Gorgeous Nasty Luxe (Blood and Diamonds Book 2)

by L. A. Sable

  Grace actually laughs at that. “Yeah, right.”

  I fight off the overwhelming sense of awkwardness as I slide into a seat next to Ocean. She gives me a smile that actually appears genuine. “Hi,” she says brightly.

  “Um, hey.” I look down at the plate in front of her, which is full of not one, but two servings of French toast. Clearly, she’d gotten impatient to order despite what Grace had said. “Quite the appetite you have there.”

  “I’m always starving during competition season,” she says, taking a huge, syrup-laden bite and swallowing. But I can always eat pretty much anything I want and never gain weight.

  “And we all hate her for it.” Maisie sips from a cup of coffee, the plate in front of her conspicuously empty. Her tone is sweet is sugar, but it’s clear the comment isn’t entirely a joke. “Careful not to choke on those pancakes.”

  “It’s French toast,” Ocean replies with gravity, as if that’s an important distinction, before turning back to me. “My mom was convinced I had tapeworms when I was a kid.”

  Maisie rolls her eyes, but doesn’t say anything else.

  “Are you having anything?” Grace asks, as the waiter approaches.

  “I’m good. Honestly, I don’t usually eat breakfast so I can sleep in a little later.” I drum my fingers on the table, the sound muffled by the linen tablecloth. “I do have to say that I’m a little surprised at the invite to sit with you.”

  “Why?” Ocean asks through another mouthful.

  Even Maisie looks at me with one eyebrow raised in question.

  I can’t help but feel a little like Alice after she falls through the looking glass. “You guys have literally never spoken to me unless it was absolutely necessary. Or if you wanted something.”

  “But that was before,” Ocean says slowly, as if I’m the one who suffers from long-term comprehension problems. “You’re one of us now.”

  “This is just because of the vote?”

  They all nod in unison, reminded me of something out of a horror movie where all the people have been infected by brain parasites. It’s difficult to decide which makes me more uncomfortable: the idea that friend groups at Black Lake are practically codified into law or that nobody here even considers that a bad thing.

  “What about Chloe?” I ask, more out of curiosity than anything else. Her absence in the dining hall is conspicuous and I can’t help but wonder when she’s going to actually show her face again.

  “Chloe who?” Maisie asks with a malicious smile. “I don’t know anybody by that name.”

  “Don’t be such a bitch.” Ocean sops up the rest of the syrup on her plate with the last piece of French toast. “She didn’t even get out of bed this morning.”

  “Chloe can suck a big old bag of dicks, for all I care.” Maisie crosses slim arms over her chest and leans back in the chair, her expression devoid of sympathy. “She accused me of posting all those pictures, like I would ever do that. She can go to hell.”

  “I’d say she already has,” Grace murmurs, inspecting her manicure for chips in the polish.

  “We really don’t have to do this,” I tell them, fighting back a sudden headache. “You guys don’t have to pretend that we’re friends just because of a stupid popularity contest.”

  “Yes, we do,” Grace replies, with way more gravity than the situation really calls for. “I’m amazed you got this far without getting how this works.”

  Surprisingly, Ocean is the one who tries to explain. “Think about this place as an ecosystem with a very delicate balance. If you change one thing, then it affects everything else. We’re like the predators at the top of the pyramid, but we can’t survive without all the prey animals underneath. Without us, you’re right back to the bottom of the food chain.”

  I wouldn’t have thought she even knew how to spell the word ecosystem which makes it difficult to credit her assessment of the situation. “Yeah, cool. Anyway, I need to get to class early so I can ask a question about the homework. Thanks for the chat.”

  When I stand to leave, Grace places a hand on my arm and grips tight enough that her nails dig into my skin. “We should take this conversation to the Lounge.”

  The other two girls stand up at the same time, as if the movement had been choreographed which is more than a little freaky.

  “The Lounge?” I ask, looking from one of them to another. “What is that?”

  “You’ll see,” they all say in unison.

  I let them lead me out of the dining hall even though I wonder if I’m about to end up tied up and tortured in some abandoned part of the school.

  “If this is some hazing ritual,” I warn. “Don’t think I’m above cutting a bitch. It hasn’t been that long since I left the Bronx.”

  “Oh my God, you’re hilarious.” Ocean says as she checks her lipstick with a compact mirror. “You’re definitely going to be the funny one.”

  “Ocean has always been the comedian in the group, even when she’s not in on the joke,” Maisie says, the words cutting but she says them in a way that’s sweet enough to almost take the edge off the insult. “She’s used to people laughing at her, not with her.”

  “People are always laughing with me,” Ocean replies airily. “Because I’m always laughing.”

  “That’s one way of looking at it.”

  “Ladies,” Grace interrupts as she pushes open the double doors that lead into the hallway. “This is not how we make a good first impression.”

  “You do realize that I’ve known you guys for almost a year right,” I point out. “It isn’t exactly a first impression.”

  “That’s what you think,” Maisie says as she pulls out a vape pen and takes a hit from it in the middle of the deserted hallway. “You’ve been swimming on the surface of the ocean and we’re about to take you down to world underneath.”

  I’ve had about enough of the clunky metaphors. “I really don’t want to be late for class.”

  “Don’t worry so much,” Grace murmurs. “We’ll just get you a pass.”

  My eyebrows go up. “From who? None of the teachers will sign one for me just because I felt like hanging out.”

  Ocean waves that concern away with a grin. “We have a whole stack of them in the lounge and a stamp of Felton’s signature. It’s all good.”

  “Shut up,” Maisie hisses, glancing around as if she’s worried someone might overhear. “No one is supposed to know about that.”

  “Everyone be quiet until we get there,” Grace commands, casting a repressive look at the other two.

  Curious, despite my best efforts to fight it, I follow her down the long hallway and toward a set of stairs at the very back of the building. I’d been down there before but a heavy metal gate stands in the way. My assumption has always been that the stairs lead down to a basement storage area or furnace room, something the administration wants kept off-limits to students.

  Grace pulls out two metal keys and hands one to me. “Guard this with your life. You don’t want to know what will happen if you lose it or it falls into the wrong hands.”

  The ornate metal key is heavier than it looks as I heft it up and down in my hand. It’s almost as long as my palm and hand wrought, with a twisted insignia on one end that looks just like the logo from the Inner Circle app.

  Glancing behind us to make sure the hallway is otherwise deserted, Grace uses her key to unlock the metal gate. It swings open on silent hinges as the stairs descend into darkness.

  “It helps if you bring a light,” Ocean whispers in my ear as she holds up her cellphone with the flash on to illuminate the concrete steps. “The stairs are solid but a little treacherous. Maisie almost busted her ass wide open last year when her heel caught.”

  “Fuck off,” Maisie says pleasantly, voice pitched low.

  I follow them down, again wondering if I’m being led to some sort of torture dungeon. This is a school, I remind myself. There’s no way the faculty would let there be a bunch of whips and chains in the basement.


  Grace pulls the gate closed behind us and locks it, just highlighting the foreboding quality. I remind myself that I have my own key in my hand. But then the thought comes that for all I know, my key is a fake and won’t fit the lock when I’m running for my life from a bunch of crazed rich kids in black hoods and robes.

  “You seem nervous,” Maisie notes with a malicious smile. “Don’t worry. We never schedule blood sacrifices for someone’s first time.”

  “She’s joking,” Ocean assures me. “Unless that’s her way of saying she’s on her period.”

  “Does Chloe still have a key?” I ask, failing to fight the urge to bring her up again.

  “You’ve got it now,” Grace answers. “There are only eight of them, one for each of us.”

  To my surprise, the floor is carpeted when we reach the bottom of the stairs, a deep red that reminds me of old blood. I wonder if that’s to hide the stains when they drag their bleeding victims back upstairs. It’s even darker down here than I expected and I’m not able to see much outside of the small circle of light provided by Ocean’s phone.

  “Here.” Grace stops next to a wooden door. It’s nondescript, except that the same symbol from the app and the key is carved into its surface. “After you.”

  Taking a deep breath, and still expecting the worse, I push open the door.

  The interior of the lounge isn’t precisely what I’m expecting. Like everything else at Black Lake, it’s luxurious but in a much more modern way. Sleek leather couches are set at angles and separated by low black tables. A bar on the far side is stocked with drinks and snacks.

  “Is that a hot tub?” I ask in shock.

  “And there’s a sauna back there,” Grace says, pointing to a door in the far corner. “This is our little escape from the stresses of the day.”

  “But this doesn’t make any sense.” I do a slow turn, fighting to keep an expression of awe off my face. “I thought the faculty didn’t have anything to do with this. Who set this all up?”

  “We receive generous donations from alumni,” Maisie answers as she collapses onto one of the couches with a sigh. “Not to mention networking opportunities, internships and recommendations when it’s time to apply for college. There will be a meeting with some former Diamonds in a few weeks so they can formally meet you. These are people who will open doors for the rest of your life.”

  So the Inner Circle isn’t just some fun app, it’s practically a secret society within the school. “And what happens if the results of the vote changes and you’re not a Diamond anymore.”

  Ocean slips past me and goes to the bar to grab a bottle of juice. “Just like Heidi Klum used to say on Project Runway, you’re out. Auf wiedersehen, goodbye, thanks for playing.”

  “Should we let her in on the real secret?” Maisie asks, looking at the others.

  I look from one of them to the other and back again. “What secret?”

  “Only our votes count.” Grace has lowered her voice a touch as if, even down here, she’s worried about potentially being overheard. “Diamonds are the ones who ultimately decide who gets to be one of us. Everyone else’s votes count for who’s on the bottom, but that’s it.”

  “It’s like the electoral college,” Ocean pipes up helpfully.

  “How is that anything like the electoral college?” I ask, the implications of this revelation slowly sinking in. “Why have the vote at all?”

  “We like to consider Black Lake more of a representative democracy,” Maisie added. “Think about it. The average American doesn’t actually get to decide who becomes president. Their votes are more of a suggestion. It’s only the votes made by their representatives to the electoral college that determines who wins. And yeah, those representatives take the popular vote into consideration, but they don’t technically have to.”

  “Wait,” I say, gaze shifting rapidly from one of them to the other as I try to piece this all together. “Does that mean all of you voted for me?”

  Maisie rolls her eyes. “Obviously.”

  My mouth falls open and I snap it shut. “But Chloe is your friend.”

  By the look on her face, Maisie is about to say something cutting but Grace responds first. “Chloe was becoming a liability. Her social snafus were making all of us look bad, what else were we supposed to do?”

  “You see,” Ocean insists. “We are your friends.”

  “Or at least as close as you’re going to get in this place,” Maisie adds with a smirk.

  “You wanted a note.” Grace goes to a nearby desk and pulls out a pad of blank hall passes that I know for a fact we’re not allowed to have. “Do you want to be excused for the entire period?”

  “No, I’m going to class now.” I take the pass from her and try to push back the strange feeling rising in my chest. I’d fought hard to get to this point, but the sense of tension hasn’t left me. It’s as if my body knows there’s something more coming my way and it won’t be good. I wonder who these mysterious benefactors will turn out to be. Liam had been a Diamond back in his day, but I find it hard to believe he would show up back here, given his circumstances. Despite what they’ve said, becoming a Diamond can’t be that much of a guarantee. “When is this meeting going to be?”

  “Soon,” Grace says, voice assured. “You’ll get a notification in the app when you’re required to be here. I wouldn’t ignore any potential summons if I were you.”

  “And don’t talk about this place or anything that might happen here,” Maisie warns. “The consequences could be dire.”

  I can’t stop my laugh. “Is that supposed to be a threat?”

  They all stare at me with identically blank expressions. “Yes.”

  Pass in hand, I back slowly towards the door as I wonder if I’ve officially entered Stepford Wives territory. For all I know, the strange rules and ominous warnings are just part of what rich people do when they make their little secret clubs because they’re bored from never having to work for anything. But I need some time to regroup. “I’ll see you guys in class.”

  None of them follow me and I wonder how long they’re planning to hang out down here. I sense their gazes on me as I push the door open a little too hard and stumble toward the stairs. As my foot hits the first step, their last words are delivered in almost a sing-song, raising goosebumps on my skin.

  “Make sure you come when you’re called.”

  Chapter 16

  My phone screeches late in the evening. I’d gone to bed early after an exhausting day. For a moment, the screaming sound has me convinced that there’s a fire or an approaching tornado and my life is imminently in danger. The noise is loud and ear-piercing like a siren going off. I scramble out of bed so quickly that the blankets tangle in my legs and I hit the ground hard while the terrible noise continues.

  I push painfully to my knees and grope for my phone on the bedside table, finally silencing it after multiple tries. That alarm sound isn’t like anything my phone has produced before and I check the screen for any sign of what had produced it. Then a message pops out with a small ping, the words starkly red against the white background.

  Meeting in the Lounge. Now.

  There isn’t a recipient listed. The message isn’t just anonymous, but it looks like it’s been sent by the app itself, like a push notification that takes over the entire screen until I close it out.

  “Well, fuck,” I say into the now eerily silent room. Part of me really wants to ignore the strange summons and go back to sleep. There couldn’t possibly be a meeting with important people in the middle of the night.

  But once again curiosity is my downfall. I quickly throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, thinking to myself that it’s the best anybody will get out of me this late in the evening. I also can’t help but wonder if I’m being summoned for some crazy hazing ritual like the type you always hear about in the news. Are they going to force me to chug grain alcohol while reciting the Greek alphabet, or something equally inane?

  I ho
pe the Diamonds are a little more creative than that.

  When I arrive to the Lounge, there aren’t any scary robed figures waiting for me. Instead, Asher and the other guys are lounging on the sofas.

  Jayden looks up and notices me first, a grin spreading across his face. “Look who’s here.”

  “What is this?” I ask, hesitating in the open doorway.

  “We all got messages to be here,” Kai says as he rises from his seat and crosses the room towards me. “No idea why, this has never happened before.”

  I shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other, taking them in. “The girls told me there would be some sort of meeting soon.”

  “With the alumni mentors, sure. But it wouldn’t happen this late at night,” Lukas replies, voice a lazy drawl. “This is a little weird.”

  I can’t help but notice that Asher is sitting alone on the far side of the room and hasn’t said a word since I walked in. “Are we supposed to just wait?”

  They all shrug, but none of them make any move to leave. Apparently the rule about not ignoring a summons is one they all take seriously.

  “We haven’t officially congratulated you,” Kai murmurs as he directs me toward the sofa. “Seems like Chloe’s loss is your gain.”

  “Inner Circle is the definition of a zero-sum game.” I just shake my head when he raises his eyebrows in question. “I understand that I have you guys to thank for voting for me, since that’s apparently all that matters.”

  Kai has the grace to look abashed. “Yeah, that’s just how the system works.”

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  “Because that’s not allowed,” Jayden interrupts, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Rules are rules.”

  I don’t bother to ask who makes the rules and who decides that we have to follow them because it’s not as if I’ll get a satisfactory answer.

  “Do you want a drink?” Lukas asks, indicating the decanter glasses sitting on a low table.