Page 54 of Ruthless Prince
Every time I thought about what I told the Order that night, my cheeks burned and a thickness appeared in my throat from the shame sweeping through my system. I knew it couldn’t be helped, because I’d been drugged with a literal truth serum, but I felt awful all the same. If I ever crossed the society, my secret would be revealed to the world and my mother’s career would be destroyed from the scandal. It would be all myfault.
Simone rolled her eyes. “You’re nofun.”
“Hey, you can’t tell me your secret either. Not unless you want to break the rules before you’ve even passed the finaltrial.”
She shrugged. “Yeah. I guess.” The plane suddenly jolted, and she let out a little squeal. “God, I can’t believe you slept through all this. It’s been bumpy the wholeway.”
The plane positioned itself for landing on a wide airstrip at the tail end of the island. After a surprisingly smooth touchdown, we stepped out onto the tarmac and saw five shiny black SUVs idling nearby, presumably waiting forus.
The drivers wore the same masks as the flight attendants. They helped load our luggage into the back of the vehicles, and then they gathered us in a circle for our nextinstructions.
“When you arrive at the house, you will be shown to individual private suites on the second floor. You can use that time to unpack, settle in, or take a short nap. Whatever you do, you must not leave your room until half pastseven.”
We nodded our agreement and piled into the cars. They drove in procession along a winding tree-lined road for five minutes before coming to a halt in front of the OrderHouse.
It was hardly a house at all. More like a hotel. The main building consisted of five stories of stone and wood with mullioned windows, pointed turrets, and decorated cupolas cut into the roof. Towering pine trees bordered it like sentries, and a large obelisk with carved symbols stood near the entrance. Several smaller outbuildings dotted the groundsnearby.
Masked staff members marched us upstairs with our luggage and led us to our private rooms. I heard the buzz of bustling activity on other floors, and I itched to sneak around and find out exactly what was happening. I knew I wasn’t allowed to disturb any of the members or the night’s preparations, though, so to pass the time, I unpacked a few essentials, put my phone on charge, and sat on the bed, admiring the view from thewindow.
The last vestiges of daylight were slowly fading, and the outlines of the distant cliffs and trees were turning black against the orange-red sky. The fiery colors gave way to a deep navy blue as twilight beckoned, and then the sky turned dark, giving way to thousands ofstars.
Simone’s dad was right. The night sky was glorious here, and it made the ocean shimmer just as hedescribed.
A rap at the door startled me out of my dreamy contemplation. I jumped up and turned around. “Comein.”
Mal and Adam appeared in the doorway. “You need to go downstairs now, ma’am. It’s almost half pastseven.”
I nodded and picked up my phone, slipping it into my back pocket as I hurried out of theroom.
“We should take that,” Adam said, gesturing to my pocket when we reached thestairwell.
“Myphone?”
“Yes. You can’t have it on you during theritual.”
“Oh. Okay.” I handed it to him, and he slipped it into hispocket.
“That’s cashmere, isn’t it?” he said, gesturing toward the mauve pashmina wrapped around myneck.
I nodded, and he held his hand out. “We should take thattoo.”
“But it’s freezingoutside.”
“Trust me, ma’am,” Mal said. “You should give it tous.”
“All right.” I sighed and unwrapped my scarf. “Here.”
When all the pledges were gathered downstairs, a group of masked staff members ushered us out a side entrance and directed us onto a narrow path leading eastward from the edge of the estate. A thick patch of forest surrounded the trail, blotting out our destination, so we had no idea what we were in for. All we could see was the daunting darkness ahead and the path under our feet, littered with dead leaves and pineneedles.
When we finally reached the edge of the forest and stepped into a field, we saw a series of burning torches lighting a new path for us. It led further east and up the side of a hill covered with thick vegetation. We trudged along, each of us silent and trembling with nerves. When we reached the top of the steep path, we found ourselves in a clearing on an enormous plateau, ringed by pine and mapletrees.
The clearing was big enough to contain every single member of the Order. Clad in dark robes with the usual black and red masks affixed to their faces, they stood stock-still inside a soaring structure of upright granite stones erected in a horseshoe shape. It reminded me ofStonehenge.
Surrounding the megalithic monument was another series of burning torches, flames dancing and flickering wildly in the wind. In front of them, masked men crouched and pounded on heavy drums with a deep, rhythmic beat. The surreal sights and sounds were almost hypnotizing, and I was struck by the dreamlike impression that we’d stepped back in time to witness an ancient Druidicritual.
“Holy shit,” Simone said under her breath. “This is creepy ashell.”
I instinctively turned my head to seek out Mal and Adam’s protection, but then I remembered that they hadn’t been allowed to follow us out of the mansion. Whatever came next had to be faced without them. At least I wasn’t completely alone, though. I had Simone and the other thirteeninitiates.
