search of the mansion had brought him to the third floor.

  “Val?” A beam of light swept over the carpet, growing as the door widened. “Are you in here?”

  Maverick stepped into view. Our eyes locked and in the space of his jaw dropping, an explanation jumped to my lips.

  “Next question,” said Teagan.

  A tiny plastic missile launched directly at my face. Instinctively, I jerked, hand flying to catch it, and the momentum knocked me off my feet.

  “Maverick!”

  Arms flailing, I tipped off the balustrade, plunging three stories to my fate below.

  “Vaaaaaal!”

  Chapter Nine

  Want to know what goes through your mind during a fall?

  Nothing.

  Your heart leaps into your throat, strangling your screams, and stealing the few precious moments left you have to breathe. Terror blots your mind, forcing everything out but what your white-rimmed eyes see—what you left behind or what you’re rushing to meet.

  “Vaaaaaal!”

  I hit the water with an unforgiving smack that tore another scream from me. The pool surged into my open mouth, determined to finish the job.

  An arm encircled my waist, hauling me up. I burst to the surface shrieking and sputtering.

  “You’re okay, Val. I’ve got you,” Sawyer said. “Aiden had us on standby in case you were desperate for a swim.”

  I was shaking too hard to smack him. Sawyer swam to the edge of the pool where Winston waited. With more gentleness than I credited these guys with, they lifted me out and Winston draped a towel around my shoulders. Maverick shouted at us through the entire ordeal.

  “Val?! Val! Are you okay?”

  “I-I’m okay.”

  “What happened?!”

  I said the first thing that came to mind. “Aiden.”

  Sawyer wrapped me tighter. “Sure you’re okay, Val? Kendra is close to your size. She brought you clothes to change into just in case.”

  “Just in case?” I repeated. “In case I fell three stories into a swimming pool!?”

  “We—”

  “Hey! Rick— Don’t!”

  A pained grunt and then something struck the water, dousing us all over again. Aiden burst out swearing, cursing, and flinging every obscene thought in his head at my boyfriend.

  “Shit,” Winston said mildly. “Is Rick going to toss them all over?”

  “Just help me up.”

  The boys complied, getting me on my feet and even trading my towel for a dry one. I settled it on my shoulders as Aiden heaved himself out of the pool. “Is it even worth asking if you’ll tell me the truth now?”

  “Not worth it at all. You lost, Val, and the rules say you get nothing.” He pushed past us, probably eager to get clear before Maverick came down. “And I always follow the rules.”

  I let him go. Aiden had told me plenty already. Leighton, Logan, and his knowledge of acts he couldn’t know, but yet somehow did.

  “Where are the change of clothes?” I asked.

  “One of the bedrooms down the hall,” said Winston. “We’ll show you.”

  “Val!” Maverick barreled onto the porch. The glare he leveled at the boys who surrounded me burned them to cinders where they stood. “Fuck off!”

  They fucked off. Backing away, they gave Maverick a wide berth.

  “Second door on the left,” Winston called to me.

  I fell into Maverick’s arms. He held me so tight, I felt he was trying to absorb me into his body where I’d never be hurt.

  “Are you okay? Val, what were you doing up there?”

  “Not here,” I said softly. “Bedroom.”

  Maverick let me walk two steps and then swooped me up and carried me. I dropped my head onto his chest, breathing for what felt like the first time that night.

  A black Peter Pan–collar dress awaited us on the bed. This room was nothing like the little I’d seen of the house. The blue and purple floral motif was reflected in nearly everything. The bedspread, the wallpaper, the carpet, and the armchairs beside the window.

  Maverick placed me on the bed. My rogue disappeared before my eyes, shedding the gloves, cloak, and silly mask. Grasping my ankle, his movements were slow as he dried me.

  “What happened up there, Val?”

  “Aiden said he’d toss me a few balls and then tell me the truth about him, Teagan, Sawyer, the disappearances, Leighton, and... Logan.”

  He stilled. “Logan?”

  “He knows, Maverick.” Saying it out loud, it still didn’t seem true. “Everything about that night and what you guys returned to do.”

  Maverick snapped his neck spinning on me. “What? How could he—”

  “I don’t know, and that’s why I climbed onto that ledge. To find out.”

  He dropped onto the bed, still holding my leg. “Aiden knows that Leighton killed him?”

  “And that she’s still alive.”

  “Could it have been Aiden she called that night to clean up the body? Just who the fuck is this guy?”

  “That was my question.”

  His gaze sharpened. “Finding the answer doesn’t mean putting your life in danger, Valentina. Whatever that fuck dangled in front of you, you should’ve told him off and walked away. You chewed my ass out for getting in a fight with him. How was this any better?”

  “I knew I’d fall in the pool,” I tried.

  “You can’t swim!”

  I winced. Maverick had every right to be angry with me. I we
nt after him for participating in Aiden’s twisted test and then I turned around and did the same.

  “We pretend like we’re fooling him,” I whispered, “but the truth is Aiden’s pulling all the strings in this puppet show.” I pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “I saw my chance to discover what’s been haunting us since we set foot on that campus. My chance to end it like we swore we would. It seemed worth it—to go back to the way we were.”

  “We also promised to do it together.” Maverick caught me as I reached for him. My eyes closed as he pressed my palm to his wildly beating heart. “Don’t do that to me again.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I had to throw a man off a balcony because of you.”

  A tiny snort escaped me. “No less than he deserved. Forcing me on a ledge and throwing ping-pong balls at me? Seriously, how does he come up with this stuff?”

  “He’s dangerous, Val.” Maverick trailed his nose down my bridge and lightly nipped my lips. “If he’s made anything clear tonight, it’s that.”

  “I’m done. With Aiden. With the club. With Teagan and her lies. I’ve risked too much for someone who doesn’t want saving.” Maverick’s lips caressed mine, borrowing a soft breath. “As for Leighton, I thought I was free of her when I threw away that knife, but in truth, she’s been controlling me since that night. No more. But,” I said as he pulled me to his chest. “I’m not leaving the Sallys.”

  “Val.”

  “I love it, Maverick. I love them.” I lifted my shoulders helplessly. “My mom said she was happy I found my place in Somerset. That I had friends and was happy. I realized she was right. Those girls are my friends and despite Eve, Kendra, and Sabrina, I know that most of them are exactly who they say they are.”

  “How can I look the other way when that guy is right next door?”

  “He’s been right next door for a long time. Aiden isn’t after me, and the people he is after are right there with him willingly. All we’re doing at this point is entertaining him.” I stroked his jaw. “Will you walk away?”

  “I just saw you fall off a ledge, Val. You don’t have to ask me if I’m done. I want nothing to do with these guys and they’ll be glad of it. I don’t know what I’ll do the next time I get my hands on them. One of them should’ve said that it was wrong.”