Page 188 of Knox Academy Omnibus
“All in good time, little rabbit...Have fun, but remember to keep a clear head. Rabbits can’t run all that fast.” Onyx walks away and I spot Taco and a group of guys I recognise from the obstacle course. I push my way through all the bodies and Taco spots me coming his way, a huge smile on his face.
“We didn’t think you were coming,” he says, pulling me into a hug. “I must say your rabbit costume is a fuck ton sexier than ours.” That's when I notice all the initiates are dressed in some kind of white rabbit costume. Pity mine doesn’t have as much fabric as theirs.
“Thanks to you, we have to do this all over again,” some big muscly guy snaps.
“Do what?”
Taco explains that when the clock strikes midnight we are sent to see the Ringmaster – Baxter – and let out into the woods to be chased by dogs. We were sprayed with something the dogs can track.
He can’t be serious. We have to outrun trained dogs? What happens if we are caught? He tells me that all he knows is that a few guys didn’t return after the last time.
Apparently the riddle at the door is for drugs...since when do they do drugs? But the riddles are kinda catchy:Pick the red card so pleasure and pain are one and the same, or the black where colours and time are rather divine?
It explains why Baxter licked the card for me and why all the people on the dance floor are grinding against each other...And now I understand why Kalen is behind all this; it’s one way to take the focus off what’s really happening tonight.
Shit! Panic fills me. I need to find Elsie. I have to make sure she’s okay. She’s on some meds and I’m not sure if drugs are the best fit for her.
“I need your help,” I tell Taco, not really asking. “I need to find my friend, but I can’t wander around here alone. I haven’t exactly made friends.”
He nods and says something to Mr Muscles and they follow me through the crowd of bodies. It’s hard not to admire the room as we walk around.
For starters, all around the tent’s edges are small platforms with circus performers. Fire eaters, jugglers, dancers and contortionists move fluidly to the driving beat of the music. Their movements are hypnotic, their skill level surpassing anything I’ve ever seen before. Overhead, the tent is criss-crossed with tightrope walkers, acrobats and trapeze artists. The whole place is a riot of colour, sound and flashing lights, with all the ‘normal’ guests wearing black. The rabbits stick out like a sore thumb, but everyone is too out of it to care.
I notice darkened tunnels leading off from the main room, with signs announcing ‘This way to the sideshow’ and ‘fortune favours the brave’. I dread to think what that’s about.
Elsie and Jasper are in the middle of the dance floor and I watch as they grind against each other in some fake semblance of dancing. I mean, she looks fine, but I need to make sure she is okay, because that isnotElsie behaviour, no matter how much I’m rubbing off on her as a bad influence.
Frost is here and dressed in his usual suit, he crosses the dance floor and comes to stand next to me. “Did you lick a card?”
“No. Did you, Elsie and Jasper?”
“Elsie didn’t, Jasper did instead, and then he called me. The Paul Daniels wannabe dickheads wouldn’t let him in, so I used my stun gun to take one down. After that, the other let me in.” I laugh because I can picture Frost doing that, he is pretty badass.
“Can you keep an eye on Elsie? She’s on medication and I don’t want her to get messed up.” He nods and I thank him.
Taco, Mr Muscles and I go back to the other rabbits. I’m yet to see Kalen or Slate, but I’m sure they will hunt me down eventually. And I’m right, pushing through the crowd is Kalen, dressed as the King of Ring, a lion tamer, complete with a wickedly long bullwhip.
“Sorry boys, I’m stealing my girl,” he says with a menacing crack of his whip. He holds out his hand to me. I shake my head at him and take his hand as he leads me away from the crowd and into a back room, which is essentially just a sheet separating us from the rest of the party.
Chapter Thirty-One
Amelie
This room is filled with fairy lights and pillows, with a seriously chilled vibe. Onyx is sitting on a pillow playing with his phone, while Slate is lying on his side dressed as…a ninja? I can’t tell.
“Who are you supposed to be?” I ask him, gesturing to his skintight, all black outfit.
“Me? I’m a knife thrower.”
“I don’t see any knives,” I scoff.
Slate pounces to his feet and is pressed against my body in the blink of an eye, a lethal-looking blade held against my throat. Where did that come from? The cold metal bites against my flushed skin, but there’s no menace in Slate’s eyes. Only heat. Fuck, that’s hot.
“Look who I found,” Kalen announces unnecessarily. Slate releases me, looking me up and down, lust filling his eyes. “How hot is her outfit?”
I must say itishot: white corset which threatens to make my boobs spill over the top, a very short skirt with a fluffy bunny tail attached, white stockings, white gloves and very cute bunnyears. I guess, after the Halloween costume choice from Kalen, I should be glad that he included a skirt, rather than just a white satin thong.
The only thing bugging me, however, is how the hell I’m meant to run in this getup when the clock strikes midnight. And of course, the blinding white of our costumes isn’t exactly inconspicuous for a midnight run through the woods. I need to think about that. I have time to come up with something because one thing I know for sure is that when we have to run, I amnotgetting caught.
