Beautiful Lies (Breaking Belles #2) - Alta Hensley Page 0,3
for this?” Rafe asked.
I shrugged. I could keep standing here and bitching, or I could power through it. I was pretty sure the guys were sick of my pissed-off attitude and didn’t need or want to hear any more of it.
“We all gotta do it,” I said as I finished the last of my drink and placed the glass on a nearby table.
“What’s it like being a true member of the Order now?” Emmett asked Montgomery.
“Odd,” he answered. “To be honest, it doesn’t feel that much different other than I don’t have to worry about jumping through all the hoops and tests to get where I am anymore. I know I’m expected to be at all the events from now on, which frankly, I’m not thrilled about. I don’t want to be part of Sully’s Trials at all. I think it sucks that I’m going to have to witness them. But it is what it is. The price I have to pay, I suppose.”
“Just don’t become like those monsters,” I said as I closely watched the white grandfather clock that mastered the pristine white ballroom. “You’re not an Elder yet, but still. Don’t emulate them.”
“Never,” Montgomery stated firmly. “I will not become my father. I won’t repeat history. This Order needs an overhaul, and hopefully once we all become members, we can help make that happen.”
Our conversation was interrupted when the clock struck midnight. The familiar hammer strike of twelve chimes echoing through the room was accompanied by the Elders and their canes. With each chime of the hour, the canes beat in cadence against the white floor.
“Bring in the belles,” one of the Elders demanded after the twelfth strike of his cane.
The recruits lined up with me in the center of the room as we had done with Montgomery during his Initiation. Montgomery walked over to join the members all draped in eerie silver cloaks. I stood at attention and waited. At least I knew what to expect and wasn’t operating in the blind so far.
The silence in the room changed when the belles and the clicking of their heels entered the ballroom.
Twenty young women.
Twenty beautiful lies stood before me.
As they entered the room, they positioned themselves in a single file. It reminded me of some fucked-up version of a Miss America pageant. Contestants on display. All hoping to be chosen as the winner.
Long-flowing ball gowns of a multitude of colors seemed to dwarf the women. They didn’t belong in the expensive garments any more than I belonged in the white tuxedo, and it was obvious in their uneasiness. We were in costumes surrounded by men in silver cloaks, and anyone could read it in their eyes, their posture, and could smell it in the air.
They didn’t belong, and they each knew it. They were just praying we wouldn’t be able to tell if they dressed and acted the part. But the aroma permeating the air gave it away…
Fear had an odor, and it reeked.
“Display the belles,” the Elder commanded with a beat of the cane.
Another Elder began the procession of the belles by leading them one behind the other through the ballroom. He walked them in front of the cloaked Elders first, then the members, and then to us.
They repeated the act three times, circling the room as if they were marching soldiers flanking the ballroom under strict order, although their military uniforms were replaced by gowns worn by true Southern belles.
Except these Southern belles were frauds. Liars. Some of the women even struggled walking in the heels that were provided. Fish out of water.
“Sullivan VanDoren,” the Elder called out as the women lined up once again before us. We hadn’t moved, but simply watched the parade of deceit. “It is time for you to choose the belle.”
The Elder who had been leading the procession of belles walked over to where I stood and opened his fist. Resting on his palm was a black satin ribbon.
I needed zero instruction to know what to do next as this process was clearly laid out in our handbook that ruled over every breath we took. Plus, it wasn’t long ago I watched Montgomery as he was offered the same color ribbon.
Taking the ribbon, I struggled not to roll my eyes or go tell them to go fuck themselves. I then walked up to the line of women and began what was called “the touching of the pearls”.
I knew I was expected to approach each female and briefly touch the pearl necklace