by Stella Hart
“Um….” My lips turned upward in a half-smile. “You think so? Because honestly, the secrecy makes me want to look into them even more, not the other way around.”
“Hey, there’s always a few rebels who think the same way.” She winked. “How do you think revolutions start?”
Mellie groaned. “Revolutions? If that’s where this conversation is going, I need more coffee.” She got up and headed off to refill her cup at the espresso machine standing on a bench a few feet away.
Greer licked her lips. “I heard something else about Crown and Dagger,” she said slowly. “Willa, you can correct me if I’m wrong, but apparently the college initiates have parties in their clubhouse under some giant tomb in the campus cemetery.”
“That’s actually true,” Willa said with a nod. “I heard my oldest brother talking about it once. They always have a huge party on the Friday after Tap Night for the neophytes to start their trials and see what it’s all about.”
“Tatum, you should try and sneak in for your assignment,” Greer said, her brown eyes lit with excitement. “You could do a full-on exposé on it!”
“Sneak in where?” Mellie asked. She’d just returned with a new cup of coffee.
I told her. As I spoke, she frowned and anxiously tugged her black sleeves down from where they were riding up past her wrists. She only ever wore long-sleeved things, even in the summer. She once told me it was because a girl in her exclusive prep school said her arms were ‘fat’ even though they were as slim as toothpicks, and she could never bring herself to bare them in public ever again.
For a long time before that, I’d had this idea in my head that all wealthy people lived perfect existences totally free from worry. I was wrong. No matter how privileged someone’s background was, they could still be horribly insecure. Mellie was living proof.
When I was done explaining Greer’s exposé idea, she looked down and chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she finally said.
My brows pulled together. “Why not? Like Willa said, all these guys do is party hard. It’s not like they’d kill me if I sneaked in and they happened to find me.”
Mellie rubbed her eyes and gave a twitchy shrug. “I guess,” she said softly. There was a worried crease between her brows. “Shit, I just remembered, I have to go and talk to someone about a group assignment. I’ll see you guys later.”
She left hurriedly, leaving her full, steaming mug of coffee on the table.
“So… will you go to the party?” Greer asked, turning her attention back to me.
“Depends. How would I even get in? Surely they lock the place.”
“The main tomb entrance is always locked. But on the night of the party, they leave a little back entrance unlocked between nine and midnight. It’s so the new recruits can get in after solving a set of riddles which end at the tomb before the party begins,” Willa said in hushed tones. “It’s the only night of the year the tomb is left unlocked like that.”
“So anyone could get in through that back entrance?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Most people avoid the tomb for various reasons. But yeah, technically, anyone could get in that night. They wouldn’t make it into the main underground area where the celebrations are held, though. Not unless they’re careful.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Still seems careless of them to leave it unlocked for even five seconds if they’re so hell-bent on secrecy.”
Willa waved a hand. “Well, firstly, hardly anyone actually knows that it’s left open for a few hours one night a year. I mean, most people don’t wander through the cemetery on a Friday night, so they would never discover it. The only reason I even know is because my brothers have big mouths. And secondly, the Roden tomb is mostly for initiates and first and second-level members. There’s nothing all that important kept in there, so I guess they don’t care that much. From what I’ve heard, the third level is the most serious one. You’d never be able to infiltrate that stuff, wherever it is. I wouldn’t know. Because of my brothers’ aforementioned big mouths, they didn’t make it to the third level.”
I snickered. “I see. So when’s Tap Night?”
Greer spoke up again. “Not next Tuesday, but the one after. So the party will be the Friday after that. I’d totally try and sneak in with you, but my parents are flying over to visit that week.”
“And I can’t go because if my brothers are there and see me, they’ll totally trash me to my parents,” Willa said with a sigh.
I chewed on my bottom lip. Professor Halliwell expected a hell of lot from her students, but if I was able to write an amazing exposé on Crown and Dagger and illuminate some of the urban legends surrounding them, I might very well get an A in her class. I would be the first one ever.
“Hell yes,” I finally said with a wicked grin. “I’m definitely sneaking into that party.”
2
Tatum
It was the Friday after Tap Night, a strange night: wild and gusty, squalls of wind roaring across campus, no moon as it slipped behind a cloud to hide.
I was going to spend most of the night hiding too.
I hurried out of Bamford and headed right, down a wide stone path. The Roden cemetery was on the westernmost part of the campus, about a fifteen minute walk from my suite.
I knew sneaking into the Crown and Dagger tomb and getting into the underground lair to witness their party without being seen wouldn’t be easy. It might even be impossible. Still, I’d done all I could to ensure I had a chance.
Willa told me that after the initiation ceremonies on Tap Night, all recruits were given dark brown hooded robes to wear at future events. We’d gone to the Drama Department and borrowed the closest thing we could find, and now I was wearing it.
I figured I would get to the cemetery early, hide near the tomb, and wait for a group of recruits to find their way to the back entrance. Then I would quietly slip behind their group with my head down, pretending to be one of them as they entered the tomb. After that, I would have to think on my feet, because I had no idea what the tomb was like on the inside.
Posters stuck onto stone and brick walls fluttered in the wind as I headed past a campus library. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl’s face staring at me from one of the posters. Priyanka Rahman.
Two weeks ago, right after the conversation I’d had with my friends about all of Roden’s missing girls, Priyanka—Pri to her friends—had gone missing as well. It was a horrible coincidence. Her neighbor from her residential college had reported her missing, and posters had gone up all over campus over the next few days, begging for information.
A week later, Dean Davenport released a statement saying that Pri was actually fine. Apparently she’d become stressed from her workload at Roden and dropped out so she could fly back to her home country of New Zealand for some much-needed relaxation. Still, the incident had given the campus quite a scare, and not many people were hanging around outside at night anymore, opting for the cozy safety of their suites instead. It didn’t help that no one had bothered taking down any of the posters yet, either.
I finally reached the path that led down to the cemetery. It was narrow and dimly-lit with only a handful of cast iron lampposts, curling away downhill and lined with deep black hedges. From my vantage point up here, I could see more lights shining on various places in the cemetery, a strangely-welcoming yellow glow that fell on the winding paths within.
There was a large wrought iron gate and stone wall guarding the cemetery. I didn’t want to go directly through the gate just yet, though, in case I ran into anyone. Instead I went slightly to the left and crept along the wall, keeping one hand on the branches and ivy that crept over it. Then I waited, my eyes scanning for movement and ears pricked for sound.
The moon chose that exact moment to come out from behind the clouds. The lawn in the cemetery looked almost white in the light, and the dark outline of gravestones rose up eerily in the night. I didn’t see any people, though.
As q
uietly as possible, I crept back to the gate and opened it with a creak. I stole across the lawn on my tiptoes until I reached a gravestone tall enough to hide behind and close enough to the Crown and Dagger tomb to see what was going on. The cemetery should seem spooky to me, but I was too excited about my little mission to worry about the ancient bones beneath my feet.
I peered out from my hiding spot to get a good look at the hulking gray sepulcher. It was the quintessential Roden tomb: imposing, windowless and full of secrets. Much larger than I thought it would be, too. I knew I was at the back of it, because I’d seen the front with its stone columns and carved Latin words when I crept past a moment ago.
I checked my phone. It was just after nine. Willa told me the recruits usually solved the riddle and found their way to the back entrance of the tomb anywhere between nine and twelve, so I could be in for a long night.
I curled up and waited. The evening went on and on. A handful of times, there was a noise, and I immediately perked up, but it was just some sort of animal scrabbling through the graveyard.
A few minutes before ten-thirty, there was a snapping of twigs somewhere, too far away to pinpoint. Silence again, then a crunch of footsteps over dead leaves, only yards away from the tomb.
It was time.
I pulled my hood down over my face and crouched in my spot, ready to jump up and silently join the recruits. They arrived a moment later. I counted twelve of them. That was a good number, easy to blend into.
“What’s gonna happen here?” I heard one of them say. “I thought the other night was the initiation.”
“It was. Pretty sure tonight’s just a party to celebrate our acceptance. At least that’s what my uncle told me. He’s a member,” said another guy in a low voice.
“Better be fucking good to make up for it being in a freezing tomb,” another one grumbled.
“I heard it’s wild as fuck, man.”
I saw them heading to the tomb’s back entrance, a large door carved into the stone. Quiet as a mouse, I tiptoed over to the back of the group and followed them, keeping my head as far down as possible with my hood pulled forward so that no one would see my face and realize I wasn’t male. The robe hid my curvy shape perfectly, so hopefully I’d just look like a short guy if anyone happened to notice me.
Fortunately, no one even turned to look at me. They were too excited about what lay ahead of them. I could practically feel them buzzing and vibrating with anticipation.
The recruit at the front of the group pushed the heavy, creaking door open so that it stayed ajar. Everyone else stepped inside, one after the other. I crept in with them, still unnoticed, and I immediately cast my eyes around, planning my next move.
Two burning torches lit the expansive tomb, held by two tall men in dark navy blue robes. The floor was cold gray concrete and a stack of coffins stood to one side. Creepy, but not unexpected.
Several padlocked doors stood nearby, ostensibly leading to other wings. Willa was right about this main room—aside from the coffins, there was nothing in it.
I quietly ducked behind the stacked coffins as the excited, blathering recruits made their way over to the men with the flaming torches. I now realized the men were guarding a darkened entrance to… I wasn’t sure what. I could only assume it was the way down into the underground lair I’d heard so much about.
“Silence, neophytes!” one of the torch-holders said, his deep voice echoing throughout the tomb. “You are treading on sacred ground.”
The brown-robed recruits went silent immediately.
“You wish to gain entrance to our Inner Temple,” said the other blue-robed man. “Speak our watchword or leave this place forever.”
“Deliciae dolor!” said every recruit in chorus.
I raised an eyebrow. Greer was right about that motto of theirs; it wasn’t just a rumor. Willa’s brothers either lied to her or didn’t care enough about the society to remember the words.
One of the men lowered his torch. “Follow me, neophytes.”
He turned and briskly headed through the dark entrance. The recruits followed him in single file.
I waited in my dark hiding spot, my heart racing. I had no idea what to do now. There was still one man with a torch guarding the entrance, so it wasn’t like I could sneak through. Damn. Willa was right the other week. It would be impossible for anyone to make it farther into this mausoleum than where I was right now.
My shoulders slumped, and I let out a defeated breath. I didn’t even know how I could get out of here without that guard seeing me. I’d just have to make a break for it to the back entrance and hope he didn’t catch me as I raced through the graveyard.
A shrill sound assaulted my ears a few seconds later. At first I panicked and almost jumped up, but then I realized it was only a cell phone. Not mine; I set it to the softest vibration setting earlier so that only I would know if it went off.
The guard with the flaming torch slipped a hand into a deep pocket and pulled his cell out. “Hey, man,” he said. “Yeah, they just arrived. We followed the stupid script, don’t worry. They’re on their way down to the lair with Hasser now. Should’ve seen their faces. They pretend like they’re so calm and casual but they take this shit so seriously. Fucking hilarious. Anyway, I’m just gonna go for a piss.”
My forehead wrinkled. So much for Crown and Dagger being grim and serious. From the way the guy was talking on the phone, it seemed more like the society was just a silly frat they only pretended to take seriously to scare the new recruits.
“What? No.” The man’s tone was getting argumentative now. “My fucking bladder feels like it’s about to explode! Seriously, man, my dick will probably fall right off if I don’t go now.”
I suppressed a snicker. Nice imagery there.
“It’s not like anyone else is coming. I’ll go outside and it’ll take three minutes max. I’ll see if anyone tries to get into the tomb, anyway.” There was a pause, then, “Yeah, fine, whatever.”
He hung up. I saw him dialing another number. “Hey, man, I seriously can’t wait until I’m second-level and don’t have to do this boring-ass bullshit anymore. Think you can come up here for a few minutes and keep me company? I need to take a leak but fucking Benson said I can’t take a break until someone else is here to keep watch.” He paused, presumably listening to his fellow Crown and Dagger brother on the other end of the line. “Ten minutes? Urgh. Fine. See you then.”
He hung up, grumbling to himself. Then he looked over to the tomb’s back entrance and muttered, “Oh, fuck it. Two minutes won’t kill the pricks,” and strode outside.
My heart leapt. This was my chance. The entryway was unguarded, and I knew no one else was coming up to cover for this guy for at least ten minutes. It was almost as if the stars had aligned to make my life as easy as possible tonight.
I crept out from my hiding spot on my tiptoes and ducked into the dark entrance. Shouts and drumbeats echoed up from deep below. My hands shook with fear and anticipation as I walked forward, feeling my way down a winding path. Everything turned black as the torchlight from the main room faded away. The air became cooler, thicker, filled with the scent of earth. I was in an underground tunnel.
I moved as fast as I could in the darkness, praying I didn’t run into the guy who would be heading up here soon to relieve the other guard. If I did, I’d be screwed.
Luckily, I didn’t encounter anyone. I made it all the way down to the end of the dank, twisting tunnel, and I squinted as light hit my eyes again. I drew in a sharp breath and shrank into the shadows as I saw what lay at the end.
It was a magnificent underground grotto, decorated with imposing stone columns and intricate sculptures carved into the walls and ceiling. Flaming torches and candles lit the sprawling place, and old cracked gravestones were scattered around the edges. I could see dark little doorways leading to other rooms in the grotto, and I could hear wild shrieks, masculine groans, and feminine giggles spilling out from them.
D
eep, rhythmic drumbeats echoed throughout the main chamber. It was filled with dark blue-robed Crown and Dagger members, along with several others in red robes. They had their hoods pulled up, and they were all wearing golden masks which covered every inch of their faces. The masks were elaborate with gleaming jewels and elegant bird’s beaks that suggested arched brows and predatory mouths.
The new recruits stood barefaced and stoic on one side, not far from where I was crouched at the end of the tunnel.
In the center of the room, standing by a stone altar ringed by fire, was a man in a black robe. His hood was down and unlike the other established members, his mask only covered his eyes. He also wore a twisted golden crown. In one hand, he held a dagger.
I muffled a gasp. Even with the top of his face covered, I could tell it was Tobias King—Elias’s father. I recognized him easily, because I’d once seen him speaking to my parents about a potential contract for my father’s surveying business. He also had the exact same nose and powerful square jawline as Elias.
I guess it made sense that he was the head of Crown and Dagger, given how wealthy he was. The society only tapped members from super-rich or powerful families, and the Kings were the richest and most powerful of all.
There was a sudden booming sound as someone hit a large gong. The giggles and shrieks from elsewhere in the grotto abruptly ceased, along with the drumbeats, and a moment later, a few more robed men appeared from the doorways and headed over to the others.
“Welcome, neophytes!” Tobias called out, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. I took the opportunity to quickly creep out of the tunnel and slip through the darkness along the edge of the room, ducking behind one of the tall gravestones. “Come forward!”
The recruits shuffled closer to the ring of fire around Tobias. He smiled and spoke up again. “I see you survived the initiation ceremony on Tuesday. Congratulations. I’m sure you’ve heard the legends, and now, you are part of the legend yourselves.”
He paused to look at all the recruits in turn, then went on, his voice crisp and clear.
