“Me being here?” she whispers. “It was part of their initiation. Everything that Delila had explained—was why I was here.”
“Okay.” I search her eyes. “And me?” The heat is not helping my buzz. In fact, it’s intensifying it. A lot.
“You were not a normal recruit, Dove. That’s why you were there for so long. Why you’re with them and not on your own or with another family.”
“And what is it that I should be worried about?” My heart pounds in my chest. I’m not naïve. I know there’s something else. It’s why King likes to tell me that I’ve done something to warrant his wrath. It’s why he apparently hates me and that I took something from him.
“Do not fall for King—”
“Am I interrupting something here?” Val drops down in front of us, the sand kicking up and flicking me in the face. I actually want to kill her.
I sit up, shading the sun from my eyes. I’m feeling a range of emotions, but one that trumps them all is the lack of control that I have. I’ve lost my life to four men, and they haven’t even killed me yet.
I groan, standing, and make my way back to the water. King and the rest of The Brothers are up by the truck, but Jack is still in the water with the people he came with.
“So…” he starts, his head bobbing in the water.
“Nope.” I laugh, shaking my head while sinking in. “If you’re going to ask me about King, the answer is no.”
Jack laughs, which makes me want to laugh. I realize I genuinely enjoy his presence. I’ve known him for all of twenty minutes, but I feel at ease around him. Like I know him or have met him before. I know that I haven’t, though. I’d remember his face. I haven’t met such kindness since Richard.
“I’ve known King for a while, and I’ve never seen him like that before,” Jack further says, swimming closer to me.
“Oh really,” I dig, kicking out to the deep. He follows closely behind me, while still keeping a safe distance. I appreciate that.
When I’m far enough out, I turn around, and he’s a few steps in front of me. My eyes go over his shoulder and to the truck, where the boys are now all watching us. “How well do you know him?”
Jack runs his hand through his hair. “Well, since I was nine. His family is close with my family. You know, that sort of thing.”
“Ah, right.” I don’t want to sound nosey, so I change the subject. “And what is your act or role in Midnight Mayhem?”
He pauses. “You mean aside from the final act?”
I tilt my head. “I don’t think I’ve fully experienced the final act.”
He chuckles. “No, you haven’t, and the way things are looking,” he turns his head over his shoulder, “you may never.”
“Can you tell me a bit about it all?”
He swipes his hair again. “Well, it’s for us as much as it’s for the audience.”
“It’s live sex.”
He laughs, his head tilting back. “Yes and no.”
I shake my head. “Is all the crazy crap that you guys do not enough?”
“It’s more of a reenactment. You’ll see tomorrow. Whether you’re involved wholly or partly like before, I’m sure you’ll see.”
“And who is all in the final act?”
He smirks. “Everyone.”
A whistle breaks through the air, interrupting our chat. King waves us to the shore.
I grumble, “We’ve been summoned.” We both start swimming back.
“Is he always moody?” I ask, just as my feet touch the sand again.
“Nah,” Jack says. “He usually has a coping mechanism.”
Before I can ask what that means, Jack is heading over to the other guys he came with, throwing a towel around his back. His friend slaps the back of his head, and Jack laughs, turning around to face me and sending me a wink.
These people are strange. Not the kind of strange that’s enticing either. They’re the kind of strange that you don’t want to be a part of, or even admire from a distance.
Maya is heading my way wearing a cap flipped backwards. “You got a death wish, Dovey?” I know what she’s implying. What with King right there.
“No. Just making friends.”
“Hey!” Maya calls out as I pass her. I turn around. “You should come drink with us tonight. We’re having a fire pit lit and all the rest. Since, you know, you haven’t yet, and you went drinking with Beat first…”
I smile. “Sure.”
“Dove!” King bellows from across the grass.
“Oh, girl.” Maya chuckles. “You’re in trouble.”
I turn around to face him and see the rest of the boys climbing into the truck. “Get in the truck!”
Rose tosses my towel at me, and I catch it, glaring at her. “I mean it, Dove. Be careful.”
“She’s not lying,” Val mutters, flipping onto her back.
I slowly make my way to the truck, and King climbs into the driver’s seat as I get into the passenger’s side. He slams his door before I’m putting my belt on and floors the truck forward.