Page 160 of Seeds of Malice

"Right now, I'm loving it," he answers, his lips twitching.

She slides her hand down, stopping on the front of his thigh near his cock.

He glances down at it, then back at her.

"Good. I hope you pass your initiation next week."

He nods. "I will. Just for you," he says and then winks.

She steps back and then motions for him to leave the room.

He turns and walks away, shutting the door behind him.

"Well, he's a sexy piece of Texas," Marcey states.

Avery spins back to us. "Sure is. All right, ladies." She holds her glass up again. "To my soon-to-be sisters."

We clink glasses, and I take a sip. Lilly downs half her glass, as does Marcey and Cindy.

Marcey nods. "Drink up, Ivy. We have to go soon."

I finish the champagne, and within seconds, my nerves disappear.

I'm going to be Mrs. Dax Carrington!

Cindy reappears, directing us to leave the room. She leads us down the stairs and through the main room, but nobody's in it.

"Where is everybody?" I question.

"We can't tell you that," Marcey answers, then leads us down the staircase into the basement.

It's dark. I've never been down here before, but it's set up as a theater with dozens of seats. Smoke, similar to that at the frat party Dax took me to, hangs thick in the air. The smell of alcohol mixes with the haze, but I can't see anybody in the chairs. Still, I know they're there.

My nerves reappear.

Avery leads us through the darkness and up four steps. My heels click on a wood floor. I barely make out a curtain in front of us.

"Lilly, did you memorize your script?" Marcey asks.

"Yes. I was up all night, but I have it down," she answers.

"What script?" I question.

Avery pulls me aside. "Every sister has to do this. You might not want to, Ivy, but it's just one night. It's just one scene. And if you get through it, you'll pass the first stage. You won't ever have to do it again. But you'll be judged on your performance and how accepting you are."

My gut dives. I question, "How accepting?"

"Yes." She sighs. "When we pulled the cards..."

More anxiety fills me. "What cards?"

She pulls me farther away from the others, replying, "Let me explain how this works. The sisters get together, and there are different cards of scenes. Every single pledge has to act out a scene. You and Lilly got paired together."

My mouth turns dry. "And what's my scene?"

"Well, when they pulled the card, it said we had to keep you in suspense."

"I'm not following, Avery."