me sharply of the summer we had before it soured. “You guys really want this? To be a part of it? To have a club of our own? I get that it’s a lot of money. I’ve been poor. Poor poor. Sleeping-on-a-street-corner poor. I haven’t fallen so far into my new life that I’ve forgotten the girl who would’ve done anything to get her mom and son out of poverty. But is playing their games truly worth it?”
“We’ve all got our reasons for being here, Val,” Eve replied. “Should we ask what yours are?”
I said nothing.
“Thought so.”
I didn’t attempt to appeal to them again as we topped the third landing. A hallway of closed doors greeted us—just as gray as the last.
Teagan led the way to the fifth entrance on the right. We tromped in and Hayes’s voice reached me. I looked and didn’t see him anywhere in the grand room. His mother’s bedroom if the photos of a pretty woman and Hayes at various stages in his life was anything to go by.
“Ben,” Eve called.
A head poked inside the room. Hayes waved from the balcony, signaling us to join. “Right out here, Val.”
“What’s out there?”
“See for yourself.”
I stepped over the threshold and came face to face with three guys, two patio chairs, and a table. No one was wearing a mask. “This is it?” I asked. “The way y’all were going on, I expected a cocktail of loopy juice that would crack my mind and reveal my mission to save the universe.”
Nasir laughed. “I do like you, Val. It’s a shame you’ve capped your harem at four.”
“Why does everyone call it that?” I muttered under my breath. Louder, I said, “What do I have to do?”
“It’s simple.” A soft trill slid into my ear, spinning me on my heels. Aiden stood half out of the shadows. The half I laid eyes on had a smear of blood on his cheek. “Get up on the balustrade.”
“Excuse me?”
“You. Balustrade. Now.” Aiden stepped into view. Under his arm, he carried a small bucket. “Please.”
I looked at the stone balustrade wrapping around the balcony. Then I looked for wide eyes or opened mouths, and saw none.
“Are you serious? You expect me to climb up there and do what? We’re three floors off the ground, Aiden.”
“What’s that saying?” Aiden brushed past me. “It’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the impact. Well, if you do neither, you won’t have a problem, will you?”
“What the fuck are you going on about?”
“It’s simple.” Aiden parked himself on one of the chairs. “Think of it like that absurd game show you’re planning for the pledges instead of the real initiation. You stand up there and I’ll throw these”—Aiden pulled a ping pong ball out of his basket—“to you. For each one you catch and hold on to, I’ll ask you a question about Zeta Rho Sigma. If you catch and answer ten, you’re in. Easy right?”
I nodded, lips pursed. “Aiden, let me ask you a question? Are you out of your damn mind?”
He cracked a grin. “Figured you might have that reaction, but don’t worry, the same rules apply. The pot must be appropriately sweetened before we ask you to do anything risky. Want to name your price?”
“I’m sorry, maybe I’m being too subtle. I’m not getting on that ledge, Aiden! You can shove your head in the fucking pot and suffocate in it!”
I turned to go and bumped into a fleshy wall made of Teagan, Eve, and Sabrina.
“Yee-ouch.” As usual, Aiden was as relaxed as a spring day. “If you don’t want to name it, I’ll give you my offer. Get up on that ledge and I’ll tell you the true purpose of the club.”
“Fuck you.”
“—and the truth about my file,” he added.
“Fuck you twice,” I spat. “In the mouth and up the ass. I won’t do it.”
He continued like there wasn’t an interruption. “I’ll tell you how I get my information.”
“No.”
“Teagan and Sawyer will reveal where they truly were during their sabbatical.”
“N—” The automatic refusal lodged in my throat. After months, bordering on years of denial, Aiden casually dropped that on the table like it was nothing. I gaped at him, eyes sliding to Teagan, who nodded expressionlessly.
“No,” I croaked. “I don’t need to know where you’ve been to accept you were caught up in something bad. Maverick was right. The few weeks have told us everything we need to know. This is all some sick game. A game you didn’t start, but one