Page 17 of Sinful Storms

He is not elite, went unspoken.

The hooded figures bowed their heads in agreement.

The figure with the pen dipped it into the inkwell, turning to a blank page in the book, and began to write.

When they were finished, they placed the pen down, holding the book open to allow the ink to dry, and stretched out a hand.

“The letter.”

Another of the hooded figures stepped towards them, placing a piece of parchment on the table. The pen scratched across the paper, words filling the formerly blank space.

The figure folded the paper carefully and held out their hand again.

“The seal.”

Another figure came forwards, brandishing a red candle. They held it above the lit candle already on the table, allowing the wax to soften. Taking the folded paper, they let the wax drips fall.

The figure with the pen removed the heavy ring they wore on a chain around their neck, pressing it to the warm wax and marking the seal with their insignia.

When the wax was dry, they turned the paper over and wrote three words.

John William Scott.

They handed the letter to the remaining figure, who had been standing to their left. “See that this reaches him tonight.”

The figure bowed their head, and with that, the chant was repeated again, mingling with the howling winds and the battering rain.

“So it is written. So it is decided.”

9

TRISTAN

“Can we do something else? I hate computer games.” Kristen wiggled in my lap, and while the friction and her body would normally be enough to get my dick perking up in interest, tonight, I was preoccupied. It was games night in the Epi common room, and everyone was there. Everyone except for the people I needed to be. Two of them were here—Gracelyn and Samira—but the other two were nowhere to be seen.

“You don’t have to play, babe,” I murmured, running my fingers up her thigh on autopilot while I typed out a surreptitious text to Roman with my free hand.

Kristen said something I didn’t catch, too intent on what I was doing.

Me:

Can you do me a favour? I’ll owe you. Get Quinn and Aria in here and don’t let them leave

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roman’s brows rise. With an exaggerated sigh, he climbed to his feet and disappearedthrough the common room door, hopefully in the direction of Aria’s room.

“Are you listening?”

I blinked, realising Kristen had been talking to me. “Yeah. No.” Fuck. I rubbed my brow. “I need to do something. Be back in a minute.”

I lifted her off my lap, shifting across the sofa so she could slide into the empty space next to Freya. She frowned, but when I kissed her cheek, she instantly forgave me, batting her lashes and giving me a look that was impossible to misinterpret.

“We’ll have some fun on our own later,” I said, squeezing her thigh.

As Roman re-entered the common room along with Quinn and Aria, I grinned, hiding my face in Kristen’s hair in case Aria noticed me and got suspicious. As I’d expected, her gaze shot straight to mine, her eyes narrowing when she realised I was already looking at her. I deliberately turned to Kristen, pressing a quick kiss to her lips, and then stood. Lucky for me, Aria had already turned away, and as I walked out of the door, I sawQuinn pull her down onto the free sofa.

My phone buzzed.

Roman:

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