Page 56 of Moonlit Temptation

“What kind of initiation involves bloodletting and a kissing circle?”

“The kind that’s hell to get into.”

When he didn’t elaborate, I put my hands on my hips and waited.

And waited some more.

“Madelayne.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. “Why did you have to follow me?”

“You lied to me.”

“Says the known liar.” He gave me a pointed look.

Saint was mad that I followed him, found out his little secret, but underneath I saw panic and worry and other emotions I didn’t understand.

He looked scared.

Scared for me.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” he asked.

“I was thinking the same thing about you. What were you thinking when you didn’t tell me the truth?”

“You’ve lied your entire life, Madelayne.” He glared. “What the fuck does it matter that I did it to you?”

“I never lied to you!” I realized I was yelling, wound tight with frustration. “I’ve never lied to you,” I repeated in a softer, more even-tempered tone.

Saint’s face softened before instantly tensing back up. He drew in a sharp breath, releasing his anger in the exhale. “Icarus.”

I cocked my head. “Who the fuck is Icarus?”

With a heavy sigh, one that I could feel the weight of, Saint sat on the edge of the bed, where he pinched the bridge of his nose again.

After another deep sigh, he spoke. “What I say can’t leave this room.”

Saint pinned me with a stare until I nodded.

“We’re called the Sons of Icarus.”

That was very patriarchal of them.

“They found me while I was in my second year of university. Freshly nineteen, didn’t give a fuck about much. If anything.”

His eyes became distant, lost in the memory. “I remember them putting a hood over my head, keeping me sequestered in that library you saw today for hours with others they plucked from school. We had no idea what was happening. Some were terrified. Me? I was intrigued. Curious to know what was so important with the secrecy. If it’d be worth it.”

He didn’t look at me while he talked. “They told us they’d been watching everyone in the room for a year. Asked us all questions and with every question, I could hear people being escorted out. Where? I didn’t care. They weren’t going to waste my time by kicking me out before I saw what they were hiding.”

Only Saint. Only he would feel like his time was being wasted by being kidnapped.

“So they kept asking us questions until they told us to stand and undress to our underwear. We were given robes, then escorted into another room, where the hoods were yanked off and there was a circle of robed people before us. They told us who they were, Sons of Icarus.”

He spoke with stale awe and bitter reverence.

This was all fine and dandy, but it wasn’t answering who they were, what they were. “What are they?”

Saint stared at me, eyes blazing. “Power.”

“What kind of power?”

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