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“The ones who are useful get most perks and benefits, and the ones who do nothing get nothing. That’s how it works everywhere.”

“So the perks exist, but only for some of you, and you won’t tell me which ones exactly or how to get them, and yet you expect me to gamble on ending up in that group.” I shake my head. “Besides, the whole thing sounds like every scam I’ve ever heard about. You get people convinced there’s something amazing waiting for them at the end, and while they’re waiting, they do whatever you want them to. And then later, who knows? Maybe the amazing thing shows up or maybe it doesn’t. But by then, they’ve done so much for you that complaining would make them seem stupid, so they’d rather keep believing everything they’ve done was for a good reason.”

“It’s not like that.” His fingers curl at his side. “I can prove all of it to you. Not now, though. Only once you’re a member, since otherwise there’d be no privacy for anyone and the society wouldn’t last. We only reveal who someone is when there’s a real reason for it.”

“So if I joined, would I get to find out who you are?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“My identity is irrelevant.”

Yeah, sure it is. It’s the only thing everyone in the society wants to know, but it looks like no one gets to find it out.

“Great.” I lift my chin. “If that’s all, then we’re done here.” I turn toward the stairwell door.

“You’re more important than you think! The society is your birthright,” he says, a little bit of desperation in his voice.

My head snaps back toward him, and I probably shouldn’t have reacted at all, but it’s too late now. My birthright, though? Really? Just because of my grandaunt?

I press my lips together. “Yeah, I know my grandma’s sister was a leader here decades ago, but—”

“What she did still matters to us.”

“It’s ancient history. I’ve never met her.” I cross my arms. “It has nothing to do with me.”

“You’re wrong about that.” He starts toward me.

Huh. Does that mean he needs something from me? Or is it just about legacy like Jayden thought? I have no idea.

“What do you actually want from me?” I ask. “And don’t say you just want me to be a member, since I don’t think you’d go through all this trouble.”

“Your grandaunt took some things with her when she left,” he says. “And I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s supposed to bring them back.”

“I don’t get it.” I furrow my brow. “Bring what back? What things?”

He turns his head toward the far end of the roof for a moment. “The archives. Everything the society had from before her time, and everything from her years. She had all of it. She also had a considerable amount of money, since membership was paid back then and the fees went to whoever was leading. She said she’d invest it somewhere, and it was agreed on. And then she left Blackerville, and no one could find her afterward. She never contacted the society again.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “She stole from you.”

“Not exactly.” He shakes his head. “She was supposed to be doing all of it. It was her job. Those were different times, and people lost contact much easier back then. The others who should have known where she put everything died before anyone from the society could reach them.”

“How much money are we talking about?” I crease my brow.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“And you think I can get it for you.” Why else would he be insisting so much?

Seriously, though, why didn’t he just approach me with this story rather than with all the bullying and shit?

“Yes.” He inclines his head. “And it wouldn’t be for me. Think about what the society could do if all of it was returned. You’d be the one who brought it back, and that would turn you into the society’s hero.”

I study him and try to picture what he’s actually describing. Boxes of paper from decades ago, plus money that may or may not still exist in some unknown account. Maybe there’s a fortune, or nothing at all.

And if none of it exists at all, then all this bullshit the society has been doing to me was for nothing.

“How would I even get access?” I ask. “She’s dead. Whatever she left went to her own family and their children, and I’ve never even met any of them.”

“She must have left something behind that could tell us where it all is,” he says. “But it’s your family, so you’re the only one who can go ask around without raising suspicion.”

“And how do you know all this?” I raise an eyebrow at him.