Christian Thacker stepped forward and closed the doors, then returned to his place in the circle. Lexa lifted her head and removed her hood.
“We are the Stone and Grave,” she said loudly, firmly.
“We are the Stone and Grave,” Ariana and the rest of the brotherhood repeated as one.
Lexa stepped forward, carefully skirting her headstone, breaking the circle. “Welcome to our new members!” she said with a smile.
The room burst out in applause and shouts. Ariana and the other new members laughed happily. She caught Palmer’s eye from across the room and felt his pride radiating through her. Her next instinct was to look at Jasper, but she refused. He was her friend, and he was going to be with Soomie—at least maybe he was—if she ever got around to talking to him about her.
“You may all be seated,” Lexa said, removing her hood from her hair.
Everyone tucked their black robes beneath them and hit the floor. Ariana hesitated only a split second, wondering why a room full of millionaires couldn’t afford chairs, but then she sat. The robe was thick and kept the cold of the concrete from seeping through to her skin, and as she brought it over her knees, tucking it around her shins like a blanket, she was just grateful it wasn’t a burlap sack. She nudged her hood off her head, following the brotherhood?
??s lead, and smiled.
“Our first order of business is the Stone and Grave Ball next weekend,” Lexa began, her voice as clear as a bell, ringing out across the large room. “I understand a few of you have yet to RSVP. Manners, people. We don’t want to look bad in comparison to the other chapters. Let’s get those cards returned so that our hosts can have time to prepare.”
A murmur went through the room as April and Soomie eyed everyone suspiciously. Ariana almost laughed. Those two would take other people’s lack of organizational skills as a personal affront. Then Soomie’s eyes fell on Jasper, and she blushed and looked down at her lap. Ariana leaned forward to look at Jasper. He was smirking in Soomie’s direction. And was he also . . . blushing? Had she already asked him to the ball without telling Ariana?
Ariana’s heart flew to her throat, and her fingers curled into the folds of her robe. She took a deep breath and forced her fists to open again.
That would be a good thing, she reminded herself. A very good thing.
But it wasn’t. She had thought that Jasper liked her. Whether or not she liked him back was irrelevant. It was like Thomas and Reed all over again, watching the two of them make gooey eyes at each other when he was supposed to belong to her. What the hell was going on here? Why was this always happening to her?
“Is it just me or is your butt freezing?” Tahira whispered, leaning toward her.
Ariana flinched. Suddenly the room came into focus. She took a deep breath and looked at Soomie again. It was just Soomie. Innocent little Soomie. And all her attention was focused on Lexa. Ariana uncurled her fingers, which had tightened again into fists.
Control, Ariana. Get control. It’s not like she’s making a play for your boyfriend. Jasper is just a friend.
“We also have a bit of business to complete concerning the new members,” Lexa said. April reached behind her and lifted a black folder off the floor to hand to Lexa. “Each of you will have to sign this confidentiality agreement,” Lexa said, opening the folder. She lifted the pages inside, one by one, checking them over. “We’ve already got one typed up for each of you so you’ll just have to—”
Suddenly Lexa froze. Everyone sat and waited for her to continue. And waited. And waited. But she simply sat there, some of the papers in her hand, the folder open on her lap, staring down.
“Sister Becky Sharp?” Palmer said finally, gently.
“Why is this in here?” Lexa’s voice was shrill in the silence. Shrill and loud. She dropped the papers in her hand and picked up the offending page. “Why is this in here? Is this some kind of joke, April? Some kind of sick joke?”
“It’s Miss Temple,” April said calmly. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Lexa got up, scattering the papers and the folder everywhere, and shoved the page into April’s face. “I’m talking about this. What is this doing in the folder? Are you just that stupid, or did you leave it there on purpose? Because last I checked, Miss Temple, Lillian Oswald is no longer with us!”
A wave of total dizziness and nausea crashed over Ariana. No longer with us. Did she really have to say it that way?
Conrad got up and put his large hand on Lexa’s back. “It was just a simple mistake, Becky,” he said in a soothing tone. “Give it to me. We’ll just burn it.”
“No!” Lexa shouted, whirling on him. “It’s not a simple mistake! It’s not! Things have to be done a certain way around here. They have to be done. Done. Done the way they’re supposed to be done. Not this way. This is not the way this is supposed to happen, do you understand? I try! I try to make everything perfect! I can’t keep having these things go wrong! I can’t! I can’t have this on my hands! I can’t have this on my hands!”
On her hands, Ariana thought with a sinking realization. This was why Lexa kept washing her hands, carrying disinfecting wipes everywhere. She was trying to clean off the blood. The blood she imagined she had on her hands.
Everyone in the room was starting to mumble and shift uncomfortably as Lexa completely broke down in front of them. Ariana knew what was coming. Any second Lexa was going to go there. She was going to say something about the murder. About the blood. It was right there on the tip of her tongue. Terror seized Ariana’s heart like an ice-cold vise grip.
“Can’t have what on your hands, babe?” Conrad said, completely breaking Stone and Grave protocol. “What are you talking about?”
Lexa’s eyes were desperate as she opened her mouth to speak. Desperately searching for a lifeline. For someone to help her.
“Conrad, I—”