The Fallen Ones (Holloway University #1)

14. Caleb

Chapter 14

Caleb

“ E verything is set for you guys,” Dylan said, leaning into us.

I ignored him and looked around, noticing Lily was gone from the bar. Smacking Damien in his chest, I got his attention.

“What?” he demanded over the loud music as Jace continued to talk to Dylan.

“Lily is gone,” I answered.

He stiffened beside me as he craned his neck around to look for her in the crowded room. The place was massive and there was a ton of people. She’d be impossible to spot in this mess.

“Fuck,” Damien snarled, making to move away. She suddenly emerged from around the corner, one of the elite shitheads with her.

Damien and I watched as golden mask spoke to her, making her smile beneath the strobing lights. She even laughed. I knew Lily well enough to know when she was faking it and when it was genuine. This was genuine.

And it pissed me off.

Something snapped within me I hadn’t felt before.

A supreme rush of violent jealousy that only grew as a golden mask traced a finger along her jaw. As he pulled her close. As he leaned in and whispered in her ear. She leaned into his touch, making me see red.

Damien’s hand on my arm brought me careening back to the moment.

“Chill,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Dylan.”

“Yeah?” Dylan stopped whatever inane shit he was telling to Jace to focus on Damien.

“Get your boy before I break his fucking neck,” Damien snarled.

Dylan glanced to where golden mask was rocking against Lily. I’d nearly lost it earlier when I’d seen her dancing with a green masked guy. It had been Damien then too who had stopped me from going forward, although I knew both he and Jace wanted to charge out to the dance floor with me and beat the shit out of the guy who was touching her.

“I got it. Get to your room. Keys are going to be handed out.” Dylan quickly moved away toward golden mask. I noted Jace stuffing a key into his pocket.

“Come on,” he grunted, nodding for us to follow him. He cast a sour look in the direction of where Lily was with golden mask. Dylan had reached them though and quickly pulled the guy away, leaving Lily alone.

I followed Jace and Damien to the edge of the room near the exit to the hall and waited while golden mask went to the stage set up near the DJ and took a mic.

He cleared his throat and began talking.

“Welcome to Satan’s Hollow! Are you guys having a good time?”

The crowd roared their excitement, making him grin. I knew that guy. His name was Brandon Rogers. He was a prick and in my calculus class. An elite. A fuck boy. I hated his rich ass.

“If you’re new here, get ready to fuck!” he shouted to another roar from the crowd. “You know the rules. Masks are required at all times. If you remove them if you have a room, that’s on you. We are not responsible for anything that happens once you walk into your assigned room. You’ll receive a key to your room throughout the night. Once you get it, head up the stairs and find your room. Fuck until you come then fuck some more!”

The crowd whooped and hollered again as he left the stage and took a shot from one of the shot girls wandering around.

We stood on the edge of the crowd for a long time, watching as the elites wandered about, slowly handing out keys.

Once more, some masked asshole approached Lily and danced on her. She danced back. The action continued to piss me off, but I remained rooted to my spot, not taking my eyes off her.

When Lily got her key, I held my breath, watching as Dylan handed it to her. Jace took a small step forward as Dylan backed away and she stared down at it in her hand.

“Don’t run,” I murmured, knowing her better than she knew herself.

“She won’t run,” Damien said. “She wants to do this.”

“It’s Lily,” Jace snapped back. “She’s a flight risk. We should have made a plan to keep her here if she tries to escape.”

He was right. We hadn’t considered that.

“I have a plan. If she runs, we fucking chase her and fuck her wherever we catch her,” Damien said, his attention focused on Lily.

I nodded stiffly, continuing to watch her. While the idea of chasing her thrilled me to no end, I also didn’t want her terrified. The fact she told me she wanted to be forced continued to rattle around in my head though, so maybe chasing and fucking her wasn’t such a terrible plan.

Olivia approached and showed her the key she got. The pair leaned into one another, speaking. I knew Olivia was probably telling Lily to just go for it. Hopefully, I’d get to thank Olivia later for her role in getting Lily upstairs. Way later though because we didn’t need her knowing it was us.

“Let’s just trust her.” Damien backed away. “Come on. Let’s wait for her in the room. If she doesn’t show up, we go to her place and fuck her in her own bed. Either way, this is happening.”

I nodded tightly and cast a final look at Lily before leaving with Damien, Jace behind us.

Quickly, we made our way upstairs to the Rapture room. Jace closed the door behind him while I took in the place. A massive bed was situated in the middle of the lavishly decorated room with a black ornate headboard against the wall. A hot tub was in one corner and overlooked a wide window over a garden. A fireplace lined an opposite wall from the bed. A dresser. A closet. Attached bathroom with the works in it. A deep shade of blue colored the walls with gold trim. A couch and a few overstuffed chairs adorned a small sitting area with a TV.

The place was ritzy as fuck, but I expected nothing less considering where I was. The room itself probably cost more than my entire house.

Damien killed the lights, plunging us into darkness.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Do you really want to be sitting on the bed together holding hands in the light when she walks in?” Damien whispered through the darkness.

Jace snickered somewhere to my right.

“No, but I can’t see shit,” I shot back.

Damien let out a grunt.

A moment later, a dim glow from the fireplace filled the room. It wasn’t much, but at least I wouldn’t trip over shit in the unfamiliar space.

Jace walked away from the fireplace and took up a spot against a wall.

“Thank god for electric fireplaces,” he muttered.

I mumbled my agreement.

“Are we just going to stand here?” I finally asked.

“Just be out of her line of sight when she comes in. I think that would best. Get her into the room before we lock the door. We have the key to leave. She can’t get out without it.” Jace held up a key which glimmered from the fireplace light.

I sighed and moved against the wall. I didn’t know exactly how this was going to go down, but I assumed we were winging it. The guys didn’t seem much on plans past that, and knowing that, I couldn’t argue.

So I waited silently, aware of every breath I took.

After what had to be nearly a half hour, the door creaked open and she stepped into the room. We silently watched as she walked further into the space, her moves tentative and oozing with nervousness. Like dark shadows, we gathered behind her.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears at what I’d never be able to change.

There was no going back now.