Page 46 of Kings & Corruption

I looked at the edge of the cliff and walked carefully toward it. When I looked past the ledge, I saw the quarry glittering dark and bottomless in the light of the setting sun.

The bottom dropped out of my stomach. I was pretty adventurous, but I’d always been terrified of heights, and the quarry was huge, a black mass that could hide a multitude of secrets.

Was Emma down there? Was this a dumping ground for Aventine’s secrets? The Long Island Sound of upstate New York?

My stomach rolled over, and I backed away, irrationally afraid of turning my back on the yawn of empty space, like it might reach out and snatch me over the edge.

Chapter21

Willa

The next couple of hours passed in a dizzy mix of alcohol, names I’d probably never remember, and dancing, thanks to Claire, who found me standing awkwardly in the Kings’ area and pulled me into her orbit with Erin and Quinn.

She introduced me to everyone at Castle house, then dragged me around to the members of the other houses and did the same. Most of the people were nicer than I’d expected, although each house seemed to have at least a couple members who glared at me like I’d killed their grandmother.

It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. Maybe it was just because Claire was with me and the minute I was alone, I’d be fed to the wolves, but I was daring to believe I might survive a year at Aventine.

After a couple of hours, everyone had loosened up, and the clearing around the bonfire was filled with people dancing and partying without regard to the origin of their families. The sun had set behind the quarry, the bonfire was blazing, and someone had hooked up a couple of battery-operated party lights that swung multicolored light over the scene like it was some kind of rave.

Everyone was buzzed, myself included, and I spotted some of the guys from Kings’ house dancing with girls from each of the other houses.

Except Rock, Oscar, and Neo, who stayed at the edges of the party, watching the crowd like they expected a bomb to detonate any second.

It was weird. I mean, not so much for Neo, who always had a stick up his ass, but definitely for Rock and Oscar, who’d proven they could be fun and seemed to want to prove it to me privately even more.

I shivered at the thought. I definitely had the hots for two of my housemates. I didn’t like it, and it didn’t mean I trusted them, but there was no point lying to myself.

I was tempted.

Claire was a godsend, sticking by my side most of the night. I was already starting to see her as someone I might trust, so I was relieved when we finally caught a couple of minutes alone and I was able to bring up the subject that had been caught in the back of my throat all night.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked her.

She pulled her eyes from the crowd — she’d been scoping out one of the Saints for the better part of the night — and looked at me. “Sure.”

My stomach fluttered with nervousness. What if I was wrong about her?

I took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. I was never going to be a hundred percent sure I could trust anyone at Aventine. I had to take the plunge sometime.

“Did you know my sister?” I asked. “Emma?”

Something shuttered in Claire’s face. “Oh, Willa… you shouldn’t…” She looked around like she was afraid someone might have overheard. “You shouldn’t ask about her here.”

“Here at the party or here at Aventine?”

“Anywhere really, but especially not here,” Claire said.

“Because there are so many people?” I asked.

“That’s one of, like, a million reasons.” She chewed her lip, like she was trying to decide what to say next. “Look, I knew her, okay? She came here a lot. But I really can’t… I can’t talk about her.”

Dread bloomed like a stain in my stomach. “Do you have a sister?”

“Two of them,” Claire said. “Both younger.”

“Well, Emma is my sister. I can’t not ask about her life here. I’m not looking for anything serious.” It was a lie, but clearly I was going to have to ease into my mission to find Emma. “I just… I just want to know what her life was like. We were kind of… not talking as much when she went away to school.”

Claire’s expression softened. “That sucks, Willa. I’m sorry. I didn’t know her well, but I’m not kidding when I say we shouldn’t talk about this here.” She looked scared, her eyes darting around the crowd like she expected to be attacked by one of them any second.

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