Despite her assurances, I had a sneaking suspicion time spent around the Inferno Boys would be anything but fun.
Luca
“This is insane. You know that right. Absolutely fucking-“
My words cut off as Everly lodged a foot against the wall in front of me and leaned back behind me to pull the corset strings tighter.
I couldn’t breathe, my rib cage compressed and my cleavage popping up above the top as if my breasts were attempting to escape. Looking in the mirror, I waited for my lips to turn blue, a sure sign that I would die tonight at the gauntlet party.
Her voice strained from tugging, Everly tied the strings of the corset in place while saying, “They do a different theme for each party. And it’s fun.”
Flicking my ear, she crouched down to lift my dress into place, the emerald fabric falling elegantly over the corset and full petticoat beneath.
I couldn’t believe that in the twenty-first century, I was wearing what amounted to torture devices out into the middle of the woods at night for a fucking bonfire.
“Who does this? Why can’t I just wear jeans and a t-shirt and be comfortable?”
“Because you’ll stand out. Everybody knows to dress accordingly for a gauntlet party.”
Pausing, Everly studied me through the mirror’s reflection, her head nodding in approval.
“You look stunning. Now it’s my turn.”
Everly stepped around me to take her place in front of the mirror. Stripping away her clothes, she wrapped the corset over her chest and held it in place for me to lace up. Not knowing how women in the Victorian Era went through this every day, I did my best to tighten the strings, tie everything into place and help her into the butter yellow gown after she pulled on her tights and petticoat.
Costumes in place, we styled our hair into delicate updos before applying our makeup. Thankfully, the weather was cool in the late fall evenings and we wouldn’t melt the instant we stepped outside.
“Is Clayton meeting us there or -“
A knock at our door answered her question. The skirt of my gown dragged over the ground as I walked, Clayton’s eyes widening as soon as I pulled open the door to reveal the ridiculousness of what we were wearing.
His lips puckered on a low whistle, and I couldn’t help checking out the dark suit he wore.
“Hey, handsome.”
Despite spending more time together, Clayton and I hadn’t done much more than kiss, and even those moments left something to be desired. There was no passion between us, but I assumed it had more to do with the newness of the relationship than anything else.
I wasn’t a virgin by any stretch of the imagination, but I wasn’t the type to rush ahead in relationships either.
“Damn, ladies. I’m going to have a busy night fighting everybody off you tonight.”
Everly finished strapping on her shoe, her head lifting so fast it wrenched my neck just watching it.
“Don’t you dare. Jase has an open access pass and if anybody tries to get in the way of that, they’ll be fighting me for it.”
Throwing his hands up in surrender, Clayton laughed.
“Damn, well then I’ll just fight to protect Luca’s honor.”
His eyes drifted to me. “You really do look amazing.”
“I feel like a moron. Being forced to dress like this for a bonfire should be illegal.”
His brown eyes caught mine, mirth glimmering behind them.
“I’d be happy to help you out of your clothes if they’re bothering you that much.”
My heart should have jumped in response to his statement, but instead it held a steady rhythm, my interest in Clayton waning for reasons I didn’t want to admit to myself.
All week my thoughts had been going back to the Inferno party and everything that happened, most of those thoughts centered on the dark eyes of a man that terrified me while sparking my entire body to life.
I didn’t know what it was about Tanner that stole my attention, and given how he treated me the last time I saw him, I wasn’t in any rush to find out.
“Come on. We’ll be late if we don’t get on the road.”
The drive out to the middle of nowhere took a little over an hour. A large gravel parking area eventually opened up on our right as we drove down a forest lined, two lane road, the lot almost full despite the early hour of night. Finding a spot, Clayton killed the engine, reaching for a bag near my feet before letting us out.
“I got us masks for the party. Gabriel sent me a text last night telling me we’ll need them.”
Although I knew Clayton ran with the Inferno since he was a senior like them, it made me nervous to think he was close enough to them that they were texting each other.
Gabriel, I didn’t mind so much, but it made me wonder how tight-knit Clayton was with the other eight.
Even having attended the party, I would only be able to name three of them on sight, and I wondered just how much more they would scare me after I met the other six.
As he pulled out three masks - one shaped much like a plague mask from medieval times, and two that were more feminine in their delicate construction of black lace - I couldn’t help but ease my curiosity.
“How well do you know all nine of the Inferno guys?”
Clayton handed me a mask and turned to hand one to Everly.
“Pretty good. I’ve attended school with all of them since undergrad. They’re not as horrible as the rumors say. Just don’t ask them for a favor and don’t get on their bad side.”
Tying the mask to my face, I asked, “If you’ve known them for so long, why aren’t you one of them?”
He looked eerie in the leather plague mask, the large eyes reflecting my image back to me while the protruding beak covered his nose and mouth. Somehow I was still able to understand him clearly.
“I didn’t grow up with them. All their families are connected socially and through business, so they’ve all known each other since grade school. A lot of people hang in the same circle, but they don’t let anybody into the inner group, if that makes sense.”
Nodding, I dropped the subject, my eyes drifting out the front windshield where I saw smoke rising into the sky in the distance.
“It looks like we’ll be walking for a while.”
Clayton opened his door and twisted to look back at me.
“The walk isn’t that bad. Takes ten minutes at the most.”
Everly let out a hoot of excitement when Clayton helped her out of the car, both of them rounding the back to open my door and pull me to my feet.
Using our phones as flashlights, we found the trail leading into the center of the woods and walked through almost pitch darkness, careful not to trip over any roots.
Above us, stars shimmered, but the moon was absent, the trees on either side of us swaying with a heavy breeze that blew past. Every so often an animal would scurry in the low brush or an owl would call out, the sounds making the trek even more eerie than the darkness.
Eventually, the low hum of music could be heard, the rowdy sound of a party becoming louder as we grew close. While I’d only expected to see a bunch of overdressed college kids huddled around a large fire, nothing could have prepared me for what we found when we turned the last corner and stepped up to the main party site.
“Holy shit,” I murmured, my eyes scanning the scene as I stilled in place to take it all in.