Page 85 of Ruthless Legacy

I think that’s the point. Even now they’re talking too fast, but I’ve got tons of practice writing in coded shorthand.

“Claudius is one of the twelve. So is Grant, Cox, Sullivan, Maximus and Rhodes.”

“Very good.”

He moves us to the next room without mentioning the other five names, or addressing the reason there are only eleven names on the wall. It’s a quick tour. It takes roughly thirty minutes. The only places we’re shown are the three libraries and common areas. The offices, the locked rooms, cafeteria and vaults are all off limits.

We’re hooded again and marched outside, then loaded onto vehicles which take us back to the high school parking lot they picked us up from. Our escort drops the bag with our phones at our feet. I wait until everyone else grabs theirs. No sense in catching an elbow.

When I power my phone on, I have a missed call from Wolfe and LJ. I order a ride back to campus and walk to the edge of the parking lot while I wait. A notification pings on my Prospectus profile. I flick to the message icon, expecting it to be a school email blast. It’s a private message from someone with no profile picture, and a bunch of numbers for a username.

user342669012

From flames we’re born to flames we return

Spam. Great. Before I can take action to get rid of it, the message deletes itself. I only use this thing to check my grades, so I didn’t know the app had a recall message option.

I’m dead on my feet by the time I make it back to campus. I make a quick stop to grab some coffee and a snack from the dining hall to fuel me for the rest of the evening. Finn and company are here. I ignore them as I make my way to the coffee carafe.

They’ve fallen silent, which means they were either talking about me, or a topic they don’t want me to know about. I’m too tired to care.

“You okay, Pet?” Finn asks as I’m heading to the exit.

“Great. Living the dream.”

“You look tired.”

Lifting my cup, I say, “That’s why I made a pit stop here to refuel.”

I ignore Pax’s snort. I will not engage, I will not engage.

Finn walks over and cups my cheek. “Late night study sesh?”

“It will be, unless I find a way to stop time, or clone myself so I can halve my workload. Hell, I’d even take a study packet at this point.” Glancing over at Holden, I ask, “You wouldn’t happen to have some flashcards written in invisible ink I could borrow, would you, Pretty Boy?”

Pax jumps in before he can answer. “He’s not interested in helping you cheat.”

“Who said anything about cheating? I’m asking to borrow study notes, just like I’m sure you did if he has any.”

Finn asks, “What do you need help with, Pet?”

I scan the room to make sure nobody’s listening. “I just had a question about something I heard today, and I figured it would be okay to ask since it relates to the school.”

“Go on.”

“What are the twelve? I wrote down the six names that were mentioned, but we didn’t go into detail.”

Holden answers, “The twelve are the top twelve families that donated to building this school.”

“And what does that have to do with the circle?”

“The founders of The League were three best friends. They came up with the rules of behavior and created challenges to test people before joining. It was like a campus wide truth or dare game. Each month, they added someone new to the group. Their geometric formation when standing around morphed from a triangle, to a square, to a rectangle, octagon and finally a circle by the end of the second year. The League may have originated here, but it’s so much bigger than you think. They recruit from all over the world.”

“And women were never a part of their recruitment efforts before?”

Finn’s lips press together. “It’s like we told you, Pet. The purpose of the league is to acquire and possess things no one else does. To amass a fortune and power. To rule the world. Men ruled the world.”

I huff. “These men were misogynistic assholes with grabby hands. How far back does the organization go?”

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