Page 49 of A Wild Darkness

“Yeah. And only two gave us their first names, but asked for my and Stevie’s monikers,” I continue.

“As we knew they would,” Christian replies, reminding me of the conversation of one of our calls.

“We were prepared for that.”

I hear him blow out a sigh. “What were you able to come up with for Stevie?”

With a slight chuckle, I tell him what she decided. “Annabel Lee.”

“Like the Edgar Allan Poe poem?”

“Yes.”

“I remember when we were kids, right after your parents died, River used to read us his poems.”

I chuckle to myself, remembering that time with mixed emotions. Then my eyes find the screen on the wall that links to the East Wing bedroom. I flip on the cameras and see Stevie isn’t back from her lesson yet. “She’s a dark, poetic woman. And extremely smart.”

Christian laughs. “After knowing her sister, I’m not the least bit shocked.”

“Right?” We share another moment of amusement before I return to business. “They gave me a burner phone for communication.”

“Oh?”

“Their leader, Silas, contacted me a minute before you,” I say. “We have another event to go to.”

“Events?” Christian clicks his tongue. “They hold events or meetings?”

“I guess both? That’s what it seems. It’s a dinner party tomorrow night. He also gave some odd directions on where to go, but that was it. He’s supposed to be texting a password to get into the event sometime before then.”

“Where is it?”

“The library downtown.”

“Interesting location for a dinner party.”

I lean back, kicking my feet up and resting them on the corner of the desk. “Yes, I know.”

“Were you briefed on what to expect at this event?”

“Only that we need to wear those fucking white roses again.”

“For identity again? Since they haven’t seen your faces, have they?”

“No, we were masked the entire masquerade ball.”

“Okay.” He pauses for a moment before speaking again. “I also think you should be prepared with some type of token or offering. That will show you’re not a security threat and that you are who you say are. Secret societies can be like this. It’s like initiation, orb that I’ve learned about through work, a sacrifice.”

They’d expect to be given some type of display of loyalty. Understood. I glance around the room, my eyes darting around the space searching for something that will trigger an idea.

“He mentioned that, too. What about my knife?” I ask.

“Hmm, maybe.”

“My gun?”

“They won’t let you get past security with a weapon,” he points out. “You and Stevie will get full pat-downs.”

“I’m sure. But wouldn’t that be better because I’m sure they’ll want to take my gun, anyway?”