The Ritual: A Dark College Romance

Phil and Ryat stealthily approach the house where Blakely is being kept; they can hear Matt screaming for Blakely in the distance. Phil is shocked to see Valerie but quickly sedates her. Phil takes an unconscious Valerie back to their vehicle while Ryat pursues Matt.

Meanwhile, Matt taunts Blakely as she unsuccessfully fights to get away from him. Ty enters, causing Blakely temporary relief until he pronounces that she is “a gift from the Lords,” as they “owe [him] a wife” (541). He asserts that the Lords “re-gift” a widowed Lady. Ty implies agreement with Matt’s plan to assault Blakely, which she does not realize is a trick until Ty gives her a chance to run and she encounters Ryat.

Ryat hushes Blakely as she cries, relieved and shocked he is alive. He urges her to hide, professes his love, and explains that Ty is there to help them. He briefly remembers calling Ty at the hospital, requesting his aid; Ty readily agreed.

Ryat leaves Blakely in a dark room while he pursues Matt, who has identified logical gaps in Ty’s story. Ryat enters the room to find Matt’s father, Jake, pointing a gun at Ty’s head. Matt reveals that Blakely’s cancelled initiation would have required her to kill Jake; Matt attacked her that night to cause a diversion before Blakely could be given the order. Ryat shoots the gun out of Jake’s hand, and Ty begins fighting him. Matt tackles Ryat, causing him to bleed heavily from his recent gunshot wounds.

Blakely leaves her safe spot when she hears gunshots, as she is determined to help Ryat in whatever way possible. She arrives to see Ty kill Jake. Blakely finds poetic justice in seeing Matt try to help his father—a parallel to how she tried to save a bleeding Ryat. Matt demands that Ty kill him, but Ty asserts that the Lords do not want Matt to have an easy death. He injects Matt with a sedative. Blakely realizes with horror that Ryat is injured again.

Ty takes Matt to Phil’s plane while Blakely waits with Ryat, scolding him for leaving the hospital so soon after his near-fatal injuries. She helps him to the plane, and Ty cauterizes Ryat’s injuries, a painful but lifesaving measure. Blakely thanks Ryat for rescuing her and tries to avoid crying so that she doesn’t distress him while he is injured.

While Ryat rests, Ty confirms that the things he said to Matt about having witnessed Ryat and Blakely’s sexual encounters were false; Ryat gave him only as much information as was needed to convince Matt of Ty’s betrayal. Ty advises Blakely not to “ever make [Ryat] choose […] between [her] and the Lords” (557), as he knows Ryat will choose Blakely, which will put him in danger during dangerous Lords work. He warns her that the Lords may ask Ryat to miss important dates in their lives.

Blakely asks about Ty’s history; unlike most Lords, he did not marry immediately following graduation from Barrington. He admits he chose to run Blackout in exchange for choosing his own wife on his own timeline but comments that this gives him more power than she thinks, as he is underestimated.

Ryat wakes in a hospital, relieved that Blakely is present. She urges him to rest and explains that her physical injuries are minor and that she and their future children need him well, as she has learned she is expecting twins.

Blakely cites her stubbornness as a Lady as the reason she can convince Ryat to spend the full three weeks he needs to recover in the hospital. When he is finally discharged, they are both eager for revenge. He insists she wear a revealing dress despite the cold weather. They have sex and he inserts a sex toy into her body.

As they drive to Blackout, Ryat uses the remote-operated sex toy, leaving Blakely pleased but exhausted. In the Blackout basement, Matt is chained to a chair. Ty sprays him with cold water, taunting him. Ryat gags Matt with Blakely’s underwear, which he sees as a fitting sign that he and Blakely are “a team. A Lord and a Lady” (574). Ryat asks Ty to “deliver” Matt three days later, on Sunday.

On Sunday, Blakely and Ryat are at the cathedral. Ty enters, telling them Matt is “ready.” Phil enters, but Blakely doesn’t wish to speak to him; she is angry he put her on the list of prospective chosen ones. Phil explains that Valerie was responsible; the only way he could mitigate the situation was to ask Ryat to choose her. Ryat reassures her that no matter their history or what he does during his work for the Lords, he loves Blakely and their future children and that they “will always come first” (577).

They enter the cathedral’s main room, where the Lords are assembled, and Matt is chained with visible injuries. Matt knows the penalty for betraying the Lords is death but insists he will not admit to anything. Phil drags Valerie in; she immediately admits that she sent Matt to frighten LeAnne, not kill her, as Phil wished to tell Blakely that LeAnne was her real mother. Phil reveals that LeAnne is alive. LeAnne then enters and reports that Matt pushed her over the railing. She stabs Matt in the genitals and admits to requesting the murder of her husband and requesting Ryat for the job. LeAnne offers to let Blakely kill Matt, as Valerie “sold” her to his family in exchange for keeping her role in LeAnne’s supposed murder a secret. When Valerie insists that Blakely should have married Matt as ordered and that she herself “deserves” Blakely’s baby, Blakely fatally stabs Valerie.

LeAnne dismisses the Lords, insisting this is “a family matter” (584). Phil takes LeAnne away, leaving only Ryat, Ty, a sobbing Blakely, and a still-bound Matt. Ryat praises Blakely for her fierce protectiveness of their future children while Ty unceremoniously kills Matt by hanging.

Ten weeks later, Ryat enters his cabin, discomfited when Blakely doesn’t respond to his calls. He finds her in the shower, surprising her. He reports he had a meeting with Gregory Mallory; he called in his favor to be allowed to work in Pennsylvania, where Blakely prefers to live, rather than relocating to New York, as the Lords had initially planned. He looks forward to a life with Blakely and hopes they will have many children.

Sometime later, Blakely enters her father’s house in Texas to find LeAnne. Blakely is discomfited by the resemblance between them. LeAnne reveals that she and Phil were secretly married when at Barrington, rendering his marriage to Valerie and hers to Nathaniel invalid. She insists that she only left Blakely due to an order from the Lords; Nathaniel was an “assignment.” She claims that all her actions were for Blakely’s sake and claims responsibility for Blakely being initially connected with Ryat. She further ensured that Janett employed Blakely when she ran away.

Blakely insists that her children will not be Lords or Ladies, but LeAnne insists that Blakely “cannot keep them from it, no matter how hard [she tries]” (596). Blakely accepts this but insists she will “do whatever needs to be done” (597), which causes LeAnne to assert their similarity.

Ryat prepares for a trial that he considers a “show,” as the “Lord who fucked up” will end up “sentenced and forgotten” and then “terminated” (597). Ryat’s sons, Reign and Royal, enter. Ryat reveals he knows they have snuck girls into their bedrooms and orders them to make sure they are gone before Blakely returns. Despite Blakely’s disapproval, Reign wants to join the Lords when he attends Barrington; Royal has no interest.

Blakely enters with their daughter, Ryann, who wishes to attend Stanford instead of Barrington. Though Blakely is against Reign joining the Lords, she agrees to discuss the matter. Her serious discussion with Ryat about their children transforms into suggestive banter. Ryat recalls the years since the main action of the novel, during which pregnancy complications led to their having three children despite Ryat wishing for more. Despite the complications of the Lords, their life has been happy.