The Witch's Initiation. Elle James

simpler time for Aurai.

      Deme squeezed her eyes shut and pressed the picture to her chest, fighting back the tears. She hadn’t cried since her mother died right after Aurai’s high school graduation.

      On the island of St. Croix, Deme hadn’t been there to say goodbye to her dear mother. She’d run away from her life in Chicago, away from her feelings for Cal Black. Deme had spent the better part of a year trying to forget that, because she was who she was, she couldn’t have a normal relationship with a man. Especially a man like Cal who saw only the black and white, the good and bad. Shades of gray would disturb him. Hell, her shades of gray would disturb most men. Why bother trying?

      Fiona Chattox had been their rock. Deme hadn’t known her father long when he’d disappeared from their lives. She’d been the tender age of six. Her mother told the girls he’d died, but Deme never believed it, certain that her father would return some day and tell them he’d been spirited away by some unknown force and held captive all those years. Why else would he leave his beautiful wife and five daughters?

      Deme opened her eyes and stared around the room Aurai had made her second home. She might not have her parents to fend for her, but Deme would be damned if her youngest sibling disappeared forever like her father. She’d find her. And when she did, she’d make whoever had taken her pay.

      She couldn’t bring herself to let go of the picture. Instead she slipped it from its frame and tucked it beneath her shirt, sticking the frame inside the dresser drawer.

      With one quick last look, she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. When she turned toward the R.A.’s room, she came face-to-face with a girl with golden-blond hair and pale blue eyes, her complexion so perfect she could have been a model for a cosmetics company.

      The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you and what were you doing in Rachel’s room?”

      Taken aback and feeling like a thief, Deme clutched her middle to keep the picture from falling from beneath her shirt. She forced a smile and straightened, throwing her shoulders back. She still had to look up at the young woman, who was just a bit taller than Deme’s five feet nine inches. “I’m Deme Jones, the new R.A. And you are?”

      “Zoe Adams. President of the Gamma Omegas.” Her eyes narrowed into slits. “When did we get a new R.A.? Why wasn’t I informed?”

      Deme’s fingers tightened into fists as she struggled to resist the urge to punch this princess right in the face and make a mess of her perfectly upturned nose. “Perhaps the college president didn’t feel it necessary to consult you before hiring me.”

      “We’ll see about that.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You didn’t answer my question. What were you doing in Rachel’s room?”

      “If I’m not mistaken, which I rarely am, you are rude and the room is not only Rachel’s but Aurai Chattox’s, as well. I was inside looking to see if our missing girl has returned. Since she hasn’t, I was looking for her emergency data.”

      “And you don’t have that on file?”

      Caught. Deme didn’t let the Amazon flap her. Instead she smiled. “I have emergency data for everyone but her. As president of the Gamma Omegas, you don’t happen to have her emergency data, do you?” Deme tipped her head, allowing a smug smile to turn up the corners of her lips.

      Zoe’s lips remained firmly pressed, her eyes narrowing even more. “She’s not a Gamma Omega. She just lives here. And don’t unpack your bags. Things are likely to change.”

      Deme met her stare for stare. “Count on it.” Before Zoe could come up with a retort, Deme spun on her heels and left the younger girl standing there, her mouth open.

      As she rounded the corner, a hand reached out and snagged her arm, pulling her through an open doorway.

      Once she was inside the dorm room, the door closed behind her.

      Deme rounded on the girl, and gasped. This new girl was almost a clone of Zoe. The same tall stature, golden-blond hair and model-perfect figure. If not for the eye color, Deme might not have recognized a difference.

      When Deme opened her mouth to demand an explanation for her pulling her inside her room, she stopped.

      The blonde pressed a finger to her lips and leaned her ear against the door.

      Deme let her fingers rest against the wall, feeling every vibration down to those of footsteps resounding in the corridor.

      When the vibrations faded, she focused her attention on the girl, whose gray eyes were wide, her hands shaking. “You can’t let Zoe know we talked.”

      “I don’t even know your name.”

      “Shelby. Shelby Cramer.”

      “Why all the secrecy? Why didn’t you just talk to me in the corridor?”

      Shelby shook her head, her face pale. “Zoe can’t know.”

      “Why? Will she boot you out of the sorority?”

      The girl nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing. “Something like that.”

      “So, spill. What’s so important you can’t say it in front of the sorority prez?”

      Shelby’s hands twisted together and she couldn’t meet Deme’s eyes. “It’s just…well…” She sighed and let her hands fall to her sides. “Just be careful, will you? Zoe can be a real force to be reckoned with when she decides she doesn’t like you.”

      Deme smiled. “I can handle Zoe. Question is, can you?”

      Shelby’s eyes swam with unshed tears. “No.”

      A knock sounded on Shelby’s door and her eyes rounded. “You have to hide,” she whispered, grabbing Deme’s arm and hauling her with surprising strength toward the closet.

      Because the girl was obviously petrified of being discovered harboring the new R.A., Deme allowed her to shove her into the closet and close the door.

      The door to the room squeaked open.

      “Shelby, have you seen the new R.A.?” Zoe asked.

      “No,” Shelby’s voice quavered.

      “Just remember, part of initiation into the Gamma Omegas is your vow of silence.”

      “I remember,” Shelby said, her voice so soft Deme wouldn’t have heard if sounds didn’t echo so well off the linoleum tiles.

      “Now that you’re one of us, you don’t want to go back, do you?”

      For a second, Shelby hesitated, then she answered, “No, of course not. Who would?”

      “Exactly. No one wants to go back. Nobody can.”

      Silence followed.

      “Well, if you see the R.A., let me know what she says and does.”

      “I will,” Shelby responded.

      The door squeaked open and closed again. The room was silent except for the soft vibrations Deme could feel through her shoes, vibrations caused by bare feet on hard floors. The closet door opened.

      Deme blinked as she stepped from the dark closet into the brightly lit room. “What was all that about?” she added softly.

      Shelby shook her head. “Nothing. It was a mistake to bring you in here.”

      “No, it wasn’t. You obviously had something you wanted to tell me.”

      “No. It’s not important. You have to go now.” She gathered her toothbrush and a hand towel and opened the door, peering out into the hall.

      “Shelby, you can trust me. I’d never tell Zoe anything you told me in confidence.”

      “I have nothing to say.” She held the door and motioned for Deme to leave. Once