Page 88 of Half Truths (Secret Society 1)
“He’s having breakfast. Leave him the fuck alone,” Nolan said, scowling.
“You don’t like blood?” my attention whipped in his direction. He cringed. “But . . . you’re always bleeding. You play hockey, for God’s sake. Not to mention, get in a lot of fistfights.”
“Ironic, I know,” he mumbled.
“More than ironic. It’s plain weird.” I laughed, taking a bite of my donut and chewing. I licked my lips, looking at Nora again. “So he’d never done an oath? How is he here?”
“He had to scale the waterfall by the old Lab. Twice. They told him they’d give him until this year to participate in the oath, which is insane, if you ask me. We didn’t have a choice in the matter.” She rolled her eyes.
“What about his partner last year?”
Nora glanced at Logan and back at me. I could tell she was hesitant about saying anything without his permission, which was crazy since she’d dished out the blood thing with so much enthusiasm.
“His partner last year was only his partner for like a second,” Nolan said. “She was recruited by the Swords before she was initiated here.”
“Swords?” My eyes widened. “There’s a third society?”
“There are probably about five different ones in this university,” Marcus said. “But they’re not very secretive. Only ours and The Swords are.”
“The Swords are the red cloaks,” Logan said beside me. I looked over at him. He was already on his fourth donut.
“Swords,” I repeated, thinking about their red cloaks and the graves they dug. “It makes sense for a medical secret society.”
“Swords and snakes. Definitely apt for them,” Nora said distastefully.
“So they can do that? Recruit from here? Isn’t that against the rules?”
“In The Eight’s Creed, yes. Not in theirs.”
“So she just left? And you just let her?” I asked.
“Well, we kind of had to. It was either that or she’d expose us. She was a little upset because Logan didn’t want to settle down,” Nora said.
“No, she was upset because Logan treated her like shit,” Marcus added.
“She felt like he’d fucked her and discarded her,” Nolan said.
I couldn’t help my flinch.
“Can we stop discussing my sex life?” Logan asked. “None of you know what really happened. Savannah was crazy. We fucked once and she was already planning our wedding.”
“Not unlike some people I know.” My gaze snapped to his. The room filled with gasps and oo’s and aa’s I didn’t care that I was calling him out in front of his friends. In that moment, I felt betrayed. If her night with him had been anything like ours . . . I felt sick at the mere thought of that.
“It’s different.” Logan kept his eyes on me, donuts forgotten. He looked as pissed as I felt. “You’re different. We’re different. And I’m not going to explain myself in front of a guy who can’t even say the word relationship without wanting to throw up, one who breaks up with every girl he finds because she’s not perfect enough, and a girl who can’t make her mind up as to what team she bats for long enough to entertain the idea of settling down.”
“Fuck you.” Nora stood up quickly. “I bat for both teams and you’re right, none of us owe each other an explanation, but if you fuck things up with Mae, I’ll gladly take over.”
Logan’s jaw was working as he glared after her. He looked at the other two at our table. “Anyone else want to try to stake claims on my girlfriend? Maybe I’ll call up Adam and ask him if I can borrow a couple of their gravesites.”
Girlfriend? My hands shook as I grabbed my plate and cup and stood from the table, excusing myself quietly. I tossed the stuff in the trash and walked out of the dining hall. I found Nora a couple of feet away, typing furiously on her phone. When she heard me approach, she put it away and looked up at me. Her brown eyes were shining.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
“If you start apologizing for him now, you’ll be doing it the rest of your life,” she said. “He’s an asshole. I love him to death, but he’s an asshole.”
“He is.”
“He’s never been mean to me before. He always defends me to everyone.” She smiled a little. “He must really be crazy about you.”
I shrugged. I knew how I felt about him and it scared the hell out of me. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions on his end. Not this quickly. I looked at the painting across from us and took a step back. It was my father, wearing a tuxedo, standing behind a woman sitting in a chair. I walked over. It was Ella Valentine. Clear as day.
“I hadn’t seen this before,” I whispered. “Is this . . . are they part of the board? Is that why they’re in the painting together?”
