Page 79 of Ruthless Legacy

He stands and I walk him to the door. He pauses before stepping through. “You’ll be sworn to secrecy with everything that you see and do, but if you need anything, you’ll let us know?”

“I will.”

* * *

Holden

I’ve been on edge all week. Thea hasn’t asked any more questions about The League. We’d convinced ourselves she was going to say no. I wanted her to say no, but now she’s here, on the final night of acceptance. There are four other groups in different locations.

I’m happy that The League is branching out to be more inclusive, but considering the other names on the list, I wish she wasn’t part of the pilot program. Many of the challenges the selectees will take part in are dangerous with real-world consequences. People often get hurt.

The selectees will leave here and go to a secret location for pre-select orientation. It lasts a week, then they’ll have an official interview. The interview is the last chance for them or the recruitment committee to withdraw their name from consideration.

I wish I could tell Thea what to expect. Warn her of what to look out for, but interaction between prospects and selectees is prohibited until after the final interview. That means all selectees will be off campus for a week.

That’s why I’m here now. Watching her. I just needed to see her. My hood is up. I’m blending into the shadows with an unobstructed view of her. Phone alerts go off. Light floods the clearing as the selectees flip to their messages. Devices hit the ground with a heavy thud, and they all start walking in different directions.

Thea’s coordinates lead her deeper into the woods. I follow behind her, keeping a far enough distance between us that I don’t alert her or the committee member monitoring her to my presence.

Now, we wait. It could be five minutes or five hours until she gets picked up. I’ll be here, however long it takes.

Chapter35

Thea

It’s dark as I push my way through the trees. The text message said,walk to your right and keep walking until you reach twenty thousand steps.

Of course it’s dark. Why would a secret society want to do anything in the daytime or in well lit spaces?

I’m out here alone, my senses on high alert, and my phone is on the ground where I dropped it. I take my last step and stop. Listening for the sound of the other selectees. It’s quiet out here. Too quiet.

I let the act of counting distract me from my reality. I’m in a dark forest, alone at night. Everything in me is saying run back the other way, but I don’t. I stay rooted in place. I can’t eliminate myself from the running before I even get started. I’m stronger than my fear. That’s what I tell myself, even as my hearts thumps wildly in my chest.

A twig snaps behind me. I whirl around, squinting, trying to make out a figure in the shadow. Figures. More than one. I take a step back, fighting back the panic. Slowly, the shadows coalesce back into one lump. The person pushes their hood back. The sliver of moonlight breaking through the trees glints off of a lip ring. He presses his finger to his mouth, then slowly melts back into the shadows.

It all happens so quickly, while I’m on the verge of a panic attack, that I can’t even be sure that I really saw him. My mind trying to work out the details, to separate fiction from reality, helps me focus.

Footsteps come from my right, and the beam from a flashlight bounces along the ground and off the trees. The guy in front of me says, “Follow me, Selectee LaReaux.”

We walk right past the trees where I imagined Holden standing. There’s no one there. A half a mile through the woods, we reach the road and a group of us are loaded onto a bus. We drive away from Canyon Falls, heading towards the highway. We don’t stop until we reach some kind of compound. The bus pulls into the parking lot and we disembark. We’re given five minutes to pee before being ushered inside a building and instructed to take a seat.

I settle behind a desk in the back of the room. Three more groups filter in. There’s about fifty girls in total. There are welcome packets on the desks in front of us. I’ve already thumbed through mine, and one word jumps out at me.Uniform. As in, there is one that we’re required to wear while we’re here. For a week.

I recognize a few faces from school. I guess this is the first lesson. The League of the Daggered Raven comes before everything. Even our education. The guy who escorted me through the woods introduces himself and starts his welcome speech. We’ve been given a great honor. We’re the pilot program. Our performance will determine whether the initiative succeeds or fails.

“The first step in proving you have the personality and resolve needed to join our ranks is by being here. The second step is by completing the application, and the third is by doing.”

Scanning the room, I see a bunch of people nodding. What are they agreeing with? He hasn’t said anything.

“Our men have a motto. I’m sure you’ve all heard it, even if you didn’t know what it meant or where it came from. But you, our fine ladies, have a motto too.” He clicks a button and a projector screen slides down. On it, a phrase appears. “Would someone like to read it for me?”

Some kiss ass in the front of the room, chirps, “I vow to be an asset, supporting without question, accepting the honor bestowed upon me, and promise to help the worthy members of The League of the Daggered Ravens.”

Ugh… no. Who came up with this shit? I’m the wrong candidate if this is the Kool-Aid they’re scooping out. I don’t vow to do anything of the sort. If I have questions, then goddammit, I’m gonna question. First question, if this isn’t the motto the guys read, what do they agree to do?

He tells us to turn to a page in our workbooks, and I see the Hummingbird’s Creed.

Hummingbird. Really? Are they even inviting us to be equal members, or is this just to appease somebody? Because I’m not a fucking hummingbird, flitting from one pretty flower to the next.

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