Virtue (Briarcliff Secret Society Series Book 2)

by Ketley Allison

  I push off the display. “That baby, if it were yours, and if she had told someone, could’ve ruined you.”

  “She wasn’t going to keep it, nor would she sully her perfect scholastic reputation over banging a professor who’s not even tenured. Did I not just tell you about these Harringtons and their killer drive for success?”

  He’s running me around in circles. Using hard-hitting, murderous, circular reasoning to make his facts come at me so hard, I’ll have trouble sorting through them.

  “Addisyn’s a bitch, but I don’t see her as a killer,” I say, keeping my voice level. “You didn’t see her at Piper’s memorial. Or when she found out her boyfriend was arrested. She was devastated.”

  “The Virtues are out to protect themselves, not the Harrington family line. Jack was the next viable option, much better than Addisyn herself, who could blow the whistle on the hidden society while in custody. No, instead they made her a member, allowed her access to all their shiny things, groomed her response to her sister’s death, and in return, she had to stay quiet. Even during her boyfriend’s subsequent arrest.”

  “But I—”

  “Do you think they want police crawling all over the place? Asking questions? Showing up with a warrant for blueprints to all the hidden corridors and rooms in the academy?”

  He has a point, but I don’t concede it. I narrow my eyes at him. “What are you getting out of this? Why meet me anonymously when you could just go to the police? I doubt you’re allowed to be around—”

  “Kids?” Dr. Luke flashes a sardonic smile. “You’re eighteen now, Callie. And I’m at least two thousand feet from Briarcliff’s campus while I await my hearing. Can’t I be seeking you out because of the revenge in my heart? Those bitches ruined my life.”

  I curl my lip at him. “They didn’t force you to have sex with a teenager.”

  He waves me off. “If you want more convincing evidence, read the missing pages for yourself. They’re in Addisyn’s room.”

  Bile spreads across my tongue at the thought of how Dr. Luke could know something like that, unless he was lurking around campus, going into her room … “Addisyn looks almost identical to Piper. If it weren’t for the years between them, they’d be twins. Does that turn you on, Dr. Luke?”

  His face turns to stone. “Focus on what’s important, Callie.”

  Dr. Luke turns to leave, but I stop him with one more question. “What is the Nobles’ role in all this? Why aren’t they doing anything to stop the Virtues?”

  He turns his head and smiles at me in profile. “Oh. They’re helping you, don’t worry.”

  Dr. Luke retreats into one of the stacks, and I race after him, nowhere near finished, but I can’t risk calling out his name and drawing Darla’s attention. Instead, I hiss, “Dr. Luke!”

  “Don’t forget about Plan C,” he says over his shoulder, but doesn’t slow his steps.

  He’s gone before I make it to the front desk.

  A hard exhale billows from my lips as I stare out the library’s large windows to Main Street.

  “Trouble, honey?” Darla asks.

  I fix my jacket and clear my throat in an effort to calm the raging river of blood through my veins. “I’m fine. Thanks, Darla.”

  “You spent a while at the exhibit back there. Pretty fascinating stuff, isn’t it?”

  I glance at her, mustering up a smile. It all seemed like standard artifacts to me. But then, perhaps my perception of history has become a little skewed. “Sure is.”

  “I’m such a sucker for romance.” Darla leans her elbows on her desk, a dreamy look in her eye.

  I hate being rude, especially to someone so nice, so I prepare myself for a little small talk, despite the bomb going off in my head. “I noticed. What are you reading?”

  “Oh, this?” Darla giggles as she lifts her paperback. “The Duchess and the Brave Butler. Good stuff, though Rose Briar’s affair is so much juicer.”

  I go still. “I thought it was her husband who had the affairs.”

  “Oh, no, dear.” Darla pulls herself up in her seat. “Well, he was a womanizer, to be sure, but Rose took up with his brother.”

  Now, my brows hitch up. “Say what?”

  Darla leans in close, as if confessing a crucial secret. “She took up with Theodore Briar. Rumor has it, they had an illegitimate child together, one she had to give up in secret.”

  I point toward the stacks, my cheeks going numb. “None of that is over there.”

  “Well, no, dear. It wouldn’t be. This is just some local talk I’m giving you, passed down by the generations. Anything pertaining to Theodore and Rose’s affair, if it ever existed, would’ve been destroyed in the school library’s fire, unfortunately. That academy holds on tight to their founders, I must say. It’s a miracle we’ve gotten this much to display.”

  Huh. I cross my arms, gazing toward the exhibit, though it’s blocked by columns of books.

  Could the Nobles and Virtues be protecting the more scandalous aspects of their founders? It’s not too much of a stretch to believe.

  Darla chatters on, but the more I ponder on the limited exhibit items, the more it makes sense. It’s plausible that not everything would’ve been stored in the old library, where any student interested in the history could come across it. Especially when choosing a founder to research is a required American History essay.

  If they were smart, the societies would store the greatest scandals and the questionable origins of Briarcliff Academy somewhere safe.

  Protected.

  Private.

  Buried, but not destroyed, because these elite societies have too much pride in their roots to set fire to original documents, no matter how damaging they are.

  And it’s exactly how Piper would’ve gotten her hands on Rose Briar’s letters regarding creating a rival society.

  She was looking into the Virtue’s origins, because she suspected a wrongness, a poison running within the veins of the Virtues, or the Nobles, or both.

  That gives me pause. Was Piper simply a nasty, spoiled twat, or was she smarter than a lot of people gave her credit for, including me?

  Damn it. I guess I’m trusting Dr. Luke’s words more than I thought.

  “Honey? Have I lost ya?”

  I blink. “Sorry. I’m a little stressed out.”

  Darla titters. “And here I am gabbing your ear off about century-old affairs. Go on back to school now. You’re welcome back any time.”

  I send her a genuine smile. “Thank you for your help.”

  “Gah.” Darla waves me off, but her cheeks blossom with color. “I’m just the town gossip.”

  “You’re one of the nicest people here,” I say as I head to the doors, and I mean that sincerely.

  Darla doesn’t stop beaming until I leave her sight.

  26

  Breaking into Addisyn Harrington’s dorm room should be easy.

  I’ll walk right in, because I have access to the girls’ dorms through evening trash-emptying on weekdays while everyone is at dinner.

  It will be finding the perfect moment that’s hard. I’m supervised by the dorm’s housekeeper, who keeps an eye on me in the hallway when I enter each room.

  Planning isn’t my strong suit, but I resolve myself into applying that section of my brain for the rest of the weekend. I’m not responsible for trash clean-up on Saturdays or Sundays. My stepdad and Headmaster Marron both agreed weekends should be reserved for catching up on my studies, not impeding them.

  Now that I’m back on school grounds, I feel watchful eyes on the back of my head, tracking me from the windows, guidance counselors and teachers clocking my progress to the dorms.

  There’s no real reason to believe Marron or even the guidance counselor I’m seeing would be pulling their curtains back and glowering down at the top of my head as I wander by, but with the strict supervision that’s been placed on me, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was watching me, with their own eyes or through security camera
s.

  Whether those witnesses are official Briarcliff employees or not remains to be seen.

  I can’t stop Dr. Luke’s revelations from circulating inside my mind. If he’s right, if Addy really is Piper’s killer, and she’s being protected, then the purpose of the Virtues is more twisted than I’d originally imagined.

  My lips flutter with a sigh, and I dig my thumbs into my backpack’s straps as I trek down the hill to Thorne House. Most of the mysteries I’ve uncovered surround the Virtues, but they weren’t created first. There was a reason Rose retaliated—

  I halt in the middle of the pathway.

  Rose’s affair. I can’t believe I’m only mulling over Darla’s information now. A secret relationship with Thorne’s brother? A possible illegitimate child?

  Holy jeez, there’s a lot to sort through. I’ve almost become an anchor, detached from its lifeboat and sinking into the depths of the ocean, because of all this.

  I screw my eyes shut, giving my head a shake. What did Mom always say? Start fresh with the first point. Simplify it, then attach your theories to facts—not the other way around.

  “Okay,” I say to the surrounding landscape, the word followed by a hot cloud of air.

  It’s with my mom’s calming voice that I decide to restart with what first grabbed my attention in the first place: The Nobles.

  And Chase’s key.

  With a refreshed bounce, I start walking, turning a small corner around a row of expertly cubed hedges, until Thorne House comes into view.

  “Callie! Hey!”

  I slow my steps and turn at Ivy’s voice.

  “I’ve been trying to catch up to you since I saw you get out of the car,” Ivy puffs as she comes up beside me. “You’re a speedy devil when you want to be.”

  I smile an apology. “I have a lot on my mind.”

  “That must be it,” Ivy says. “Because you totally ditched me for lunch.”

  A little pebble of guilt plinks into my belly. “Shit, I’m sorry. I got caught up in the public library, and—”

  She waves me off. “It’s totally cool. You’re here now, but the dining hall’s still open. Feel like doing a U-turn and having a late lunch?”

  “I want to, I really do,” I say with a pained expression, “but ever since I’ve been tasked with cleaning up the tables during the week, my stomach kind of turns at the thought of hanging out there.”

  “Right.” Ivy mirrors my expression. “Falyn and her witch-bitches have been extra putrid lately, haven’t they?”

  The vision of cottage cheese poured into coffee, then spilled on tabletops, clots my vision at Ivy’s reminder. And gravy mushed into stewed peas. Beef tips mashed into apple juice. The list of gagging textures goes on, especially when I have to mop it up with dishtowels and it slops onto the floor…

  How are these girls meant to be so evil, yet so petty?

  “Ugh,” I say, smacking my lips at the warning saliva bubbling up in my mouth.

  “Heck, their hot messes will get anyone’s gag-reflex going.” Ivy hooks an arm through my elbow, redirecting me back to the school. “Wolf’s Den it is. They have some sandwiches up there.”

  I let her lead me along, since I haven’t eaten anything since an early breakfast, and catching up with Ivy would be nice. And normal.

  Ivy kicks up a conversation about her crew training, and how intense it is despite it being off-season, and I listen the way a good friend who has no interest in rowing would—with enthused effort—until she mentions a name I’ve been primed to viscerally react to.

  “—until Addy became our stroke.”

  I swivel my head to look at her. “Addy’s a what?”

  “She’s our stroke,” Ivy says on a heavy sigh. “And our new captain. She’s a junior, and she gets to lead our pace, our team, everything. I’m not one to get upset over these things, but it’s really unfair.”

  “Uh, you can be upset,” I say. “You’ve been wanting to be captain forever.”

  “I’ve been working hard for it,” Ivy admits. “And no way did I enjoy how the spot opened up—when Piper died—but I thought, this is my chance. I can really show Coach that I have the technique and can lead the rhythm of the boat. I could bring the crew to championships. And now … well, I’m still the seventh seat.”

  Ivy has told me boat positions before, and I dig up those memories to better console her. “Seven is still amazing, right? You’re still part of the stroke pair. Or stern pair? Whatever it is, you’re second in command.”

  Ivy bobs her head. “Yeah. It’s not the same, though, when a girl who’s had maybe a semester of training takes your rightful place.”

  I murmur in agreement but can come up with an answer pretty easily as to why Addisyn got the coveted spot in crew.

  The Virtues.

  As part of her deal to stay quiet.

  I send a guilty look Ivy’s way, wishing I could tell her that the whole system is fucked, and no matter how talented she is, that seat will never be hers because of the hidden politics at play. The problem is, would she believe me, or just consider me Callie the Crazy Conspiracist?

  I’m afraid of the answer, so instead, I allow part of the truth to come out. “You deserve that spot more than anybody, and it’s fucked up Addisyn got it over you. Do you think she’s playing a sympathy card?”

  “Coach is tough. I’d never think she’d have a bleeding heart under her athletic suit, but anything goes. Addisyn doesn’t have the racing stats on the erg to back up her position, but Coach won’t hear any arguments about it. She shut us up with a bunch of bull-crap about teams supporting their members.”

  “Totally screwed up,” I agree, squeezing Ivy’s arm lightly, but inside, I’m heavy with duty.

  Now, more than ever, I have to get into Addisyn’s room to see if Dr. Luke was telling the truth. If the Virtues are now guiding Addy’s every move.

  I open my mouth to impart more genuine sympathy, but a group of guys heading out of Rose House splinters my attention.

  Chase.

  The hitch in my step is unintentional, but it causes Ivy to pause, too.

  “What is it?” she asks, but I’m too distracted by the way the afternoon sun glints across his hair, and how a plain T-shirt hugs his muscles just right as he jingles car keys in his hands and turns to say something to Tempest.

  “Uh-oh. Which one?” Ivy murmurs into my ear. “Do you dream of a blond Adonis, or a raven-haired rebel?”

  I jerk from my reverie. “What? No. Never.”

  “My bet’s on Chase,” Ivy smirks. “You try so hard, girl, but your drool always gives you away.”

  Ivy pulls me into a casual stroll again, but it’s like my chin is attached to string as I continue to follow Chase’s moves, how he swings into his BMW and the low purr of the engine vibrates under my shoes the way his voice hummed against my—

  Oh, God. Don’t go there. He’s meant to be the enemy, not a relentless sexual fantasy.

  That I’ve made into a reality.

  Ivy bursts out with laughter. “Collect yourself, or he’s going to notice you.”

  I blink, then rub my eyes. “I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  I shouldn’t be staring at him like this, desiring him from afar, when I’ve stolen something from him, and if he ever finds out the way I used him, he’ll be…

  Unforgiving.

  But I can’t stop. I don’t, until his eyes meet mine, appearing black under the tint of the car’s window.

  He studies me for an indeterminable length of time, and I him, until Tempest jumps into the passenger seat and says something to Chase.

  Does he know what I took?

  My stomach coils at the thought. I haven’t seen him since last night, and since he’s come from his dorm unconcerned and at ease, I’m assuming he found a spare key.

  Chase angles his head to his friend, responding, then swings his car out onto the road and roars past us without a second look.

  I’m hoping tha
t means he’s not the least bit suspicious of me.

  Or … he could be super pissed.

  “Dude.” Ivy gives my frozen form a playful shove. “Explain.”

  “I, uh…” am getting so bad at keeping my conflicted feelings for Chase in check. Ivy can’t know I stole his room key with the intention to search through his personal stuff, so, I go with the most believable. “It’s a stupid crush. That’s all.”

  “On the most sought-after guy in school?” Ivy leans into me. “I never thought you to be so basic.”

  She intends no malice, but I prickle nonetheless. I love her, but Ivy is a gossip whore. I don’t know how she’d react if I told her I’ve been sleeping with him, but even if she didn’t intend it, my hook-ups with Chase would be wildfire in this school, and regardless of my cruel intentions, I like keeping Chase as mine. It feels good, too good, to share naked, clandestine nights only with him.

  “I’ll show you mine if you show me Riordan,” I say from the corner of my mouth.

  Ivy shrieks and shoves at me, as I knew she would, and we both stumble with laughter.

  “That was a moment of weakness,” she defends. “I’d never get under him, even if I had a ten-foot pole to prop between us…”

  “Yeah, right,” I say, striding up the hill to the academy with her. “I saw the way you were all googly-eyed at Chase’s party, and don’t blame Jameson for your bad decisions.”

  Ivy laughs. “Fine. Maybe whiskey made me weak for one night, and I let him touch my boobies.”

  Now it’s my turn to shriek. “You didn’t!”

  “I did!” she crows.

  “Did he record it?”

  Ivy snorts. “Maybe he’s a little too involved in the goings-on at campus, but can we not at least agree he’s a hot voyeur?”

  I tip my head and laugh, the heavy load of this morning escaping my body.

  In a moment of pure emotion, I throw my arm around her shoulder and pull her close. “You are the absolute best, you know that?”

  “Aw.” Ivy taps her cheek against mine. “Are you saying we’re besties?”