Page 2 of Smoke the Enemy

I jerk my arm free as we step onto the porch. “Why are you scared? Kali, what more do you know?”

“Enough to know the name Dupree is one of the oldest family names in Blue Rose, and holds the largest scholarship fund offered by this university. Guess what the requirements are to apply: male recipients must rush Delta Pi Theta. Females are to rush the sister sorority, Tau Psi Theta.” Kali stops speaking. Her eyebrows pinch together as she chews on her long, manicured black-painted nail.

“Kali?”

“I heard all the Duprees were gone… That must be why Alex went under an alias.”

“Yeah… I always knew him as Alex Myers, the preacher’s son. Not freaking Walter Alexander Dupree.”

“He must’ve been under protection, but he came out of hiding… for you…”

Kali seems to know so much about this fraternity, the families, and their history.But how?I’m starting to feel extremely naïve since I’ve been in the thick of all of it, but not any closer to discovering their secrets or gaining any information. “You heard? You sure have heard an awful lot. Is there more you’re not telling me? How do you know so much for this to be asecretsociety?”

She laughs. “I told you, I dated one of them. Then I got curious…and maybe a little nosy.” Kali crosses her arms and studies me for a moment. “How do you know so little? You’ve been attending the university and living in Blue Rose. You’re sleeping with the main brother — literally the head of the frat — and you’re clueless. Better yet, you were dating their version of royalty.”

“Their who? Who is thistheir?”

“The Illicit. How can you be so unaware?”

Before I can answer, another motorbike pulls into the driveway. It’s Soren. He’s not wearing a helmet, which is unsafe, but that’s beside the point. I mean, he’s obviously living his life on the edge as it is, so why would I have even expected him to be wearing a helmet?What is he doing here?As if I don’t already know the answer.

“Fuck off.” Kali is quick to stand between Soren and me.

Soren ignores her, keeping his eyes focused on me. “Get over here. We have to talk.” Reading my mind before I can comment, he emphasizes, “In private.”

Kali takes a step toward him. “Look at her. She’s bleeding and scared. You think I’m going to let you–”

Soren narrows his eyes and his jaw hardens as he gets off his bike. Not bothering to speak another word, he takes one, two, three long strides until he is standing before me. He looks down at my feet and then back to my eyes. I yelp as he swoops me up.

Kali yells and pulls out her phone. “Hey! Jackass! Stop right there! I’m calling the police!”

“Call ’em,” Soren grumbles to her, clearly unfazed by her threat.

I’m too exhausted to put up a fight. Do I want to go with him? I can’t deny I feel a sense of comfort being held in his arms and against his strong, warm body… A sick part of me is relieved he came for me. Did he come because he cares, or was he sent for me?I need help. I’m obviously attracted to having a clearly toxic relationship with an unhinged individual. Maybe Kali should call someone to take me away for observation and intervention. And speaking of Kali, she keeps revealing little secrets about this fraternity. I know she said she dated a member, but it feels like there’s more. Honestly, I don’t know if I have any right to be, but I’m kind of mad at her for not telling all of it. Deep down I am convinced there’s more she’s keeping from me.

Soren continues to ignore Kali as he places me on the back of his bike. Kali yells, “Taylor!” I finally snap out of my thoughts and wave my hand at her.

“It’s fine, Kali. I’m okay. If I don’t come back within an hour, call for help.”

Kali shakes her head with a mixture of pity and disgust on her face. “Clearly you have a type, Tay.”

That was a low blow, but she’s not wrong. Alex. Steffan. Soren. None of them are exactlyboy next doormaterial. These are not the guys every mother dreams of their daughters falling for. They’re the ultimate worst nightmare. I guess I only have to decide will I choose the lesser of the evils, and who is that exactly? Because we’ve already established I’m not mentally sane enough to walk away from the darkness. Maybe I am sane… I’m just not as moral and pure-hearted as I thought…

Soren climbs onto the bike, and within seconds we’re flying down the highway. We’re not heading back toward the Brotherhood mansion, thank goodness,but out of town. I’m not sure I could face that place again considering it was only an hour ago I tortured my feet to get away from there…and him.I might’ve given in to see him had I stayed, and now here I am, hopping on the back of a motorcycle with him, but I draw the line at returning back to the house where I last saw my overbearing ex.

I squeeze Soren tightly as he pushes the bike to go faster and as my cheek falls against his back as I stare out over the swamp trees as we continue to pick up speed. I’ve lived in Blue Rose for two years now, and I’ve never traveled this way. The wind whips my hair as the machine vibrates beneath me. And all I have left to do is think, to try to figure out how I got in this situation.

People are being murdered in the most gruesome way. Am I now holding the killer in my arms? Soren must feel my body stiffen because he takes his hand and rubs it soothingly along my leg. No. We were together when a murder was committed tonight. Before I was so sure it was Steffan, then Soren became a suspect, but they were with me.Unless he did it beforehand.

The most terrifying incident of all is seeing my ex-boyfriend, Alex Myers, standing outside the house in the dark. What if… Alex is the one who’s committing these crimes? He showed up tonight, but he could’ve been around all along, lurking in the shadows. And now he is looking for me.

Alex may not realize it yet, but I’m not the girl he knew back home. Goodness, I’ve slept withtwomen. Two. Men. And instead of cowering to Alex, I fought him off. I ran away — I escaped his grasp.

Suddenly, everything hits me all at once. I feel weak from lack of sleep and stress. I press myself more into Soren and hold him tighter to keep from completely falling off the bike. In turn, his hand grips my arm, a reassurance that he has me now.

I’ve been repressing my feelings for so long, and walking through life in a dream-like state, but I can’t anymore. I can’t continue to ignore all the horrors. People are dead. They’redead.Friends are dead. My life could be in danger — no — my lifeisin danger. I’ve been living as though this isn’t happening around me, but it is. All of it is really happening. Who am I anymore? I don’t know. All I know is right now it feels freeing to be straddled on the back of Soren’s bike, flying down this dark highway and allowing my tears to fall. Nobody can see or hear me. Soren must feel my body vibrating against his as the sobs wreck me because his hand begins to rub mine. I cry for everyone I’ve lost, I cry over my feelings for Steffan and Soren, I cry that Alex scares the shit out of me, and I cry that I have no clue what to do with any of this.

It feels good to finally release all these emotions. I’m beyond emotionally drained when Soren drives us up to the beach. The water is pitch black, and it feels eerie how the only sound is that of the waves and the wind. Before I can hop off, Soren swings his leg over the bike and stands before me. He wraps his arms around me and lifts me to him.

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