Page 5 of Trapped

“Background checks are standard protocols at Saint Laurent, Robin,” the same man interrupted, his voice nothing more but a controlled boom, his expression blank. “We know everything about you, including the art academy and your group of friends. The fights.”

“Ex-friends,” I huffed out.

A small smile crept up his lips. “Ex-friends indeed. Now, you are entitled to decline this opportunity, but before you do so, I want you to fully understand what it is you’re saying no to.”

“I won’t be beaten up,” I started, but he shushed me with a single wave of his hand.

“If you want a future in which your father and brothers see you for the powerful brother you might become, sign this document. If you want a future in which you decide what you wish to do, sign this document. And you might become our next member.”

“There is no freedom in my future,” I growled, but one look on his face told me everything.

There would be—if I dared.

So I signed the document. And the moment I left that office, I felt like change was already taking place. I felt different. Okay, I was still my cranky self, but something had changed.

That’s when I started receiving the chocolate boxes.

My right foot trips over a stone, bringing me back to reality in an instant as my body stumbles forward. “Merde,” I hiss. My hands shoot out, palms digging into the ground to prevent myself from falling on my face. The sudden rustle of leaves in the top of the tree causes me to flinch. When I see the group of bats flapping away, I let out a relieved huff of laughter.

I don’t usually come in the forest of Monterrey Castle, which is ironic considering the fact that the entire college is surrounded by endless kilometers of forest. I’m much more of a stay-in-my-room kind of guy. And in the library. And in the tiny as shit art room, that has been specially designed for the likes of me; students who don’t want to study Business but have been forced to by their family.

I didn’t touch the chocolate, though the sweets looked delicious. Part of me was convinced it was some sort of silent threat from the board to show me that they knew of my past and wanted me to behave within school facilities. It couldn’t have anything to do with being chosen, right?

No. That was plain ridiculous. A sweet, treacherous wish.

They were just messing with me. I thought that for the past weeks, carefully avoiding the chocolates, carefully ignoring the sweet dreams that found me in my sleep regardless. Of gentle touches in the shadows and tender whispers in the dark.

And then I received the invitation on my doorstep.

“You, our brother,” I hum out loud, half mocking, because for some reason I know the twisted words by heart. “Who carries his heritage with dignity and pride, who walks this world with his head high, searching—not quite finding—to belong. And belong you shall, brother, because today is the day that your life will change.

You are invited to become part of the inevitable, the circle of gold that will keep your spine straight and your dignity intact. To meld into a group of people who are like you, brother, who were once searching but who found—found—what life really means.

Loyalty.

Respect.

Tradition.

Sacrifice.

And tonight your Initiations shall begin.

I should have walked away right from that first meeting, but the chance of winning tonight’s games… the chance of beating my old man by becoming part of his little elite club…

If surviving two hours out here in a pitch-dark forest is all I need to do to prove my old man that I can be part of his secretive club of the privileged, then that’s what I’ll do, despite having swallowed a white pill that may or may not be the legal kind. Sliding my phone out of the pocket of my uniform pants, I quickly check the time. Ten minutes have passed and I’m feeling fine. You see? Easy.

The sand trail behind me is deserted and dark, aside from the decorations they have put out.

Where would the other participants be?

Where would he be? Copper Mask.

I try to wave the thought away, not wanting to think of the guy who stood across from me, but my mind’s too slow for my thoughts, getting tangled up inside my head. Oh well. If he thinks he can take me down, he better think again.

The sudden blaring, low sound of a horn makes me jump. It’s freaking loud, and goosebumps coat my skin in an instant.

“Putain de merde,” I breathe, my heart thumping violently in my chest. “Where the hell did that come from?” Circling the tree trunk with my hands, I push my back flush against the wood, eyes darting wildly around me. The sand trail is still empty.

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