Page 66 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

“What are you doing here?”

She hugged her chest, her eyes wide. “I’ve been hanging out with some of those frat guys ever since the… the party… and I overheard them talking about what they were going to do to you. Supposedly being buried in the crypt is part of the initiation for secret society members, and someone said that you were always with them, that it seems like…” she licked her lips nervously. Maybe some of her terror wasn’t for the dark confines we were in. “Like you’d found a way to take over the secret society.”

I let out a short, sharp laugh. “Maybe next week.”

She jumped as if she’d heard a noise, shining her flashlight erratically around the room. It seemed like she had a nice life, a nice family, the things that left a girl unprepared to deal with the not-so-nice things.

I wanted to know why she’d come, but first things first. “How’d you get in? Let’s get out of here.”

“Let’s.” Her voice came out fervent. She held out the flashlight, and I was confused, staring at her until she thrust it toward me. “I’ve got my cell phone for light. It’s dead down here but at least we can both have light.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the flashlight from her. What the hell was going on? I was more confused and unsettled by Jenna’s apparent rescue attempt than by being kidnapped and locked in the crypt. This had to be some kind of trap.

She held her cell phone high, shining the way as she headed toward the door. Her hands were shaking so the light kept bobbing. “They came in this way. There’s a long tunnel. I came from the frat house, but I don’t know where else it leads.”

“You followed them?” Or came with them, as part of their plan to torture me?

She nodded as she reached the door, then let out a scared gasp as her light illuminated the seam. “I thought I left it propped open… oh, it’s okay. It opens.”

She swung the door open and nudged a rock out of the way with her foot. It was too small to hold the heavy door. Then the two of us were out in a long narrow tunnel. It felt claustrophobic… and intriguing. Where else did the tunnel lead?

Rough masculine voices echoed down the hall, and she turned toward me, her fingers rising to cover her mouth in horror.

“Turn off the light,” I whispered, clicking my own flashlight off. She fumbled, then we were both submerged in darkness.

In the distance, I heard the faint drone of an engine again. Toward our left, while the voices came from our right.

If she’d truly come from the frat, then I had an idea how we could escape… through the secret society. I reached out in the dark and my hand bumped her back. She was tense as I found her arm and grabbed her hand. I tugged her with me, fully expecting that she might prefer to risk her chances with the men in the dark, but she followed.

I trailed my fingertips over the wall with my other hand, moving quickly and purposefully even through the dark. I didn’t have supernatural night vision—that would have been nice—but I’d spent enough time in the dark, honing my other instincts, that I moved as if I did.

Far behind us, flashlights flickered, then thankfully we turned a bend. A man’s voice said, “What the fuck? The door is open.”

Her quick intake of breath seemed loud to me, but they couldn’t possibly have heard it. I moved faster and faster down the hall, toward where I thought I’d heard the engine.

Then my racing fingertips found a seam in the wall. I stopped abruptly, and she almost crashed into me.

“Spread out and search for her.”

“That bitch. I can’t believe Jonny might not make it—”

Oh, Jonny must’ve gotten stabbed when he was kidnapping me. Poor guy.

I didn’t have my knife anymore, and I wasn’t carrying my lock picking kit today. I dared to whisper, “I don’t suppose you’re carrying your wallet and have a credit card on you.”

“What are you going to buy—oh, I’ve got my student ID.”

I could’ve hugged her. She passed it to me in the dark, her fingers trembling when they brushed mine, or maybe she was already shaking even before she touched me. I hurriedly inserted it into the crack between the door and the jamb, leaning my shoulder into the door and moving the credit card with quick, practiced movements as I pushed down on the door handle.

It gave with aclickthat seemed far too loud. We had to get out of here, and fast, so I threw my shoulder into the door and it opened into brighter light. She slipped in behind me just as I heard voices in the hall, loud and angry. They’d seen some glimpse of us.

I closed the door behind us, locked it quickly, and turned to find we were indeed in the guys’ garage. A familiar McLaren was parked nearby, the spaces to either side empty. No one dared get close enough to ding Cain’s precious car.

I had a lot of questions for Cain and the other boys.

“We’ve got to get you out of here,” I said impulsively, deciding to believe she’d really come to rescue me, even though I couldn’t understand why. What did she want from me? Maybe there was someone cruel and awful in her life that she needed offed, or maybe one of the frat guys had hurt her and she needed protection. “No one’s allowed in the secret society.”

She looked around, her lips parting as if she were awestruck. “Is that really where we are? Under the secret society?”

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