Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
I look like Catwoman but in red instead of black, and I love this look.
“Wow, looking hot there!” Irina says, winking as she leans against my doorframe. “Ready, bitch?”
“Ready to destroy some hearts of guys who think they stand a chance,” I muse, walking out the door.
“Aw …” Irina throws her arm around me. “I almost feel pity for them. Almost.”
“Looking good, girls,” Brooke says as she approaches us from the hallway in a shimmery light-blue dress. “Let’s go party!”
“Where is this party anyway?” I ask.
“You’ll see.” Irina winks.
We walk out the door and head across campus toward the building teeming with people. Music blasts far beyond the house, and purple and red lights filter through the night sky as they flicker to the beat, drawing in people like moths to a flame.
Several guards at the door hold people back to check bags and make sure no one is trying to surprise shank anyone. I’m starting to wonder what kind of party we’re headed into.
“C’mon, up here. I know that guy,” Brooke says, and she pulls us both up the stairs, skipping the line. “Hi, Leo.”
“Brooke … I see you finally made it,” one of the guys at the entrance says.
“Only because you’re here,” she muses, pushing up her tits like a pro.
“Looking fly as always,” Leo says, winking. “Bags, please.”
We all show our purses, and he checks them one by one. I’m smart enough not to carry my knives where people can find them.
“All good. Just the three of you?” he asks.
“Yup, this is it,” she replies.
He fishes something out of a duffel bag near the door and brings it over to us. “There you go.”
He hands us all a white mask that covers the eyes and nose.
My lungs feel like they cave in, oxygen refusing to enter.
It’s an exact replica of the masks I saw the night of the murder.
Is this freely available in the stores or something?
“What is this?” Irina asks.
“It’s required,” Leo responds. “Party rules. Everyone must wear a mask.” He leans in to whisper. “Makes it more mysterious.”
“Ooh … I love it,” Irina says, clutching the wine bottle Brooke brought. “Can we take this inside too?”
“Of course. The more booze, the better,” he says with a big smile.
Both girls put on the mask like it’s no big deal, and they head beyond the door with smiles, beckoning me to come too. I eventually cave and put on the mask, wondering who the hell would throw a party with a dress code on campus while I follow them inside.
The place is gorgeous, like an old-school Victorian castle, complete with dark wood panels and intricate designs on the many staircases. Paintings cover every corner, and a delicate statue towers beside each door. The floors are made of pure marble, and the ceiling of the giant hallway is one big glass dome. The spectacular view makes me do a double take.
But then I see the black banners hanging down from the top of the stairs, all of them labeled with the Phantom logo. A white mask covers half of the face of a skull.
Those three guys wore the same kind of mask the night I took someone’s life.
And it slowly begins to dawn on me that I just made a dangerous mistake.
“The Phantom Society,” I mutter to myself.
Oh God.
They’re on this campus.
I should’ve known. I should’ve realized the second that Nathan dude was hanging those posters on the wall, but at the time, I thought he was helping someone.
How stupid of me.
This is a Phantom party, and the guys who were at that house when I killed that fucker belong to the Phantom Society too.
Fuck.
Sweat drops roll down my back as I try not to act unhinged. I clutch my purse tightly as I walk up the steps and follow Irina and Brooke into the Phantom Society mansion, the one place my brother told me never to step foot in.
God, if I’d known the party was here, I never would’ve said yes.
Not because I’m scared, but because I really don’t want to find those three fuckers, nor do I want them to find me. And on top of that, I don’t want to deal with Felix’s rage the second he finds out I was here.
I touch the mask with two fingers, sighing into my hand. Let’s fucking hope this mask does enough to hide my identity while I’m here.
“Lana! Lana!” Irina waves at me from the middle of the hallway.
Well, that was a great success.
“What are you waiting for? C’mon, everyone’s in here.” She points at two wide-open doors that lead into what looks like a grand ballroom.
But on the floor above her, a suited-up guy catches my attention. Even from a distance, the muscles on his body are clearly visible through the seam of his suit, tight at the waist, a red tie clutching the thick strand of neck muscles. A mask hides the stranger underneath, but the broad jawline and subtle stubble still peek out to play, and the slightest tension of his downturned lips makes me suck in a breath. He clutches the banister with one hand while he holds a plastic cup in the other as he stares right down at me. Dark streaks of half-long wavy hair cover half of the white mask, but on the other side, a freakishly green eye connects with mine.