Typhon, p.4
Typhon, page 4
Laney didn’t answer. Instead, she said, “Let me see your phone.” I handed it over and said nothing as she read the brief exchange.
When she handed my phone back, I repeated my question. “Do you know something about this?” Her eyes started darting around, and that’s when I got nervous.
When she finally looked at me, she said, “Type back that you’re not going.”
“Why?”
“Just do it,” she replied. “I…I might know something, depending on the answer.” I eyed her but did as she asked.
Me: I dnt know who this is, but Im not going anywhere tmrw nite
“Okay,” I told her. “I sent it. But I think-” My phone immediately pinged with an incoming text.
Unknown: Yes, u r
I was about to text back and tell whoever this person was to go eat a dick, but my phone pinged again, and the message stole my breath.
Unknown: Something 2 consider (attachment)
When I opened the attachment, it was a dossier on me and my family. I frantically scrolled through the contents and found detailed information about my father, mother, brother, me, and even my grandparents. The damn thing also had ‘Page 1 of 20’ on the bottom, so this wasn’t even all of it. Whoever this person was, they had a full dossier on me and my family.
My fingers shook as I typed out a reply.
Me: Who is this?!!
“Let me see,” Laney said as she reached for my phone. As soon as she saw the texts, she let out a small gasp of surprise. “Oh, God.”
My eyes searched hers. “What is this, Laney? What do you know?” I wasn’t blind to the touch of hysteria in my voice, either.
Laney handed me back my phone, but I ignored the next notification ping and focused on her. “I…I need you to just listen, okay?”
I nodded, not entirely certain that I wanted to listen to what she had to say, but I couldn’t ignore how someone had all that information on my family. The text message felt like a threat, and I wasn’t one to sit back and let my family be threatened.
“Now, before you…please, don’t get upset with me when I tell you this, Rylee,” Laney continued. “I was sworn to secrecy.”
“Then why are you telling me now?”
“Because since you’re involved now-”
“Involved in what?” I could feel myself getting angry.
“What do you know about secret societies?” she asked, shocking the ever-lovin’ shit out of me.
I blinked and shook my head. “That they only exist in the movies, and that they’re stupid.” Laney looked like she didn’t appreciate my answer, but what the hell?
“Well…I’m pretty sure you’ve just been invited to one. The Order of the Cronus,” she said, and I had no idea what she was talking about.
“What?”
She let out a deep sigh. “The Order of the Cronus is a secret society, much like in the movies. And every year, there’s an initiation for the senior graduating class.”
I was still confused. “And what the hell has that got to do with me?”
“Each member is supposed to pick a female from their same graduating class to…uh, support them in the success of their final year in school,” she explained. “The details are outlined during the initiation, but if the girls agree, they basically become their partner or…something.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed all this, but that text was real. “What’s in it for the girls?”
“Upon graduation, you’re handed whatever you want towards the success of your future,” she answered, and I could feel my eyes bug out. “Say, for instance, I wanted to go to law school after this, okay?” I nodded. “The organization will pay for the rest of my education, plus set me up in whichever law firm I want to work at, once I pass the bar.”
This couldn’t be real.
“What?” I asked, aware that I kept repeating myself.
Laney nodded her head. “So, the objective is for each initiate to succeed at his very best. The organization is very old school and traditional. They believe that…well, in order for a man to succeed at his very best, he needs a woman to stand by him.”
“What if a girl says no?” I asked. “Can a girl say no?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think any girl ever has.” Her head jerked towards my phone. “But I’m guessing that’s what happens if you try to say no.”
I eyed her. “How do you know all this, Laney?”
She winced. “I’m one of the girls chosen for this year,” she confessed.
My eyes widened. “What?” This had to be a joke. It had to be. “W…why…and you agreed to this?”
This time, her eyes were the ones that widened. “Of course, I did,” she exclaimed. “Rylee, do you have any idea what this means for me?” She didn’t let me answer. “If I want to further my education, and really make some money when it’s all said and done, this is my way to do it.” Laney threw her arms out to her side and let them drop. “After all my hard work, I’ll have my dream job in whatever I want to do, and all I have to do is make sure some guy doesn’t fail his exams, or make sure he stays out of jail, or doesn’t get anyone pregnant, or whatever.” She shook her head. “It’s a no-brainer, Rylee.”
“How do you know that’s all you have to do?” I asked because there had to be a catch somewhere. Nobody handed you your dreams without a price to pay for them.
Laney shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t,” she replied honestly. “But that’s what the initiation night is for. Everything will supposedly be explained then.”
My body collapsed against the back of the couch. “Are you serious? Is this serious?” I asked, waving my phone around.
Laney nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Still ignoring the text message notifications on my phone, I said,” So…who picked you? Do you know?”
My back immediately went up when she got that same touch of attitude that she had at the library. “Of course, I know,” she snipped. “How else do you think I know everything I just told you.”
I ignored her snark. “It’s not a secret, then? To know who picked you?”
Laney shook her head. “No, it’s not. August Remington is my sponsor,” she admitted.
August Remington.
I didn’t have time to think about him as my notifications pinged again. I finally looked down at my phone.
Unknown: Just b ready tmrw nite
Unknown: I’d hate 4 this 2 get ugly
That was a threat.
There was no way to disguise it. There was no way to sugarcoat it. That, along with the attachment, was a clear and significant threat, and that left me with little choice.
Me: I’ll b ready
I sent the text, and I didn’t care who was on the other end. I wasn’t going in hopes of having all my after-graduation dreams come true. I wasn’t going in hopes of becoming part of an elite, secret society that had connections and wealth.
I was going because someone had threatened me and my family.
I was going because you couldn’t fight a threat if you didn’t know where it was coming from, right?
Chapter 7
Stone~
The electricity in the air had been crackling all day.
Or maybe it’d just been me.
When I’d gotten Rylee’s text yesterday, claiming she’d be ready, I had actually been surprised. Even if I didn’t know her that well, I couldn’t imagine anyone appreciating being threatened into compliance. So, she was either showing up because she was curious, weak, or wanted to see me in person, so that she could stab me in the neck.
I was hoping it was the latter.
Still, even if it was the first possibility, curiosity was a form of bravery if you went about it correctly. Sure, curiosity often kill the cat, but it’s also led to some great things. Imagine what our world would be like if no one had ever been curious about the human body or mind? I could work with curiosity. I just couldn’t work with weakness.
I also wondered if she’d cut and run once the car arrived. Our initiation panel had chosen an old, debilitated monstrosity as the venue for tonight’s festivities. It was an hour outside Serenity Springs, and as with most secluded mansions, it was out in the middle of nowhere. The house also looked big enough that it could have been a hospital or school, but as we were all gathered in the ballroom, it had obviously been someone’s home at one point. Hospitals and schools didn’t have goddamn ballrooms.
While the outside looked like the makings of a horror film, and the inside looked no better, the ballroom had been cleaned, that much was obvious. Of course, who cared how clean the room was if the entire structure came down on our heads? But thems the breaks, I was guessing.
The room came with an honest-to-God stage where our initiation panel were gathered. There were new chairs arranged for their seating, of course, plus a small table on the right that was stacked with files on each girl, and probably us, too. The only other chairs in the room were the five reserved for the girls, and they were placed directly in front of the stage, approximately five feet apart from each other. Our place was to stand behind the chair that seated our chosen supporter.
I glanced over at the stage and observed our initiation panel. We only had four on the panel-three men and one woman-all thirty years of age or nearing it. That was one of the initiation rituals. Every member of the organization was only committed until the age of thirty. After that, you were free to do whatever you pleased with your life. The tradition was born out of the idea that the ‘retiring’ members should be the ones to initiate the newest members. However, don’t mistake me. Just because you were no longer beholden to the organization as far as the ‘dues’ were concerned, that didn’t mean you were entirely free from what they did and have done for you. Unless you got to where you were going all on your own, you’d always owe someone something.
The way the organization worked was as simple as a spider’s web. After graduation, the organization would do whatever it could to help you get to where you needed to be in order to further benefit the organization. Then, depending on your chosen career, you may be asked to ‘vote’ a certain way or ‘donate’ monies to a certain group or association. Since my career choice was finance, I might be called upon to open a Swiss bank account for someone one day. However, my plans were to come out on top of all this and become no one’s puppet.
There were also the ‘dues’ paid to the organization.
The favor of all favors.
From the day of graduation until our thirtieth birthday, we had one favor we could ask of any member of our initiating class, and the person chosen was obligated to grant it, no matter what. If he refused, his entire existence would be shattered in an unrecoverable scandal that would include his friends and family. No one would be safe from his betrayal to the organization.
The plus side was that you only had to grant one favor, and you only had to grant it once. So, if Saxton Voss called me for the favor, and I granted it, I was done. None of the other guys could call on me to cash in on my obligatory favor. However, there was no limit to the size of the favor. If Saxton needed me to help him counterfeit money, I’d have to do it, and that was the downside to this all. Luckily, every recruited member already came from wealth and prestige, so the favors were mostly of the greasing hands variety. Some of it might be criminal, but it wasn’t anything that our families couldn’t buy us out of.
The only thing these assholes held sacred was marriage. If you married your supporter, she was off-limits to all favors and implications of such. As much as these men screwed around on their regular wives, if your wife was also your supporter, she was off-limits to everything.
That was the only reason I was bringing Rylee in.
“So, I guess you picked a girl after all,” August said, coming to stand next to me.
I turned towards him. “Does it matter?” I knew it did. I couldn’t be sure, but with Laney being his supporter, it was possible he already knew that I’d chosen Rylee. If Rylee had told Laney anything about my texts, she could have told August.
August threw his hands up, presuming innocence, and chuckled. “Nah, man. Just…making conversation.”
I glanced at my watch. “Well, they should be here any moment,” I replied, then looked over at him. “You’ll get to see her then.”
He smirked. “I suppose I will.” I didn’t say anything further as he wandered towards the stage. The head of our panel was Alexander George, and having done my homework, I knew August’s father and Alexander have worked together in the past.
“I don’t trust that guy.” I turned my head, and Fox Harrington was coming up behind me.
I stuck my hands in my pockets. At six-foot-two, Fox was about an inch shorter than me, but not any less imposing. “Really?”
His hazel eyes were focused on the stage as he replied, “Just…vibes.”
My eyes glanced back towards the stage before settling back on Fox. “Same.”
Fox finally looked at me as he stuck his hand out. “Good seeing you here, Stone,” he said.
I shook his hand. “You, too.”
We released hands. “Did you know who was going to be here?”
“Yep,” I answered. “Did you?”
Fox smirked. “Yep.”
Before I could say anything more, Saxton Voss and Ross Carmichael walked up to join us. We all knew each other, and have even spoken a few times, but this was different. We’d no longer be acquaintances after tonight. We’d be bonded for damn near life.
Ross jerked his head towards the stage. “That’s the only guy here who I can’t vouch for,” he said, surprising me. I wasn’t one to show my cards easily, so it threw me off to hear Ross just throw his shit out there like that. While Fox and I were being reserved in our distrust of August, Ross wasn’t.
“He talks too much,” Saxton added, and that’s when I knew.
“He try to get you to tell your business?” I asked.
Saxton nodded. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “Talking all out in the open and shit.”
“Same here,” I told him.
“Do any of you know anything about his supporter?” Fox asked the group.
Saxton and Ross shook their heads as I replied, “She’s roommates with mine.”
Fox smirked. “Last minute surprise, huh?” I lifted a brow. Apparently, these guys had done their due diligence just like I had. However, before I could comment, the sound of high heels clacking on the cracked tile floor resonated throughout the derelict ballroom.
All heads turned, and Alexis Wyatt was being escorted into the room by one of the organization’s guards. She was a beauty with the whole blonde hair/blue-eyed combo, and she was dressed like she was attending a damn charity event. She looked beautiful, though, and Fox immediately walked over and took her from the guard. Without a word to any of us, he escorted Alexis to her seat.
Not a minute later, Jennifer Polk, another blonde hair/blue-eyed combo, was being escorted inside, and she was dressed similar to Alexis in a tasteful, alluring, purple dress and heels. Ross had followed suit and had walked over to grab his girl and escort her to her seat.
The next girl to walk in was Laney Spinner, and I was surprised that Rylee hadn’t walked in with her. While I wasn’t fond of Laney’s association with August, there was no denying Laney Spinner was also just as attractive as Alexis and Jennifer. Laney had light brown hair and light brown eyes that were a striking combination.
August put a halt to his ass kissing, or whatever he’d been doing on stage, then went and finished escorting Laney to her seat. As they walked past, I didn’t miss the smirk on August’s face, and I wondered if he knew something I didn’t. Like, maybe, he knew why Rylee wasn’t with Laney.
When Kincaid Black walked in next, I really started to wonder what the fuck was going on. As Saxton walked over towards Kincaid, I still had questions on why he had chosen her. Kincaid wasn’t like these other girls. Where the other girls were beautiful, Kincaid was stunning with her black hair and black eyes. However, I suspected it was the air about her that made her as stunning as she was. There was no doubt about it; Kincaid Black commanded the air around her with determination. She was also dressed nicely.
As the girls took their seats and the guys lined up behind them, I was the only one who stood alone. While it might look as if I’d been played, I knew, deep down, I hadn’t been. I knew Rylee was going to show, I just didn’t know why she was late.
Alexander’s voice echoed throughout the room. “Is there a problem, Mr. Lexington?”
My jaw clenched. “Not at all,” I replied.
I heard the click of his shiny shoes on the tile, telling me he’d stepped off the stage. “Perhaps the young lady has changed her mind,” he suggested as he came to stand next to me. It could be paranoia due to the fact that he was more familiar with August than he is with me, but I thought I could hear some underlining glee in his suggestion that Rylee might not be coming.
Before I could correct him, a black-haired/blue-eyed vision in black sneakers, dark jeans, a dark grey hoodie, and her hair pulled back in a ponytail entered the ballroom, her guard trying to keep up with her. My back straightened, and all I could think was that she looked fucking magnificent.
When her eyes met mine, her eyes widened and her steps faltered a bit, but she quickly regained her composure. Since everyone else was standing next to their partners, it wasn’t hard to deduce that I was the one who had summoned her. Rylee walked right up to me and Alexander, and her challenging stance was unmistakable.
Looking down at this girl, there was no question on whether it was love at first collide or not. Looking down at her, it definitely was.
Alexander was the first to speak. “Did you enjoy making us wait on you, Ms. Madden?”
