Page 39 of Make Her Break

“They won’t.” He crams the pages back in and pushes the folder where it was.

I focus back on the folders, searching for my profile. It has to be somewhere in here. As I flip through another one, a gasp gets stuck in my chest. Jayden’s profile.

A member of the society.

What the fuck? My heart leaps into my throat. He joined last year. There’s a date and all. Suddenly, I can’t breathe. I glance up at him, but he’s busy with another cabinet.

But why is his profile in here? It’s all about nonmembers and potential prospects. And the page has the feel as if it’s recently been printed out. Is he really a member? Then what the fuck is he doing right now? Is it all pretense?

A loud sound echoes from somewhere outside. Someone’s coming! Jayden lifts his head, his eyes wide as he rushes toward me.

“Go!” he says, pushing me toward the door. “Get out now! Run!”

“What about you?”

“I’ll distract them. If we both run, they’ll go after us and catch us. You have a chance. Just go!”

He swings the door open, and I race out, hoping I’m heading in the right direction. There are voices coming from the other end, so I sprint away from them, trying to be as quiet as possible.

If Jayden’s a member, is that why he can just stay and nothing will happen? Or did someone plant his profile where it doesn’t belong so I’d have a chance to find it, since I’d expect my profile to be there, with the newest and potential members? But how would anyone know I’d be coming? And if Jayden is one of theirs, why reveal the truth? Just so I’d freak out that it was all a lie? Or are they trying to turn us against each other? Again, how would they know?

But maybe this whole thing is a trap. There weren’t any guards and Jayden knew exactly where to go. Was everything else a lie too? All of it?

I don’t know anything anymore, except that Jayden is probably a member of the society and he’s been playing me for reasons I know nothing about. Or maybe Jayden was watching the tunnel entrances, and someone figured him out, so they set the whole thing up and removed the guards on purpose so we’d find things about each other that would make us fight, even if they’re not true.

But what if he definitely sabotaged my presentation? What if I’ve really been tricked? Shit!

Chapter 27

JAYDEN

THE GUARDS TAKE ME to Supreme’s office, which is a surprise, since he wasn’t supposed to be here. It’s a little strange without my mask on, but it’s not like no one knows who I am even with the mask. The whole robes and masks thing is more for show than for anything else so the society would feel more mysterious.

Well, except for Supreme, because I have no idea who he is, since I’ve never heard his voice anywhere else, which is weird since everyone here in the society has to be from our college. Maybe he’s just good at changing how his voice sounds.

Veronica’s probably back at the dorms by now. At least I hope so. If they’d caught her, they would’ve had to bring her here with me.

I mentally go through what I can say, and the list is short. The two guys who should’ve been at the entrance weren’t at their post and I picked the lock, so playing dumb won’t get me anywhere at all. I’ll have to go with something closer to the truth.

“I’m very disappointed in you,” Supreme says while the guards lurk behind. “I don’t even know what possible explanation you could give me that would make sense.”

“Veronica was going to come here with or without me. I don’t think you understand how close she was to doing it alone. She found some old map of the tunnels at the library, and she’s been studying it for days and constantly talking about it. If I’d told her to forget the whole thing, she would’ve waited a night or two and gone by herself. I went with her to control what she does, and I succeeded.”

“You picked the lock,” he says. “Or did she do it while you watched?”

“I did it.”

“But you told the guards to skip their shift too. Do you really want me to believe you were only trying to stop her? Because that makes no sense.”

“I wanted to see what she’d go for,” I say. “Aren’t you a little curious about that? It’s not like any of those files matter. She didn’t get into any important rooms or anything.”

He’s quiet for a long time, and once again, I wish he didn’t have that stupid mask on his face. I press my lips tightly together, not willing to cower or beg, which is probably what he expects.

“You handled the whole thing horribly,” he says. “You should have come to me when you found out, and we would’ve come up with some plan. Your task is over. Someone else will finish what you couldn’t.”

My hands curl into fists at my sides. “What?”

“You heard me.”