Page 48 of Bad Boy Billionaire Protector

“Ah yes, hello Miss Valentine. Congratulations on being initiated into The Order the other evening. You did well passing all the tests.”

“Thank you, Professor Owens,” I smiled graciously.

He came closer to me. I folded my arms defensively over my body.

“A quick word of advice, if I may?”

“Yes?”

“Stay away from Christos Ianthos. We don’t want what happened to Adam to happen to Christos now, do we?”

I stared at him as he gave me a smile with a dead look in his eyes. With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, humming a little tune to himself.

Shivering and severely spooked, I ran up the stairs to my dorm room and dialed Mason’s phone number. It went straight to voicemail.

Chapter 23 – Mason

IwavedatAmberand walked back towards my apartment. I had made a complete mess of things, that was for sure.

Amber had been quiet the whole time she had been at the coffee shop with me. I wasn’t surprised. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had been told that my dead boyfriend was actually still alive. She looked worn out.

I had a horrible feeling I had blown it with her, but inside me there was still a tiny spark of hope that everything would turn out all right in the end. After all, she had shown up to see me in person and she agreed to go out to dinner with me. I was an optimistic fool in that way. Especially since she still didn’t know the full story and it had the potential of being the proverbial last straw.

Instead I forced myself to think about the connection that still hummed like a live wire between us. I didn’t miss the way her gaze melted as she looked at my hand holding hers. And she couldn’t hide her soft moan of desire when I kissed her. I could still taste her as I walked down the street.

I quickly checked the time. I had paperwork to do and then needed to get ready for dinner with Amber and the final night of trials for the inner circle.

I was suddenly sensed the presence of someone coming up too fast behind me. I turned round to see who it was and was quickly surrounded by four hooded men. They grabbed hold of me. I struggled to get away but there were too many of them.

“Come with us. The inner circle wants to speak to you.”

I was pushed along the street to a waiting black car with tinted windows. I was forced to sit in the back, in between two of the men. I kept silent as we traveled through the town and thought about what was about to come. Were they going to interrogate me? Did they know who I was? I was on guard and ready to fight if I had to.

We drove out to the woods and I was accompanied by the men to the clearing where the games took place. The weather was cold and drizzly, making me glad of my sweater and jacket. There was a wind in the air that made the trees sway and swoosh. The wind made the day even colder and I buttoned up my jacket.

Standing in a small group of eight, the members of the inner circle turned when they saw us approaching. Predictably, they had their cloaks and masks on, which made it difficult to see who I was facing.

I stood in front of them and waited for Professor Owens to speak. I thought he would be there, but he wasn’t. One of the masked figures stepped forward and stood right in front of me.

“Christos Ianthos. You have been called in front of the inner circle to explain your behavior.”

“What behavior?”

“You have been asking questions about the deaths of several students linked to The Order. Why have you been asking these questions? Who are you?”

“What do you mean, who am I? I’m Christos Ianthos.”

“But why have you been meddling in affairs that don’t concern you?”

“I haven’t been meddling. I was just interested, is all.”

One of the other members of the inner circle stepped forward. It was a female. “We find it odd that you have been asking these questions and want to know why. You must give us a better answer than that you were just interested.”

I looked at them all and sighed. I was potentially in trouble if I didn’t put on a show.

“Look, if you want to talk, why don’t you take off your masks and we can discuss it properly, instead of through all this subterfuge.”

They looked around at each other. One by one, they took their masks off.

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