Sauter (Ironside Academy, #3)(69)
Her stomach immediately churned, and she focussed her attention on the bright orange slice in her drink as she nodded. “Crowe said they would make their offer tomorrow, but that I wouldn’t be able to refuse.”
Kalen affirmed, “That’s how it works.”
He wasn’t wearing his contact.
She hadn’t noticed when she walked in, but she glanced up as he spoke, and now she was suddenly staring at him, her lips parted in surprise, unable to tear her attention away from his honey-brown iris. Familiar gold specks watched her in return, still circled by his gold Alpha ring.
“They irritate my fucking eyes,” he explained, taking a swig from his glass.
“S-Sorry.” She fiddled with Mikel’s glass, not sure what else to say.
“Not your fault.” He shared a quick look with Mikel. “And the Beta was right—you can’t refuse the Track Team. You’ve seen how they recruit people. Playing hard to get only increases the amount of collateral they gather to control you. You need to come across as easy to control.”
She nodded, sipping more of the sweet and tangy liquid to calm her rioting nerves. “What happens when they recruit me?”
“You’ll have to wait until someone offers to become your sponsor. Usually, they parade new recruits through the Stone Dahlia for one night, and then they aren’t allowed back in until a sponsorship offer is put before the Track Team by someone who is already a member. Or you could find your own sponsor and avoid all that. Since we’re so close to the end of term, you could probably push it out until the start of next year. The club doesn’t operate over the summer break.”
“A sponsor?” She grew still, glancing between him and Mikel, waiting for further explanation. Kalen closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose and then he set his drink down, leaning forward, his face canted toward hers, his elbows notched over his strong thighs.
“You have to be sponsored by a fully-fledged member to get full membership to the Stone Dahlia,” he explained. “You’re the sponsor’s responsibility for a year before you get your own access card. It’s their way of making sure you’re properly taught the rules, and also that you stay quiet.”
“Okay.” She sensed there was more, and for some reason, both of the professors were finding it difficult to have the conversation. There was no small amount of unease emanating from them, arcing into her and dancing around inside her chest.
“Either one of us could sponsor you.” Mikel was leaning back where Kalen was leaning forward. “But that would mean you can’t step into the club without us.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad?” Her confusion deepened. If she had to stick to anyone inside the club, she would prefer it to be one of them.
They were strong, stern, and … dominant. But they were still Gifted. They weren’t secondary citizens because they weren’t even citizens, and if humans ran the Stone Dahlia, then there would be people down there far more powerful than Kalen and Mikel.
“The club is large.” Kalen reclined again, snatching up his drink like he was annoyed at the spark of hopefulness that had briefly shot through her—and might have shown on her face. “It encompasses varied … activities. Most of them illegal. That’s where the money is made.”
“Do you do illegal things?” she asked.
His lips twitched, and Mikel let out a low laugh.
“No, I don’t.” It was Kalen who answered, Mikel remaining quiet. “But that doesn’t mean other people don’t.” He let her absorb that before continuing. “What Mikel and Oscar do is too dangerous. You don’t have to end up in the same part of the club as your sponsor. You could transfer out to a different section after your sponsorship period, but more often than not, people stay with their sponsors after the year is up. So we don’t think it’s a good idea for you to shadow either of them.”
“Elijah and Gabriel are options,” Mikel added, before Isobel could utter a single, surprised word. “But they both entertain in the same section as Kalen—he sponsored both of them. I sponsored Oscar.”
“So it doesn’t matter if you’re with me or them, you’ll still be in the same section,” Kalen summarised.
“And the others?” she rasped quietly. “Has everyone been recruited?”
“Not yet.” Kalen’s frown was deep. “They usually don’t start recruiting in the first two years. Oscar, Elijah, and Gabriel were special cases. And now you. I suspect they didn’t want to sit on you. You’re too … unpredictable.”
“I’m very predictable,” she countered.
“That so?” Kalen’s firm lips quirked.
His easy attitude made her suddenly self-conscious, her attention snapping to Mikel again. Kalen had asked her to speak to him informally when they were alone, but Mikel hadn’t.
“Am I …” She swallowed past the crack in her voice. “Should I be calling you Professor?”
“While I’m enabling underage drinking?” Mikel winced. “I don’t fucking think so. When you’re outside this room? Yes.”
She rolled her tongue against the roof of her mouth, trying to keep the surprise off her face. “So what do you mean by ‘entertain?’ What do the Gifted actually do down there?”