Hot breath hits my cheek. “You know what they say, once a cheater, always a cheater.”
The hairs on the back of my neck rise. I whip around to face Cameron and stand, forcing him to give me space. “Like you care. You only wanted one thing out of your offer.”
“And you think he wants more?” His sinister laugh shakes the steel in my spine. He’s hitting all the anxious parts of me. “Hopefully he pops that cherry before someone else just takes it, Delilah.”
The warning rolls off his tongue like ice. Could Cameron be the asshole who left me that disgusting, twisted gift?
As soon as I think it, I remind myself that Keegan and I were the first to leave the bar last night. Cameron and the rest of the guys in this room were still partying. There wasn’t enough time for him to leave the bar, beat me to my room, and disappear before Keegan left me. Right?
Leaving me with a pit in my stomach, Cameron exits the room just as Keegan finishes his conversation with Wright. The cave-like room feels cold and damp as dread creeps into my body again.
“You okay?” Keegan asks.
I nod, telling myself that it’s fine. Cameron’s just an ass. He’s pouting because he really thought a self-respecting woman would take him up on his ridiculous offer. The only thing he’s guilty of is being delusional.
Footsteps echo through the hallway. Keegan and I glance up as Reginald Wright blocks our way out of the room. “Fledglings. I’ve been meaning to ask how Miss Astor is doing?”
He peers at Keegan as if he’s the only one who can give him a truthful answer. Before I can fall down the rabbit hole of how many times Keegan has betrayed me since we returned from break, the devil himself speaks up. “Yes, Sir. We were actually just at our Devil’s Night Party meeting. I assure you her invaluable suggestions are going to make the best Devil’s Night Party yet.”
Sir Wright looks me up and down, stare lingering until I start to shift on my feet. “Has she now?”
“I’m sure all the elders will be pleasantly surprised with what we have in the works.”
“Excellent, Mr. Forbes,” he praises, except he’s not looking at Keegan at all, he’s staring at me as if he can see straight through my clothes, practically undressing me with his eyes. It feels as if I’m walking through spiderwebs.
“Ready?” I ask Keegan, eager to get the hell out of here.
Keegan gestures toward the door, and I take off after quickly grabbing my notes and shoving them in my bag. The red alert feeling doesn’t leave until I escape the walls of the Knights lair.
ChapterSixteen
Aweek and a half passes, and I barely have time to breathe. Between keeping up with my studies, making sure the Devil’s Night party will go off without a hitch, and sticking to the shadows so I go unnoticed, it’s all becoming too much.
I’m used to being in the spotlight for good things, but the rumor about me still being a virgin has spread all around campus, making me the number one person to gawk at. They’re always ribbing each other, jutting their chins out toward me as if I can’t see them. They whisper behind their hands. I’ve even had other ladies approach me, telling me they think it’s honorable I’ve kept it all this time.
Honestly, I don’t know what to do with that. I wasn’t doing it as some sort of purity test for myself. In fact, I can’t wait to give it away to Keegan. We spend the night in either my room or his. Nothing else has happened. No freaky flowers with semen-filled condoms, just lingering looks from most of campus. It’s difficult to pinpoint any weird behavior because it’s all strange.
Three days ago, Keegan shouted at everyone in the café to get a fucking life because I felt like I was the subject in a lab test. He stormed from the building, telling Devon to watch me as he blew off some steam in the gym.
He’s taking this all on himself, but honestly, even I didn’t realize how big this was going to be. I kind of want to fake another rumor just to take the onus off me and place it on someone else.
Campus is littered with dead leaves as Halloween approaches. The holiday has taken a little of the attention off me because everyone is talking about the upcoming parties. But, as far as I know, the Knights are the only one planning the most epic bash of the year. No one else on the CU campus even knows what Devil’s Night is apparently. Or cares.
Night of Mischief my ass. The Knights should call it, Night of Spending Entirely Too Much Money In Absolutely Frivolous Ways.
I really have been spending too much time listening to Eden.
Dad and I are keeping her in the dark about what happened. If it’s a one-off incident, we’re not going to worry either her or my mother about it. Everything came back clean with no evidence, and with the way I’m suddenly so popular, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did it as a sick prank. The son or daughter of a family rival? All the families who attend CU have been screwed over by other families here. Someone who believes I did them wrong? Hell, I’ve even pegged it on Anne-Marie because it’s obvious she likes Keegan. She could’ve had sex with a guy, stolen the condom, and threw it in the bouquet. She’s diabolical like that. I bet she wishes she had never even spread the rumor, considering all the attention it’s gotten me.
If life were fair, she’d be next in line. However, she’d preen with all the extra eyes on her.
The secretDevil & Angel Partyinvitations went out yesterday. After discussing the guest list with the other committee members, I wasn’t lucky enough to have her excluded. Her father is a Knight. He was just one who didn’t want his daughter to join.
The deeper I get into the Knight culture, the more my faith wavers. Changing a group that’s been around for centuries is an insurmountable task. It doesn’t feel like I’m doing all that much. I got the girls to actually wear white lingerie instead of being naked. So what? There won’t be a sex dungeon in the castle. Who cares? These are just basic things that should’ve been put into place a long time ago. I’m fighting against a huge brick wall that was shored up a long time ago. Is this even something I have a chance of winning against? Or am I just spinning my wheels? Dread sets in the nearer we get to the party. Nerves and apprehension skim at the surface all the time.
It feels as if I’m setting myself up for failure.
Keegan massages my shoulders. His fingers work magic into the knots hanging out there. Yesterday, I confessed my worries to him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not all on board with me changing the Knights, but he is all on board with me. That’s as much as I can ask for right now. “You’re thinking about it again,” he chastises.