Privilege 4 - Sweet Deceit Read Online Free PDF Page B

grabbed her, holding her in place.

    "Don't move," a male voice growled in her ear.

    Ariana bowed her head but said nothing. A shoulder knocked hers and she almost tripped sideways. Somewhere off to her right, a guy cursed.

    "Quiet, plebe!" a gravelly voice shouted.

    Someone yanked something over Ariana's head. For a second she thought they were putting another hood atop the first one and the lack of air was stifling. But then, the sack was pulled down over her clothes and she realized it was a robe of some kind. It was thick, itchy, and suffocating and smelled of onion and mothballs and dust. Ariana breathed through her mouth as nimble fingers worked quickly to tie something around her waist. Then, mercifully, her hood was yanked off from behind.

    Ariana took a deep breath. Her throat itched with a cough, but she held it in. She didn't want to appear weak in front of the members of Stone and Grave, all of whom were standing in front of her--a sea of black robes, faces obscured by silver and black masks. Surrounding the membership were shelves and shelves of books. Thousands of them lined the walls, stretching off into the darkness. The glow Ariana had sensed while still blindfolded emanated from a collection of black candles that littered every surface. Ariana glanced around and saw Kaitlynn standing directly to her left. Lined up next to her were Tahira, Allison, Landon, Adam, and the blond guy she'd seen talking to Christian at Brigit's memorial. These, apparently, were her male counterparts. All of them were wearing roughly hewn burlap robes over their clothes, and each was tied with a plain white rope belt. Ariana could feel the itchy material through her light wool coat, and sweat began to prickle under her arms. Whoever had removed her blindfold still stood behind her, and the knowledge that someone she couldn't see was hovering so close made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

    "Welcome to the Tombs."

    A broad, obviously male figure stepped away from the rest of the Stone and Grave membership. He was followed by a petite female member.

    "Welcome to Stone and Grave," she said.

    Ariana recognized their voices and statures. They were the same two Stone and Gravers who had greeted them in the woods on the night of their first kidnapping. The night they'd first found out they had been tapped. The guy's Stone and Grave name was Lear and the girl's was Miss Temple. Just as she was wondering if she'd ever find out who they really were, they both reached up and removed their hoods, then their masks.

    Ariana's breath caught. Lear was none other than Lexa's boyfriend, the athletic, dark, and handsome Conrad Royce, and Miss Temple was April Corrigan, the intelligent, no-nonsense editor of the Ash literary magazine. April's red curls spilled out over her shoulders in stark contrast to the black velvet robe, and the candlelight was reflected in the lenses of her small tortoiseshell glasses.

    "I am Lear," Conrad said, his deep voice reverberating through the room. "This is Miss Temple," he added, gesturing at April. "We will be your pledge educators."

    Ariana pressed her lips together to keep from smiling to herself. She already had an in with both of her pledge educators. She sat next to Conrad in English class and was the one who'd hooked Connie up with Lexa, and she and April had totally bonded at the Ash meetings.

    "Y have all completed your first task, and completed it admirably," April said, looking each of them in the eye with an imperious scowl. Her Irish

    ou accent came through loud and clear, and Ariana was impressed that she had been able to disguise it so well. "Y have taken your first steps

    ou toward full membership in Stone and Grave."

    Ariana felt a smile playing around her lips and struggled to keep a straight face.

    "But your journey is just beginning," Conrad added, his voice deadly serious. He paced along the line of pledges, dwarfing even Landon, the tallest of the boys. "It's a