Page 169 of Ruthless Legacy

“Hey baby.” Eloise coos, walking up to Finn, as we enter the dining hall.

“What do you want, Eloise?”

“Aren’t you going to congratulate me on my scores?”

We look at each other before he answers, “Why the hell would I care what your scores are?”

“Because I’m the top ranked female prospect.” She smiles like that should mean something to us. It doesn’t. We’ve seen the scores and the challenges they’ve got the women doing aren’t nearly as difficult as ours were.

“You know who’s on the bottom? Clarissa and Phoebe. Oh, and the Laurent line is completely off the board.”

Pax, who was walking ahead of Finn, stops and turns to ask, “What do you mean she’s off the board?”

“She didn’t complete the challenge. The deadline was three p.m. and she never showed. You know the rules. Failure to complete a challenge wipes your scores.”

“Where are you going, Finn?” Eloise calls out as the three of us turn and head back towards the dorms.

He answers, “Back to my room. I’ve lost my appetite.”

What happened with Reggie in the stairwell has been niggling at me for days. Eloise’s comment about Thea blowing off a challenge has added to my suspicions.

Thea’s not the type to just lose a challenge by not showing up. If she wasn’t there, it’s because she was up to something.

I’ve been combing through footage for hours, looking for clues to what’s going on with her. Is she sabotaging her chances because she doesn’t really want to join The League?

She’s said no to everything else, so it never made sense why she didn’t fight this, too. This could be her way of doing that.

The footage shows Thea’s been spending more and more time off campus. Sometimes she catches a ride share, sometimes she drives herself. A lot of her departures happen immediately after looking at her phone.

I assume those are the times she’s getting alerts for challenges. She’s out more, compared to the other first year prospects, both in frequency and length. She’s also one of the few first years not collaborating with anyone during the challenges.

Thea is a loner, but I know the challenge coordinators had to have told her that working in teams is encouraged. Forming alliances within The League is important, and it starts during the prospect period.

* * *

“Couldn’t this meeting wait until after I’ve gotten some sleep?” Finn grouses, dropping onto my couch.

“I think we’ve waited long enough to address this. After what happened the other night with Reggie, we can’t put off talking about it anymore.”

The look on his face tells me to get to the point. I’ve found enough camera footage to raise concern. My dad gave me a printout of all the challenges issued -over the last five years- within the first six weeks of becoming a prospect.

I’m not even sure her challenges are normal for any first year prospect. For the first time, I’m not sure how to make my point. It might come off sounding like an accusation, or a smear against The League, and that’s not my intention.

Pax takes a seat next to him, waiting for me to speak. I’m not one for drawing out suspense, so I blurt out. “Thea’s challenges are more difficult than the other female prospects.”

“We’ve all had difficult challenges,” Pax says, settling back against the cushions.

“This is true, but we were all given the same tasks. Thea’s challenges are different and they never start at the same time as the other girls. She’s being singled out.”

My gaze darts between the two of them. “I’m not sure why none of us have noticed.”

I’m looking at Finn because he obsessively watches Thea, but it’s Pax who answers. “I have.”

Finn squints, as if trying to see inside Pax’s skull. “What do you mean, you have? When are you even around Thea long enough to see anything?”

Pax’s eyes shift left. Is he about to lie to us, or tell us something we won’t like hearing? “I was there for one of her in-chamber challenges.”

Finn and I share a look before I say, “There haven’t been any in-chamber challenges.” Those would have been marked on the list dad gave me.

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