Chapter 3

Several people are hangingout in the kitchen, and the second I walk in they abruptly stop talking and turn to look at me with a touch of fear in their eyes. Good. For the first time, I don't give a fuck what they're saying behind my back, or what they think of me.

Fuck all these damn people.

I snap at one of them—a girl with short blond hair, a mini skirt, and flip-flops. "What's your name?" I ask.

She glances at her friends before answering, like they're going to help her somehow. Spoiler alert, they don't. They're stone-silent beside her, watching me cautiously.

"Um, Rachel," the girl answers.

"Okay, Rachel. I need you to grab me some sheets. Cal king. Doesn't matter what kind. Pillow cases, too." When she nods, I move to walk away, but I remember something else. "oh, and sage. A lot of it."

She looks so confused. "Ah, okay."

"Cool, thanks," I say, walking up the staircase to Roman's bedroom. Well, my bedroom now.

I spend the rest of the day learning everything I can about the Burning Crown. Thankfully, I already know where Roman keeps his hidden book of bylaws. And luckily, he hasn't moved it.

Grabbing the ancient book from its hidey hole, I carry it to the desk, and dig in, starting with page one, which is a lot harder than it seems. The language is stiff and hard to read, and if I'm being honest, boring as fuck. But each handwritten article lays out the rules of how the society should be run, sometimes in excruciating (and confusing) detail.

I'm deep into an article focused entirely on how to conduct meetings when there's a faint knock on the door. Getting up, I open the door to find Rachel with a bundle of sheets in her arms. She has someone with her.

"Hey, I found these in one of the closets," she says. "I brought Nicole. I hope that's okay."

Nicole is the chick who insulted me in front of everyone a few weeks ago. The chick I kicked out of the house. She looks humbled now, her gaze cast downward, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear, like she's nervous about me kicking her out again.

But, whatever. I'm not interested in holding a grudge against her. I have much bigger fish to fry.

"It's fine," I say, moving aside so they can come in. I gesture to the bed as I walk back to the desk. "You can take the sheets off the bed, and burn them. Then put the new ones on."

They just stand there for a second, blinking at me.

I smile tightly. "I don't have all day."

That seems to snap them out of it. Madison holds the bundle of sage up. "What do you want me to do with this?"

I sit back down at the desk and re-focus on the bylaws. "Light it," I say distractedly. "And then, I don't know…wave it around or something. This room is a toxic wasteland of negativity." I glance back at the bundle of sage in her hand. "You might need more sage, actually. Like, a lot more."

"Uh, okay," Rachel says. She looks nervous, but whatever. I'm beyond caring if I make other people uncomfortable.

Rachel and Nicole go to work on the bed as I continue studying. I find a blank piece of paper in one of the desk drawers and start taking notes. I'll have to burn the notes when I'm done, but it'll help me organize my thoughts.

But as the girls leave, and the evening bleeds into night, a plan starts forming in my mind. Roman will be pissed. But none of this is about pissing him off. It's about wrestling control back. It's about making it clear that these assholes can't just do anything they fucking want without facing the consequences.

It's just after three in the morning when I finally crawl into bed. The sheets are crisp, and thankfully, they don't smell like Roman. But as I burrow under the covers, and pull the pillow under my head, adjusting it, I can't help but remember the amazing sex Roman and I had in this bed.

I wonder where he's sleeping tonight. The living room, maybe, though that room is always swarming with people. He could kick them out, though, and the couch is huge. I'm sure he'd have no trouble sleeping there.

With a sigh, I flip over, tug a pillow under my head, and spend the next few minutes adjusting it. Then I close my eyes and try to push away all thoughts of Roman. It's hard, but eventually, my body gives in, and the next thing I know, it's morning.

My phone pings on the nightstand, followed immediately by another ping.

That must be what woke me up. I yawn, and stretch, then reach over and pull my phone off the charger. I roll onto my back, unlock my screen, and pull up my messages. Miraculously, there aren't any from Roman, but there are several from Wyn. She's freaking out because I haven't answered her texts from last night.

After my confrontation with Roman, I hadn't talked to her, but according to her texts, she's heard from several people that I've become "unhinged."

Ugh, whatever.

I yawn again, and send her a quick text, assuring her that I'm alive, then I get up and start getting ready for class. After my shower, I walk into the closet, and immediately reach for my jeans, but I pause, and grab a cute sun dress instead. I pair it with sandals and sunglasses, and then I head out, feeling confident. I belong in this house, on this campus, in this society, and I don't give a fuck who disagrees.

I only have one class today, and as soon as it's over, I walk back to the house, where Wyn meets me. She's sitting by the back door when I get back.

"Hey, girl," she says, looking up from her phone. She stands up to hug me, then pulls back to look at me like she's worried. "How are you doing?"

I laugh. "I'm fine."

"Really? Because I heard you lost it on Roman and the guys yesterday. Something about setting Roman's stuff on fire?"

"Yeah," I nod, pointing to the charred remains that are still in the yard, just a few feet away. Then I open the back door, and we walk into the kitchen. She follows me up the back stairs to Roman's bedroom.

Once we're alone with the bedroom door shut, Wyn sits on the bed.

I'm leaning against the desk, arms crossed over my chest. "Can I ask you something, Wyn?"

She adjusts to get more comfortable. "Sure, what's up?"

"Did you know?" I ask, my stomach tense.

She looks lost. "Know what?"

"That Roman's brother was my attacker, and that the Sacred Sons brought me here, to ExU, so they could manipulate me, and convince me to exonerate him…"

Her eyes go wide. "Wait, what?!" She looks genuinely shocked, her mouth falling open. "Hold on. Back up. Start from the beginning. James Chandler was your attacker?"

I slowly release the breath I'd been holding, relieved. Thank God Wyn wasn't involved. She's the one person I can trust right now, and if she'd betrayed me, too, then I have no idea what I'd do.

She leans forward. "Tell me everything."

The entire story pours out of me. Every lie Roman told, every manipulation. And thankfully, she's a society member, so I don't have to censor anything. By the end, her mouth is gaping open, like she can't believe what she's hearing.

"No! What? Are you serious? Those fucking cunts," she says, finally. "When did you discover all this?"

"The PI told me yesterday," I answer, sitting at the desk, in front of the open book of bylaws. I probably should have put it back in its hidey-hole while I was out of the room, but I had the door locked.

"And you didn't tell me?" She looks offended.

I push out a breath. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking straight. All I could see was red, and then…yeah, everything just kinda happened."

She nods. "I get that, I guess. So what happens now?"

I glance down at the book of bylaws. "I'm not sure, exactly, but I've called an all-hands meeting for tonight."

"Yeah, I saw that. Bold move. But what's the plan?"

I purse my lips. "Well, I've been reading through these articles, and I have an idea. Can I run it by you?"

She knows the rules of the Burning Crown a lot better than me, and I want everything by the book. No room for argument or interpretation. No loopholes, unless I'm the one exploiting them. This has to be clean.

Wyn flashes me a smile, and adjusts herself on the bed, turning to face me more fully. "Does it involve pissing off the Sacred Sons?"

I snort. "Oh, definitely. And if I can pull this off, they won't even see it coming."

"Fuck, yeah," she says with a laugh, settling against the pillows to get comfortable. "I'm so in. How can I help?"