Page 45 of All Saints: Pledge

“But you didn’t sing in high school. Just the semester of choir to fulfill the music requirement, right?”

I give him a weird look. "I didn't really have the time. Jaqueline did a few of the plays and musicals through the years but I never really considered myself a theatre gal.” I emphasize it with jazz hands.

He nods. "Yeah I can see that. But this seems to fit you here.”

My head waffles back and forth before settling in a nod. “Agreed.” Silence wraps around us for a few beats like a cocoon. “Are you going to tell me about my grandfather?”

“Yeah. Right, yes. It's... it's a long story. You’re tired. Maybe we should talk another time.”

I reach out and stop him as he tries to rise. "Not a chance. You sit you ass back down and tell me. I don't care if it takes all night.” I reach behind him and grab my pillows, propping them up against the wall into a makeshift couch. He leans back and then after a moment takes off his shoes, his jacket and his tie before rolling up his sleeves to his forearms and joining me against the pillows.

After a moment, he pops up again, grabs both our cell phones, puts them in the bathroom, then closes the door before settling in with the air of an old badger attending to hibernation activities.I knew it. I knew the phones could listen in.

“In the interest of brevity, how much do you know?”

“Not much. I saw the picture of him in the chapel. I know he studied music and in one of his photos, I thought I saw anAll Saints pin. And I just learned tonight my grandma went here too.”

Kendall nods. “All true.”

“My grandfather was in All Saints.”

Kendall nods carefully. “Not only in All Saints, he was set to be their leader, just like his own grandfather.”

That…that floors me. How does he know so much about my grandparents when we’ve spoken maybe four civil words to each other in all of our time attending school together? But he does. How is so much of my current life embroiled in something I never knew existed until a few months ago?

“So how did he end up in Wyoming as a rancher?” The question is more to the universe than anything, but Kendall knows the answer.

“He wanted to marry your grandmother, and so they had to leave England.” His eyes have a weird brightness to them at this question. “It was quite the scandal.”

My grandfather was anything but scandalous. He’d even lost most of his accent by the time I knew him—no one who ever met him would ever equate him with the luxury and finery I see abounding at the All Saints soirees. “He emigrated to get married to my grandmother? That doesn’t make sense.”

Kendall chews on his words a bit, and I can tell he’s dancing around something. “I believe she was engaged to someone else at the time. It was—there was—a huge scandal when he left. In All Saints, giving your word means everything. It’s not…it’s not easy to get out of something once you’ve given your word.”

I whistle low.Grandpa. I’d never known. And now that I see all of the NDA’s and secrecy for myself, I can see how extricating yourself as a full member—as a leader—of a fraternity is tricky work. He must have really loved my grandmother to give up his life, though I never got the sense at all that he missed whatever life he’d had here.

My next question slips out unintended. “Do you think when he told my dad he was protecting us from the worst of humanity he meant All Saints?”

Kendall nods again, gaze steady on my face. “Yes. I do.”

“Hm.” I mull that around, unsurprised. “Well I really wish he would have told us specifically, because here I am.”

“Here you are,” Kendall agrees darkly. He takes a deep breath. “All Saints goes back thousands and thousands of years. We are among the longest living secret fraternities in the world.”

It sounds so History Channel. I manage to cover a laugh with a cough. “Are you equating my scholarship with the Knights of Templar, or the Illuminati?” Kendall is unflinching, and it quiets me immediately. “Well, shit. Okay. That's insane. And my grandfather was the leader?”

“Soon to be the elected head of the order.”

I shrug my shoulders. “Okay, so?”

Kendall makes a noise in his throat. “It’s a big deal. The fraternity is a very wealthy one.”

I nod sagely. "'Don't think the Knights of Templar were poor, either. But they dealt in stolen stuff, right? Religious artifacts? Stuff the church stole from religious warfare? Does All Saints have like the Crown of Thorns or something? Is this secretly a Catholic church cult holdout?”

“You read too many Dan Brown novels,” Kendall says.

“Or not enough of them.”

Kendall huffs out a laugh. “I guess it's not far off. Every fraternity deals in its own precious goods. All Saints is no different. Very wealthy, powerful people are made in All Saints. It is extremely exclusive and it has a high ante for entry. We are selective because once among our ranks, our members have access to the highest ranked officials. The heads of Oxford. Ivy League in America. Tech billionaires. Nobel Prize winners. Thewealthiest in the world. Once you are a part of our organization, you are a part of it for life.”

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