The Complete Private Collection: Private; Invitation Only; Untouchable; Confessions; Inner Circle; Legacy; Ambition; Revelation; Last Christmas; Paradise ... The Book of Spells; Ominous; Vengeance (255 page)

“But we were just following—”

Suzel lifted both hands to stop me. “The less I know, the better.

I couldn’t live with that. Hadn’t the note that came with the book been signed
Your sisters in BLS
? Sisters. Plural.

“Suzel, I’m only doing this because someone out there wants me to,” I said. “Someone left the book for me and I’m just following directions.”

Suzel’s overly plucked eyebrows came together over her nose. She looked legitimately confused, as if I’d just started talking backward.

“What are you talking about? What book?” she asked. “Whose directions?”

The back of my neck prickled with heat.

Suzel did not know about the book. All-powerful, in-the-know Suzel. The one who had delivered my president’s gift to me after I’d been elected—the designer purse and the wad of cash and the disc full of every bit of information ever gathered on all the Billings Girls present and past. The one who had directed us to the secret tunnel under Gwendolyn Hall so we could sneak off campus for the Legacy.
She clearly knew nothing about the BLS, the book, or the person who’d left it for me.

It was about time I stopped talking.

“Reed? What the hell is going on?” Suzel said, flipping from curious to concerned.

“I think you’re right,” I told her, gathering up my coat. “I think the less you know the better.”

A flash of anger crossed her face as I stood. She reached out and grabbed my wrist. “Reed,” she said through her teeth, “the reestablishment of Billings House is the alumni committee’s number one priority. It’s going to take time, but we will have the house rebuilt. We will return Billings to its former place of prestige. If you and your little friends decide to stand in our way, or do anything to threaten the accomplishment of this goal, the consequences will be dire.”

My heart stopped beating. I knew how powerful the women on the alumni committee were. I knew that they could make or break all of us with a snap of their fingers. They were the women who were supposed to help us get into the Ivy League schools and land us prestigious internships and usher us into our future fabulous careers—or completely ignore us from the moment we graduated. But I also knew that someone had left that book for me. That they wanted me to do exactly what I’d done—what I was still doing. Someone far more powerful than Susan Llewellyn. I had to believe that that person was watching over me. That she would protect me. Protect all of us.

“Thank you for the warning,” I said. Then I looked coolly, steadily down at her fingers. “You can let go of me now.”

She seemed startled, and quickly released me.

“See you around, Suzel.”

I walked out of the solarium as she fought for composure, feeling quite strong, forward-thinking,
and
eloquent. The sisters of the BLS, whoever they were, whoever had left me the book, would be proud.

“You look really pretty tonight, Reed.”

Sawyer’s expression was so serious I almost laughed.

“You said that already,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. This was, after all, a party. A mandatory one, but still. The dance floor was packed with couples swaying back and forth to the slow song played by the band on the platform stage, and everyone seemed to be having a decent time. Everyone except my date, who had clearly taken some intensity pills before picking me up.

“I did?” he asked, blanching. His hands pressed into my back and I got the distinct feeling he was trying to wipe the sweat off his palms. Tiffany wasn’t going to appreciate it when I returned her purple silk Badgley Mischka to her covered in his handprints.

“When you picked me up,” I said.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just kidding,” I told him, my heart
squeezing in sympathy. “It’s not like it’s something a person can get tired of hearing.”

Sawyer let out a small laugh and seemed to relax ever so slightly. “Yeah. I guess.”

It was just too bad I wasn’t hearing it from the guy I wanted to be here with. My eyes trailed across the room and found Josh, who was hovering near the door with Trey and Gage. Ivy was on the other side of the room, talking to Headmaster Hathaway of all people, laughing as she selected an hors d’oeuvre from one of the passing trays. But then, I guessed this was Double H’s get-to-know you dance. Apparently he was getting to know Ivy.

Would it be wrong of me to go ask Josh to dance? One little dance never hurt anyone, right? But even as the thought occurred to me I knew it was a bad idea. Not only would Sawyer and Ivy probably not appreciate the gesture, but it would be bad for my heart. Dancing with Josh would leave me with ten thousand questions and feelings I wasn’t supposed to be having.

“Everything okay?” Sawyer asked.

I looked up at him and saw my friend. The sweet, stoic guy I’d gotten to know down in the Caribbean. Sawyer cared about me. Josh, on the other hand, hadn’t called me on Christmas or when he’d heard I’d been rescued from several murder attempts and a week on a deserted island. He hadn’t texted or e-mailed or called once since we’d been back and he’d barely said anything to me other than hello or good-bye. It was pretty clear which one of these guys deserved my attention.

I just wished I could feel the way about him that he was clearly starting to feel about me.

“Yeah,” I said. “Everything’s great.”

I held him a little tighter and rested my cheek on his shoulder. It felt comfortable. Not exciting, but comfortable. Maybe I could live with comfortable. Not every relationship had to be all heart palpitations all the time, right? Perhaps it was better—safer—if they weren’t. Sawyer adjusted his arms and I could feel his breath warm on my bare neck. As we turned in a slow circle, I almost tripped the both of us.

Josh was staring right at me. For the first time all night. It was as if he’d just realized I was there. Heart palpitation city. The moment he saw me looking he colored and looked away, but I could tell he was thrown. And suddenly I wanted to go over there and scream at him.

Seriously? That was all it took to get his attention? Putting my cheek on some guy’s shoulder? Why hadn’t I thought of that before?

“Hey, guys.”

Graham joined us on the dance floor. I lifted my head and did a double take when I saw who his partner was. Dark hair in an elaborate bun at the nape of her neck. Green silk halter dress I’d helped pick out, silver Jimmy Choo heels.

“Hey, Ivy,” I said, my brow knitting.

“Hi.” She shot me a baffled look, like she wasn’t sure how she’d ended up in this situation either—wrapping her arms around the neck of the guy who obviously hated her boyfriend.

Sawyer stopped dancing. “Graham. What’re you doing?”

“Dancing,” Graham said with a shrug, slipping his arm around
Ivy’s waist. “Although I kind of suck at it. Maybe you shouldn’t have said yes,” he joked, looking down at Ivy.

“As long as I come out of it with all ten toes intact, we’re good,” she replied.

I glanced past them at Josh. He did not look happy.

Graham smiled and pulled Ivy closer, the emerald green silk of her dress catching on one of the buttons of his suit. Ivy’s cheeks turned pink. I couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or pleased, but Josh had just put his empty cup down, his face flushed with anger.

“Uh, hey, Graham, you just met the girl,” I joked.

He and Ivy just kept dancing as if they hadn’t heard me. I looked at Sawyer. He was staring in the same direction I’d been staring half the night. At Josh. Who was quickly moving our way. Josh’s jaw was set and he was so focused he barely noticed he was slamming into people as he barreled across the dance floor. I’d never seen Josh out for blood before.

It was hot.

But it wasn’t for me.

“Graham,” Sawyer said, putting his hand on his brother’s arm. “I think you need to find someone else to dance with.”

“Lighten up, Sawyer,” Graham said. That was when Josh arrived.

“Hey, man,” he said, stopping next to us. “Is that really necessary?”

Graham sighed and backed away from Ivy slightly, still holding on to her hand as he turned to face Josh.

“Back off, Hollis. She doesn’t belong to you,” Graham said.

“I don’t belong to anyone, thanks,” Ivy said, wresting her hand free.

A few couples near us took notice of the serious vibe and stopped dancing. My face grew warm and I glanced toward the group of teachers and administrators milling near the wall. How long before
they
started to notice?

“Hey. The song’s not over,” Graham said, reaching for her.

Josh slipped right between them and put his hand flat in the center of Graham’s chest. Oh, fab. Physical contact had been made. It was all downhill from here. Someone in the crowd even let out an excited “ooooh!” The music continued to play, but fewer and fewer people were dancing to it.

“I think we’re done here,” Josh said, looking Graham in the eye.

Graham stared down at Josh’s hand. “See, that’s where you’d be wrong.”

And then he pulled his fist back and slammed it into Josh’s jaw. There was a sickening crack and then someone screamed. It might have even been me. I have no idea. The next two minutes were a blur of flailing arms, spurting blood, and scrambling couples. Suddenly Graham was on top of Josh on the floor and Ivy and Sawyer were trying to grab his arms. Josh’s face was purple from the struggle and his temple kept slamming into the polished wood over and over and over again.

“Someone do something!” I shouted.

All of a sudden Mr. Hathaway and two security guards descended on the melee. It took all three plus Sawyer to drag Graham off Josh.

“Graham! Stop!” Headmaster Hathaway shouted, holding a hand up to Graham until he quit struggling against the guards.

Slowly, Josh pushed himself onto all fours. He spat a wad of blood onto the floor and one of the girls nearby let out an “ewwww.” Ivy helped him get to his feet, where she gingerly touched his face with both hands, trying to assess the damage. Over her head, Josh’s eyes found mine. He looked ashamed and scared and sorry and angry all at once. And somehow, I understood.

“Are you all right, son?” Mr. Hathaway asked.

Josh managed to nod, holding the back of his hand to his bleeding lip. He looked around at all of us—at Ivy, at me, at Sawyer, at the rest of the gaping crowd—and suddenly took off, jogging out the door into the hall. Ivy went after him, but she stopped at the doorway. My guess was Josh had already fled the building.

Mr. Hathaway turned to Graham. “You. In my office. Now.”

Graham pulled down on his jacket and flicked his hair back from his face. I half expected him to crack a grin and somehow explain that this was all a joke, that none of that really just happened, but instead he sniffed and headed out the opposite door—the one that led directly outside and into the freezing night.

“I’m coming with you,” Sawyer said to his father.

Sawyer. I’d nearly forgotten he was there.

“No. You stay,” his father said curtly, sounding like he was ordering around a dog. He took a breath and let it out, then added in a more normal tone. “You and Reed have fun. Your brother and I need to have a little chat.”

One of the members of the cleaning staff was already down on her hands and knees, cleaning up the blood. Slowly everyone was coming out of their stupor, starting to whisper and gossip and laugh.

“Reed! Are you okay?” Constance asked, emerging from the crowd with Walt Whittaker at her heels. He’d driven down from Harvard to escort Constance to our school soiree. I was offhandedly glad to know he was as there for Constance as she was for him. When she found out about the taps, she was going to need a shoulder to lean on.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” I said, still shaken. My pulse was throbbing in my face, my ears, my tongue. I looked at Sawyer, who was staring at the blood smear slowly disappearing under the hypnotic circular motions of a white rag. “Sawyer, are
you
okay?”

“What?” he said, blinking. He touched a small scrape on his right cheek. “Oh yeah. I’m okay. I just got clipped by Graham’s watch, but otherwise I’m good.”

“Good. So tell me, what the hell is it with Josh and Graham?” I asked. “Clearly whatever it is, it’s not good.”

Sawyer’s pale face slowly turned pink under the rotating disco ball. “It’s not my story to tell,” he said. “If you want to know, you’re going to have to ask Graham.”

Again with the secrecy. Couldn’t anyone just give a straight answer around here? Then again, I’d been at Easton long enough to know that the answer to that question was no. Well, fine. If I had to talk to Graham, I would. I just hoped it was the Graham I’d known in St. Barths. Because this violent version of him might have been new, but it was definitely not improved.

It was a clear, frigid night, a blanket of stars winking overhead as we speed-walked toward the dorms after the dance. I held my coat closed at my throat and tried to pick out Ivy’s window at the back of Pemberly. Jillian was behind me somewhere with her boyfriend, so that meant that if Ivy’s light was on, she was home. I had to get to her. Had to find out what had happened with Josh. Find out whether he was okay. Whether Headmaster Hathaway had decided to discipline him. Who knew what kind of punishment our new headmaster would hand down for breaking up his get-to-know-you dance with a brawl?

“Hey, Reed? What’s the rush?” Sawyer asked.

I slowed my steps and looked back at him. Ever since Graham and Josh had been tossed out of the dance, I’d been tense and worried and trying very hard to pretend I wasn’t tense and worried. Sawyer, however, had seemed to finally relax. He’d been talkative, happy, and
loose ever since his father, brother, and Josh had left the room. As if he could finally breathe without them there.

He caught up with me and slipped his hand into mine. My heart thumped extra hard. There was no denying it anymore—in Sawyer’s eyes, we were on a real date. Our first date. And here I was stressing about my ex.

But there was nothing I could do about it. My brain, my heart, my soul were all preoccupied. I loved Josh. There. Simple as that. And love wasn’t something that just went away if you wanted it to. And I wasn’t even sure that I
did
want it to. Why should I? Just because he was with Ivy and Sawyer was clasping my hand? There was always a chance we could get back together. Was I horrible for hoping?