The Silver Swan (The Elite King's Club 1)

“Hampton Beach High.”

“Oh!” Public? That’s a school I’d feel more comfortable in.

She gestures toward the lamps. “We have these lamps that have like, ambient sounds that play and make it feel like you’re in the forest.”

I spin around to look at where she’s pointing, getting far too excited.

“Seriously?” Tatum mutters under her breath.

“Ignore her.” I walk toward the lamps and snatch one greedily. “Thank you! My stepbrother is having a party this weekend, so when I decide to ditch and go to bed, I can use this. Might save his life.” I grin at her. She bursts out laughing, and I tilt my head. “Hey, do you like parties?”

After switching numbers with the worker girl, whose name is Tillie, we sit down at a café and eat our weight in fried food and chocolate brownies.

“I can’t believe you invited her off the bat.” Tatum pops a chicken tender in her mouth. “Mmm, but she seems nice, right?”

“Right,” I agree. “So be nice.”

“Hey!” she scolds me. “I’m always nice.”

That wasn’t fair of me to say. She has been nothing but nice to me. I smile, shoveling another piece of brownie into my mouth, where it melts on my tongue, mixing with a spoonful of ice cream. It turns out Tatum has as much of a sweet tooth as I do, and we make plans to have a girls’ movie night tomorrow night with buckets of candy. Tatum said she wants to watch a chick flick, but I cut her off by declaring my dislike for corny romcoms. So we agreed that I’ll pick the movies and she’ll bring the candy. Win-win.

“So what’s it like being Nate Riverside’s little sister?” Tatum asks, driving us back to my place.

“I’m not really his little sister,” I deadpan. “I don’t know why, but he’s taken it upon himself to torment me at his every turn.”

She giggles, dropping gears, and my head slams against the headrest from the force. “Honey, if Nate took it upon himself to torment me, I’d welcome it. He’s the biggest manwhore of Riverside Prep though. He’s even slept with Sasha Van Halen.”

“I’m not even surprised,” I mutter under my breath as we pull into our private driveway.

Sasha Van Halen is the daughter of the biggest tycoon in the United States. She’s splashed all over the tabloids—hot mess and all that.

“One last thing,” she says, pulling up the emergency brake. “I want to talk to you about them.” She gestures toward Nate’s window and my eyes follow. “You gained Bishop’s attention today at lunch.”

“Hardly,” I scoff, shaking my head.

“I need to educate you on Bishop Vincent Hayes,” she begins, and I tilt my head toward her. “He’s only ever been seen with one other girl more than once, that I know of. One, and she meant a lot to him. They were together for years. Everyone would say it was fate, Bishop and Khales; they were this match made in heaven. She moved, he moved. They knew each other since they were little, because Khales’s mom was a junkie and would leave Khales in the house on her own for hours on end. Khales went to Hampton Beach High School, which is on the rough side of town. Anyway, Bishop tried to save her. He tried so hard, but eventually, Khales followed her mother’s footsteps and picked up the needle.” She took a breath.

“She died?” I ask, my heart sinking. I know what it’s like losing someone you love.

“No, we don’t know where she is. About two years ago, she sort of just disappeared. No one whispers her name. The week she went missing, all the boys weren’t at school, and then suddenly they’re all walking back into the cafeteria like they own the place, as if she didn’t exist. Someone tried to ask Bishop about her, but he almost snapped the guy’s neck, so everyone took that as a sensitive subject and never asked questions again.”

She pauses again, her bright blue eyes twinkling on mine. “I’m only telling you because so many girls have tried to fill the spot that Khales left. As far as I know, Bishop hasn’t had another girlfriend since. That’s two years. Anyway, that brings me to the next subject.” My mind is still swimming with the mass of information she just unloaded on me. Two years ago? People don’t just disappear into thin air. There’s always a reason why people go missing. She clears her throat. “The Elite Kings Club—”

“I asked Nate about it, and he said it’s all based on legend and false assumptions.”

She shakes her head, her blonde waves falling over her slender shoulders. “They won’t tell you. It may sound like gossip, but it’s very true. I’ve seen the mark.”

“Mark?” My brain is about to explode from the information that is being shoved inside it.