Page 85 of The Claiming

Frankie laughs softly. “All will be revealed back at the house. I could murder a beer right now and a hot shower.”

The others shake their heads as they follow us outside and despite where we are and what happened here, I don’t think I have ever felt as alive as I do right at this moment.

* * *

Jack and Siriare already back at the house and as soon as we enter, Frankie heads to his room for a shower and I waste no time in finding mine.

As I wash away my sins and shame, it’s with a huge grin plastered across my face. I loved every second of what happened in the dungeon. Frankie sparks my soul in a way no man has ever done—Jack included. Frankie is unpredictable, deranged and deliciously depraved. Jack is honest, noble and courageous—loyalty being his strongest virtue. Two sides of a coin and two desirable men, one good, one bad, one exciting, one stable. It’s an impossible choice, not that I have to make one, and I can’t wait to do it all over again.

* * *

The others are waitingin the kitchen and I note Siri and Jack sitting at the counter, their heads close together as they whisper in one another’s ears.

Santi and Ali are talking with Frankie, and Jesse is texting something on his phone.

They look up when I enter and Siri says loudly, “We’ve been waiting for you, Cassie. We need to pool our knowledge and work out who the unknown centurion is.”

Jesse says thoughtfully, “It must be somebody who knows this place like the back of his hand. Another student perhaps, or someone who works here.”

“A teacher.” I gasp and Jesse shrugs.

“Possibly, but there are also several workers who keep this academy running.”

Ali joins in. “It could also be a local, a past student perhaps, or just a stranger chancing his luck.”

“So, the entire world is a suspect. That narrows it down.” I say gloomily as I park my ass on the stool and Frankie hands me a cold beer and then turns to Jesse.

“What do you know?”

“I found nothing in the chamber or the cells. I took my search outside to the woods and the area around the dungeon.”

He huffs with despair and Frankie turns to Ali and Santi collectively, asking, “What did you find?”

“Nothing. The tunnels either led to a dead end or to the river. There was nothing else.”

They gaze at Frankie expectantly, who grins, his eyes flashing as he reveals what he discovered.

The room is silent as the others play catch up and Jesse whistles. “Man, that’s fucked.”

“It’s a gift.” Ali adds, his eyes gleaming, and as Frankie tells them about the door, Jesse chuckles softly.

“Well, that makes The Claiming more fun.”

“That’s just what I said.”

Frankie grins at his friend and I interrupt. “What happens now?”

Ali says thoughtfully, “I’m guessing we rig up cameras in the passageways and at the door entrance. All the way to the boathouse. We check the other tunnels for trap doors and place centurions in the passageway to the boathouse and at every exit. There should be enough of us to play the part now. I will probably make it a stipulation of entering the challenge that you take your place at the next one as a centurion guard.”

Santi nods. “When word gets around, I’m guessing it will be a popular event. We will soon have a small centurion army and whoever is running around pretending to be one won’t have many outlets for his fun.”

“Agreed.” Frankie says and as my gaze catches Jack’s, I don’t miss the questions in his eyes as he reads my soul. He always did know what I was thinking and I’m the same with him and as he raises his eyes and turns toward Frankie, I already picture the difficult conversation we are about to have some time very soon.

FORTY-THREE

FRANKIE

Sundays are the best. They are the day after the night before, which usually involved screwing as many students as possible at one of our parties. Not now. Life is way more interesting than that and as the others dispel and set about their usual shit, I catch Cassie’s eye and a silent message passes between us.

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