Page 43 of Pretty Lethal
“Come on, lazy bones,” she taunts, smacking me on the ass and earning herself a vicious growl. “Up time.”
“Ughhh.” Wilder groans, and when I glance over at him, I find him glaring at me.
What the fuck did I do?
“You clearly didn’t fuck her hard enough, or she’d be passed out right now,” he answers as though reading my thoughts.
“Me?Youclearly didn’t fuck her hard enough. Maybe if you weren’t hungover,” I gripe before grabbing a pillow and smacking him in the face with it.
Chapter13
KAI
“It sounds like some rich guy’s ramblings about how superior he is to the rest of us because he has money at his disposal,” Emilia muses, staring at the notebook in my hand with disgust.
“Well, that narrows it down to like a few kazillion people,” Wilder drawls from where he’s curled over the table, nursing his head as though there’s a rock concert going on inside of it. Which, I bet, there is.
Hawk doesn’t appear to be faring much better, gulping down his third cup of coffee in fifteen minutes as though he’s dependent on it for survival. Both arrived looking paler than usual with bloodshot eyes and matching scowls. Although at least Hawk has been capable of verbal communication, Wilder has mostly groaned in agony since they returned.
I’d take his groaning over his unappreciated sarcasm any day.
“It’s all about keeping bloodlines pure and ensuring immeasurable wealth is retained within the top 0.1% of the population. It’s repulsive.” Emilia sneers at the offending notebook, and I can’t say I blame her. Some of the shit that’s written in there is despicable. One thing is for sure though, this isn’t simply some over-the-top college society.
I glance back down at the page open before me, a set of twisted laws that must be abided by and that demonstrates how egotistical this society truly is.
The reigning King has the final say on all actions and decisions an Elite takes.
The priority of the King’s Elite will come above all personal endeavors.
All Elite children must attend Elite-approved universities.
Upon graduation, members will be placed in jobs deemed suitable for an Elite, ultimately placing them in the best position to further the Elite agenda.
All Elites must marry and carry on the Elite bloodline.
Suitable marriages will be arranged by the King and are non-negotiable.
All children born to Elite bloodlines will be recognized as such and given the opportunity to prove themselves during their Senior year at college.
Children born outside of the Elite bloodline will not be acknowledged.
Once an Elite, only death can release you of your vows.
There’s more,each one as twisted and perverted as the last. However, it’s the last one that concerns us the most. That one sentence emphasizes that the King’s Elite will not simply let Wilder walk away. Not now, and not after he’s graduated.
“You basically signed your life away when you took that vow,” I say aloud, earning Wilder's darkest of all glares, which I promptly ignore. “It’s established so that no one in this organization has any autonomy, and why would they want to when it keeps their pockets lined, and they can have every luxury at their disposal.”
“I don’t give a shit about money or luxuries,” Wilder sneers, the word luxuries coming out in the same way someone might complain about stepping in dog shit in their bare feet—with absolute revulsion.
“All Elite children must attend Elite-approved universities,” Emilia says aloud, still focused on the open page in front of me with a thoughtful frown marring her expression. “What are the chances Wilder would end up here, at an Elite-approved college?”
My eyes lift to that line, re-reading it for myself. “There could be a lot of universities approved by them throughout the country.”
“Yeah, but Wilder’s never even been interested in college. He only enrolled because Hawk, Hadley, and the guys were all coming here.”
“You think they somehow orchestrated it so Wilder would come here?”
She shrugs a shoulder, rubbing at her eyes and looking weary. I reach out and rub my hand in soothing circles over her back to ease some of her tension. She barely slept all night, reading the entire notebook until she could practically recite the whole thing from memory, before succeeding in waking an unconscious Wilder and forcing a grumbling Hawk out of bed to come back here.
