by Lily White
“Which is?”
The more I heard about this, the less I wanted to have anything to do with it.
“It’s a huge party, actually. And while everybody is having a good time, the person running is chased through the woods for a few hours. They come out of there scared shitless, but then it’s over and everybody goes back to their lives.”
He opened the door to tug me inside, the laughter and voices growing louder as people rushed past to run deeper into the house.
Weaving through the packed crowd of students in a large living room with floor to ceiling windows lining one wall and a huge fireplace dominating another, Clayton kept his arm around my waist to keep me from being jostled by other bodies.
At the front of the room, Gabriel climbed up on a table to stand above the crowd, his green eyes scanning over the packed room as he waited for the noise to die down.
The music that had been pumping through the house all night was cut off, anticipation for what Gabriel would say a vibration rolling through the gathering.
His eyes met mine again and he winked, causing my stomach to shift and turn when I remembered what I’d said to him.
Dragging his gaze from mine, he grinned.
“Next Saturday, Brad Cotter will be our honored guest at the next gauntlet party. Be there or be boring.”
All eyes turned to who I assumed was Brad. A tall guy with a slender frame, he didn’t look happy to be the supposed ‘honored guest’, but he forced a smile regardless. Wavering on his feet, he was obviously drunk, his skin a sickly pale shade of green.
The crowd roared with laughter and cheers as pounding music filled the house again, some people patting him on the back, others shaking their head and whispering that he was a dumbass.
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Are you okay?”
Turning, I locked eyes with Everly, my gaze dropping to her lips to notice her lipstick was smeared.
“It must have been hard to find me with your face attached to Jase for the past hour.”
Everly’s cheeks heated and a gamine grin stretched her mouth.
“Okay, so I’ve only been looking for the last five minutes, but still...”
Her blue eyes drifted right, a wider smile stretching her lips to see Clayton at my side.
“It’s about time you show up. Did Luca tell you what happened upstairs?”
Before Clayton had the chance to answer, a warm body pressed behind me, an arm reaching over my shoulder to wave a red Solo cup in my face. The scent of alcohol was overpowering and I knew whatever was in that cup would knock me flat on my ass if I accepted it.
“I come bearing a peace offering.”
Recognizing the voice, I spun around without taking the cup being offered.
“You could have told me you live here.”
Gabriel’s eyes twinkled with humor, his lips tilting up at the corners. Despite the fact he’d lied to me, I didn’t hate him as much as I did Tanner.
“Why would I do that when it was so much fun hearing how you feel about us?”
I could feel the red staining my cheeks, my stomach rolling yet again with worry that he’d said something to Tanner.
Noticing my reaction, Gabriel arched a brow and sipped from the cup after realizing I wouldn’t accept it. His expression screwed tight, his head shaking as his mouth popped open following his struggle to swallow.
“Goddamn. Whoever made this drink is trying to kill people.”
“That’s why you don’t accept drinks from strangers,” I answered.
Two dimples indented his cheeks with his broad smile.
“I wouldn’t exactly consider myself a stranger.”
Green eyes shifting between the three of us, Gabriel said, “I came over here to extend a personal invitation to the three of you for next weekend. The gauntlet will be lit and I’ll take it as a personal insult if you don’t attend.”
Everly and Clayton were quick to agree, but I had my doubts. My thoughts must have been written clearly in my expression because Gabriel poked out his bottom lip and tilted his head.
“Come on, Luca Bailey. We’re friends now. Just tell me you’ll give me another chance.”
Shaking my head, I looked away, my eyes landing on Tanner where he stood leaning against the wall across the room, three girls dancing in front of him.
The man was too gorgeous for words, his dark presence drawing me in while his shitty attitude made me want to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction.
The instant his gaze lifted to mine, I looked away, my cheeks blazing to have been caught staring.
“My issue isn’t with you.”
Following my previous line of sight, Gabriel laughed.
“If it’s Tanner, you’re worried about, he’s already forgotten what happened between you.”
His eyes met mine.
“Seriously, he’s a prick. Don’t let it get to you. Tell me you’ll be there next weekend.”
Everly knocked my elbow with hers and answered for me.
“She’ll be there. I’ll make sure of it.”
Accepting her response, Gabriel flashed us one last smile before turning to wander off. Everly called after him.
“What’s the theme?”
Theme? I glanced over at her with my brow arching in question.
Gabriel spun back to us and lifted his cup as if in toast.
“Why, my lovely lady, it’s Victorian, of course.”
The fuck?
Everly squealed and clapped her hands together. Wrapping her arm in mine, she pressed her mouth to my ear and said, “Trust me, Luca, you’re going to have so much fun.”
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.
&nb
sp; “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.
This wasn’t a simple bonfire set out in the middle of nowhere, it was a sprawling festival complete with large white canopy tents, entertainers, and champagne being served on silver serving trays by an all female wait staff dressed in tailed, tuxedo leotards.
Stepping farther into a party with at least a hundred people milling about, I couldn’t stop staring at the decorations.
Fire burned in glass globes in a circle around the entire open area, open flames shot high from a pit in the center. In the center of each tent, chandeliers sparkled with dangling crystals, and glimmering candles were centerpieces on the tables.
At the far end of the circle, a large platform was constructed, high enough that any person standing on it would be able to see over the entire crowd, and to the right of me there was another trail leading out into the woods that was lit on each side by torches.
Everly turned to meet my eyes, her lips pulling apart on a wide grin.
“Didn’t I tell you it would be amazing? These guys never fail to go all out.”
As Clayton stood quietly by my side, Everly scanned the crowd, her line of sight finally fixating on a tall, broad man dressed in a period styled tuxedo complete with a top hat and a red satin lined black cape, his hand carved devil mask so beautiful that it must have cost him a fortune.
“There he is. I would know Jase’s swagger anywhere.”
Waving at Clayton and me, Everly called out a quick goodbye and promised to find us later as she rushed in Jase’s direction.
Whispering, Clayton asked, “Everly has it bad for him, doesn’t she?”
Nodding my head in response, I still couldn’t make sense of the party.
As a fire breather walked past to shoot a large line of hot flames from his mouth, my eyes widened even more.
“Isn’t all of this a bit of overkill? How is any of it possible?”
Clayton laughed and led me past a group of guys talking amongst themselves.
“Money talks. And if you have enough of it, you can make anything happen. The guys like to go all out on gauntlet nights since they happen so rarely.”
He grabbed two champagne flutes from a passing tray and handed me one, his expression hidden by the mask when he tried to drink his, but realized the mask prevented it.
“I probably should have planned this better.”
Laughter bubbled over my lips before I took a sip of mine.
“Hey, it could be worse. You could be wearing a torture device that makes it impossible to take a deep breath.”
Shoving his mask up his face enough to expose his mouth, he slammed the entire glass of champagne and slipped the mask back into place.
“You want to walk around for a little while and see all the sights? I’m sure the fire breather wasn’t the only circus act they’ve hired.”
Nodding my head, I wrapped my arm in his and admired the costumes and other details of the party.
For the most p
art, everybody was behaving, but the night was still young. After enough alcohol was consumed, I knew things would take a turn into hedonism.
Already there were professional dancers dressed in barely there attire spinning and weaving through the crowds. On the sidelines, two stilt walkers paced back and forth, their costumes designed to make them look like massive demons. I had to hand it to whoever planned this party, it was impressive for being so excessive.
Every so often, I caught sight of a devil mask worn by several men who were as large and dominating as Tanner. They all were dressed similarly with period tuxedos, top hats and the satin lined capes.
Pointing one out to Gabriel, I asked, “I assume the men wearing the devil masks are the Inferno members, right?”
Clayton nodded.
“Yeah. I figured that out a little while ago. All their masks are the same. It looks like the entire crew is here. I feel sorry for whoever is running tonight.”
On cue to what Clayton said, a loud horn blew in the distance, the sound a low, primal bellow, like something you would hear before a war.
We turned in the direction of the sound to see three of the devil-masked men standing on the raised platform with Brad positioned in front of them. Fire burned on tall torches behind their bodies, the dance of smoke and light casting a sinister haze across the scene.
Once they had everybody’s attention, one of them spoke using a hidden microphone. I recognized the voice as Gabriel’s.
“Welcome to Hell everybody, a land of milk and honey, lustful spirits and every soulful, provocative sin you can imagine. Before the festivities really get going and we let loose to whatever debauchery gets us off, we need to honor our special guest with a toast to get him ready for the run.”
Brad was stripped of his jacket and shirt, his black slacks left on to hang off his slim hips. He wasn’t anywhere near as large as the men standing behind him, but he wasn’t out of shape either. Wearing a blank expression, he peered out over the crowd, something in his eyes telling me he was scared out of his damn mind.
Worried, I leaned over to Clayton and whispered, “What do they do to him when he runs? He looks terrified.”
Clayton whispered back, the beak of his mask rubbing against my cheek.