Page 22 of Broken Empire
“But…” I trailed off, gaping at the screen again. “What’s the point in pretending they’re two different groups?”
Murray switched the video off. “All members of our organization are placed on a three-year probationary period after they join,” he said, ignoring my question. “They must prove that they will never leak any information about the organization or where we source our seed money. If they try, their Hellfire initiation video will be leaked to the public, and we’ll ensure that no decent lawyers will help them, so it’s all but guaranteed they’ll receive a lengthy prison sentence.”
My heart thudded as I considered his words. A secret society using dark secrets or evidence of illegal activities as leverage over its members wasn’t unusual. Most of them did it, as it was the easiest and most effective way of ensuring that members kept their mouths shut about goings-on in the society.
Still, something about this situation didn’t make any sense to me.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said, narrowing my eyes at Murray. “Why pretend the Hellfire Club is a separate group when it’s actually intertwined with you guys? Why not have both groups under one umbrella?”
“Patience, Killian,” he said, raising a palm. “Everything will be illuminated for you shortly. Now, do you understand what’s at stake for you if you ever speak to anyone about us?”
I set my jaw and nodded. “You’ll release that tape of me.”
If that happened, I was totally fucked. Even though the man I killed deserved it—in my opinion, anyway—I knew a judge and jury wouldn’t care about that. It was still murder, no matter how anyone tried to spin it.
“That’s right,” Murray said. “We’re very serious about that.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” He smiled again. “If you’re still willing to join us, please sign and initial the paperwork in front of you. Front and back. Then we can proceed.”
I lowered my gaze to the contract in front of me and picked up the pen someone had left next to it. I couldn’t back out now. I had to sign.
“Done,” I said after scrawling my signature on each dotted line.
“Excellent. Congratulations, Killian,” Murray said, smile spreading into a wide grin. “We’re happy to have you, and I’m sure you’ll do great things with us.”
The room erupted in applause. Dad and Leon still wouldn’t meet my eyes, and they were sitting rigidly with their lips pressed into thin lines. Several other members around the table had stiffened too, and their tense facial expressions didn’t match the enthusiasm of their clapping.
When the congratulatory applause finally died down, Murray turned back to the screen and clicked a button on the remote. A blurry still image came up. It looked like a forest clearing at night, surrounded by flaming torches, but it was difficult to make out any details beyond that.
“This is what you’ve been waiting for,” Murray said. “The big reveal, so to speak.”
“What is it?” I asked, brows furrowing as I stared at the screen.
“This is how we build and maintain the wealth we use to further our ambitions,” he replied. “It isn’t contingent on the stock market like most other industries, so it’s completely recession-proof, and it also ensures that members don’t have to risk their own personal wealth.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I have to warn you… it will come as a shock at first. But you’ll come around to it eventually. The Hellfire Club will have prepared you.”
“Okay.”
Murray raised a brow. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
He cocked his head. “Are you sure? If you want to take a few minutes to prepare yourself, that’s fine,” he said. “I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say it will come as a shock. It does to everyone at first.”
I clenched my jaw. “I’m ready. Show me.”
“Very well. We’ll rip off the Band-Aid right away, at your request,” he said, eyes twinkling with amusement. “The video you’re about to see is one of our most recent projects from our DC chapter. We’re showing you the uncut, unedited version because they only finished filming it an hour ago, but you’ll still be able to get a decent idea of everything that’s going on.”
I leaned forward, focusing my gaze on the screen as Murray pressed play. I was right about it being a forest clearing lined with burning torches, but now that the image was unblurred and playing out in front of me, I could see some people and a strange statue of a bull as well. The people were all naked and tied together with their wrists behind their back. Beaded masks covered the top halves of their faces.
“Fix that focus,” a masculine voice said from somewhere behind the camera. “Yeah, that’s much better.”
There was more chatter from a series of men and women behind the camera as they discussed certain details and arrangements. Then everything went quiet for a moment, and a man called out. “One, two, three… action!”
I furrowed my brows. Why the hell was I being shown raw footage from a movie shoot?
Strange music began to play, and people in black robes and masks slowly entered the shot and stepped in ritualistic circles around the naked people. Another man in a black robe stepped into the frame a moment later, head covered by a bronze bull mask.
