The door creaked open again, and I immediately stilled. It was Lauren again, as though she’d waited for her father and Flynn to return to the meeting room before she snuck back into the art room. A chill washed over me. What horror did she wish to inflict on me that her superiors wouldn’t approve of?
“They said ten minutes,” I said as Lauren crept in and closed the door quietly behind her.
“Yeah, I know, genius,” she whispered back. “Keep your voice down.”
She crossed the room and knelt down at my feet. I felt the duct tape around my ankles tighten then heard the swift swish of a switchblade opening. I bucked my feet as far away from Lauren as possible. “Shit! What the hell are you doing?”
“Shut up!” she hissed. “And stop moving unless you want me to accidentally cut your damn feet off. I’m trying to get you out of here.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand. The roofies you force-fed me earlier are still messing with my brain a little bit,” I quipped. “That was you, was it not, Salander? Great code name, by the way. What else have you used your master IT skills for?”
“I didn’t have a choice.” As she hacked through the duct tape between my ankles, Lauren spoke in a low ramble. “Most of what I told you this morning was true,” she said. “I don’t want anything to do with BRS. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to opt out.”
“How do I know this isn’t just another trick?” I asked. My feet sprang apart, and Lauren gently removed the duct tape from around my ankles. She fetched my boots from across the room and deposited them at my feet.
“Because I was the one who gave O’Connor my puzzle box,” she said.
“What?”
She sighed, moving her focus up to my hands. With painstaking precision, she maneuvered the blade between my skin and the duct tape and sliced upwards. “Every member of the society gets some kind of box like that when they’re inducted. The ring too. I knew that if O’Connor managed to get his hands on one, he’d probably be able to figure it all out. I guess he never really got the chance. He would’ve eventually. O’Connor caught on to BRS a while ago. He dug up all that shit that was locked in his safe—”
“You knew about the safe?”
“Who do you think told him to hide all that information?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as if to question my command of common sense. “I don’t care what my father and aunt say. BRS is lethal. This isn’t the first death we’ve been connected to.”
“But you said it was an accident, and that BRS considered murder unsavory.”
“There was no proof to link BRS directly with the previous deaths,” she said. “And it was an accident. They weren’t going to kill O’Connor, just rough him up, but Donovan was there. He’s got serious anger issues, no matter how creepily calm he seems. I heard that he was the one who took it too far.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” I muttered, grimacing as Lauren peeled the duct tape away from my left wrist and set to work on the other one.
“That’s why he was demoted,” she went on. “That same day, I took his place on the council.”
“If you’re so against all of this, why would you work so hard to get promoted? And why the hell wouldn’t you just clue me in on all of this shit when we spoke this morning?”
“Look, Nicole,” she said, all of her concentration dedicated to not slicing open my right wrist with the switchblade as she wriggled it beneath the duct tape. “This whole double-agent thing only works if they think I’m solidly committed to BRS. That’s why I got your phone number. That’s why I hacked your computer. It bought me some time. Even when I get you out of here, they won’t suspect me.”
“How do you figure?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, and with a final flick of the knife, she freed my right hand.
I rubbed at the raw skin around my wrists. “Thanks.”
She nodded hurriedly. “Listen. I gave O’Connor that box because I thought that he would be able to uncover all the crap that BRS has done. I didn’t count on him dying. Now, he’s passed that beacon on to you, and I can tell that you’re not about to set it down again.”
I stayed quiet, pursing my lips. Lauren was perceptive, that was for sure.
“I figured,” she went on. “You know all that bullshit that my dad and aunt fed you? With either option, you’re screwed. BRS will always be a part of your life, even if you decided to take the money and leave Waverly. I’ve seen it before, Nicole. They keep tabs on everyone they’ve ever paid off. They’ll tail you with private investigators, just to make sure you won’t ever mention BRS to any kind of authority. Here, put on your shoes.”
I did as told, leaning over to pull my boots onto my cold feet.
“I made a mistake when I gave O’Connor that box,” said Lauren. Her voice shook. “I wanted him to do the work for me, so that my father would never suspect me of taking down the society. If it weren’t for me, he’d still be alive.”
“Hey, that’s not true—”
“It is, and I can’t let the same thing happen to you.” Her eyes shimmered in the gloomy light, but she seemed determined not to let her tears fall. “Leave Waverly. Go home, find your boyfriend, and get out of town. It’s the only way you’ll be safe.”
“I thought your father had goons camped out at my apartment.”
“Everyone’s at the party. He just said that to scare you. Even so, you need to be careful. It’s better if no one sees you leave.”
“And what about BRS?”
Lauren’s face hardened. “I’ll find a
