Page 104 of Deceit

“Yep. That’s what the dinner at Christopher’s was about. He knows about Asher whoring around campus and the hazing shit he did to me. He told him that he had to respect me from here on out, and that our ceremony would be moved up. We’re still having the wedding, but I assume we are going to the courthouse or something to make it official, on Halloween of all days. Ridiculous, right?”

Everyone is silent, all sharing heavy looks between each other, but not bothering to share whatever they are thinking out loud. I look over to see Liam’s brows practically knitted together, Vincent’s eyes dark and hostile, while Ronan is fuming mad beside me.

“That’s less than a month away. We need more time,” he says more to himself.

“She’s out of time. Preparations are being made. You and I both know exactly why he chose that day,” Vincent says to Ronan.

“Wait, why?” I ask.

No one speaks and it pisses me off.

“Okay, that’s it. One of you needs to start talking, immediately!”

“Babygirl, we want to…we just…can’t.”

“Yes you can. It’s called communication, Liam.”

“It’s called sacred secrets, Siren,” Vincent says.

I frown, looking at all of them desperately before my eyes stop on Ronan. He’s staring at the ceiling before slowly turning his head to me.

“What do you know about the Salem witch trials?”

Chapter Thirty Six

Skyla

“What? The witch trials? I don’t know. Some kids claimed that women in the town were witches and possessed them or something. It started a mad hunt for witches and a bunch of innocent people died. What about it?” I ask.

All the guys share uneasy looks between each other, Liam silently shaking his head at Ronan like he’s begging him not to share anything with me. My eyes stay on Ronan as I lift a waiting eyebrow.

Ronan rubs his hand against his jaw, staring at the ground before looking back to me.

“The history books got most of it right…but not all. Yes, many died unnecessarily, but there were witches in Salem, still are too.”

“What? Witches? Like cauldrons, spells and all that?” I scoff.

“No, you’re thinking of the dramatized Hollywood version of witches, but people who practice various forms of magic, harnessing energy from nature and darker forces, yes,” Vincent corrects.

My brows furrow, a disbelieving look on my face as Ronan continues.

“No one truly knows what happened with the trials. Some say the women were wrongfully accused, others say they really were practitioners of magic. Either way, the town turned to chaos. Once the trials had ended, it didn’t stop there.”

“Our ancestors knew that there were remaining witches, furious ones,” Liam intervenes. “And even those that had been executed, most of them had families. Children, spouses, siblings. Some in Salem, others in nearby towns and states.”

“And, rightfully so, they wanted revenge,” Vincent adds on.

“So, what were the townsfolk of Salem to do?” Ronan asks. “They decided there was safety and power in numbers and thus—”

“The Brethren was born,” I guess, causing all three to nod their heads in agreement.

“Holy shit. So it’s not a society, it really is a cult. It’s an anti-witch culty protection group,” I guffaw, unbelieving of my own words.

“To put it simply,” Vincent agrees.

“You guys don’t actually believe this shit, though, right?” I ask.

They all have uneasy looks, even Vincent as he continues.

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