Her overflowing hostility had filtered down into her daily duties for the Black Raptor Society. The previous year, as a junior, Catherine had been assigned to seek out freshmen with society potential. She had chosen those with familial ties to the Raptors, as was tradition, but also picked out a few with fresh blood. She trained them in her own image and taught them to be ruthless and cunning. Her methods, though harsh, were effective in her opinion. Last year’s class of new Raptors had been flawless. This year, on the other hand, the acolytes were weak. Catherine, channeling her venom for Natasha and Anthony, had pushed them to a breaking point, and just a few days’ prior, it had gone too far.
Catherine’s heart leapt as the sound of footsteps made their way down the corridor outside the meeting room. She forced her feet to come to a stop so as to not seem too jittery. When the door to the meeting room opened, a tall, blond boy, his hair cropped short to his scalp, slipped inside.
“Finally,” breathed Catherine as she strolled over to him. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you, Harrison? This meeting was your idea.”
Harrison gripped Catherine by her shoulders then cupped one hand gently behind her neck. “I know. I’m sorry. Anthony’s in crisis mode.”
“Is that what this is about?”
Harrison withdrew from Catherine, glancing furtively at the corners of the room. “Catherine, I really don’t know how to tell you this.”
“It can’t possibly be worse than Anthony telling me he’s leaving me for Natasha,” spat Catherine. She had meant for it to sound nonchalant, like a joke, but it came out in a briary tone.
Harrison nervously rubbed at his short hair. “I’m afraid it is.”
His twitchiness rubbed at Catherine’s already overflowing anxiety. “What is it?”
He began kneading the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb, as though trying to relieve the pressure of a tension headache. “First of all, you have to know how shitty it is for me to be caught up in this. I’m loyal to BRS first and foremost, which wasn’t a problem until Anthony pulled away. Now I have to tiptoe along a very fine line between the Raptors and Anthony.”
Catherine crossed her arms. “You mean between Anthony and me.”
Harrison gave her a look. “You essentially are the Raptors, Cat. You represent their every value to the fullest.”
The double meaning behind Harrison’s statement did not go lost on Catherine. Some of the Raptors, dedicated as they were to the society, scorned Catherine’s zeal to prove herself. For the most part, she ignored them. The Raptors had originally been built as a brotherhood. It was only in the last decade that they had begun accepting women. Catherine had made a point to bring in more strong women, expanding the Raptors’ diversity, but it would always be a struggle to convince her doubtful male counterparts of her competence.
“And what values of mine have been compromised, Harrison?” she demanded. Harrison stepped closer, his arms outstretched, as if he meant to embrace Catherine in a gesture of comfort. She eluded his grasp. “Tell me.”
Harrison took a deep breath and lowered his arms. He should’ve known better than to try and provoke any emotion other than anger from Catherine. She was a firecracker, not a birthday candle. “Remember when you asked me to handle the situation with Anthony? Pull him back in, remind him of what it’s like to really be a part of the Raptors?”
“And?”
“I thought it was going well,” admitted Harrison. He ducked his head, avoiding Catherine’s gaze, and absently traced a dent in the lacquer of the dining-room table with his index finger. “He listened when I updated him on BRS business, and he stopped talking about Natasha to me, like he’d forgotten about her.”
Catherine clicked her tongue. The popping noise echoed through the room. “You absolute imbecile.”
Harrison looked up. “Pardon me?”
“He played you,” said Catherine, and a wry smile crept up to her lips. “Anthony, as much as he tries to deny it, embodies all the best traits of a true Raptor, including the lovely art of deceit. Of course he stopped talking to you about Natasha. He knew that his separation from her was what you and the rest of us wanted.”
“Yeah, I get that now,” said Harrison with a sharp bite to his words. Catherine raised an eyebrow at his tone. He reeled in his aggravation at his own mistake in order to explain. “Earlier today, he told me he wanted to talk privately. I had no idea what he was going to say. Hell, I was hoping he was going to tell me that he’d been an idiot and wanted to get back to working with the Raptors.”
“I can only assume that is not what happened.”
Harrison shook his head, drew out one of the high-backed dining chairs, and sank into it. “Cat, he snuck into the clubhouse when no one else was here.”
Catherine waited for more, but Harrison remained quiet. “Is that all?” she asked. “As a full-fledged Raptor, he’s allowed to be in the clubhouse whenever he wants. It’s not like we’ve disowned him, though admittedly I wish we could. Why on earth would I care if he’s sneaking down here on his own?”
“Because he planted security cameras in most of the rooms.”
Catherine’s body went cold, as though a bone-chilling temperature had suddenly taken over the room. “He—”
“He’s been filming us, yes.”
“Since when?”
“I believe he installed the cameras shortly after your very public argument last month.”
Catherine’s hands began to shake, and she interlocked her fingers in an attempt to quell their involuntary movements. “Does that mean he has what I think he has on tape?”
“Your hazing rituals?”
Catherine nodded.
“I can confirm that he has a recording of your latest misdeed in his collection.”
Catherine shuddered and would have crumpled to the floor had she not leaned over and planted both of her clammy
