Till the grave.
Each pledge is put
To these three tests
To weed the weak
and keep the best.
To show your STRENGTH
To show your might
You’ll face a Swan
and win the fight.
A show of LOYALTY
To move on
Betray a friend
For a Swan.
The last virtue
is test number three
Face your fear
To prove your BRAVERY.
So, those are the three challenges the Silver Swan mentioned. When I asked to join, Royal really did give me the first task—fight a Swan and win. And in a way, I did. I showed more cunning than strength, but hey, I completed the challenge. Maybe he did bring it up, and that’s why they were talking about letting a girl join.
The next page is all about brotherhood, including a line about “a bond forged by a shameful act” that no one else knows about. It kinda creeps me out, but as far as I can tell, that’s the only mention of the gauntlet, as the next page has a list of rules. I skim over them, as most are about secrecy, and then read the code of conduct, which makes it sound like the Swans were once upstanding role models for the school instead of thugs who rule by the power of intimidation.
After that, there are pages and pages of meeting minutes.
At last, I go back to the beginning and pull out my phone. I curse myself for listening to music, as the battery is on red already, and considering the stamina of my ancient phone, I’m not sure it’s going to last through photographing every page. I start with the most important ones, the ones I figure Mr. D wants to see, which are the minutes from the meetings since the Dolces took over. Since I don’t have time to read them all to find exactly when the olds were kicked out, I find a date about two years ago and work my way forward.
I’m halfway through when the light overhead blinks out. I jerk upright, my breath catching in my throat. Is someone in the room with me?
No, that’s impossible. I would have heard them going for the light switch. Wouldn’t I?
I swallow hard, trying not to panic. This isn’t a small space. It’s underground, and yes, nightmares of being buried alive or the roof caving in are already flying through my head, but I force myself to breathe. My phone hasn’t died. I can find my way up the stairs and get the fuck out.
Forcing myself to stay calm, I close the book and grope around, knocking a beer bottle off the table before I find the book box to hide the real book. Whatever. Who’s going to notice a broken bottle?
I secure the Midnight Swans book and use the light from my phone’s screen to find my way to the shelf and replace it.
Just as I set it back where it belongs, a shrill whistle echoes from overhead, muffled by the ceiling. It drones on in repeat, the familiar sound of a tornado siren. What the fuck is going on? Did the rain outside turn into a crazy storm? Or did someone set off that alarm on purpose? My mind flashes to that slab of stone in the other room. Maybe my offhand thought about it being for human sacrifices isn’t so far off, because if they somehow know what I’ve been doing, they’ll fucking kill me. I didn’t even look for hidden cameras.
One thing’s for fucking sure. It’s time to bail.
I run for the stairs, hoping they only tripped some alarm and didn’t decide to have a little fun burning down the school for their latest shenanigan. Racing up the stairs, I grip my dying phone in one hand, determination keeping me going. When I reach the top of the stairs, I throw my shoulder against the door like I’m escaping a bunch of psychos who just made me blow their leader on my knees. It’s like hitting a brick. Instead of flying open, the door holds fast.
Right. I closed it.