Page 4

Story: Indulgent

“You’re right about that.” He grabs a handful of grapes and pops one in his mouth. “You haven’t earned back my trust.” He reaches out, tucking a strand of hair behind the girl’s ear. “At least not yet.”

Ah, here it is. The big play. Dangle hope in front of me—an opportunity—see if I take the bait.

“I’m not interested in regaining your trust or anything else.” I take a step back, as if to leave, but Erik’s hand comes down on my shoulder. Hard. “I’m done with you.”

Anex waves the girl off and leans forward. “I’m trying to be patient here, Rex. Rebellion is normal in a man your age. You want to spread your wings—your seed.” He grins knowingly. “And I gave you a lot of leeway. Much more than anyone else in Serendee, because I knew for you to step into your rightful role, you had to experience what we are keeping the community safe from.” He adjusts the gold watch on his wrist. “But things changed when you infected our circle with Secularism. When you pushed your Regressive, blasphemous views on the weak minded. I had no choice but to step in.”

For the last month, hell, the last few years, there’s been this dark ball in the center of my chest. Most of the time, I keep it still, smothering it down, but at night, alone in my room, I see it for what it is: a ticking bomb.Tick, tick, tick.

“By stepping in, do you mean branding my mate?” I ask, fingers twitching.

A beat of silence runs between us, dark and feral, the bomb in me ready to explode, but Anex is more calculating than that. He ignores me and gets to the point of this sham of a meeting.

“As much as I’d like to keep you toiling in the fields, your skill set is better used elsewhere.” My skill set. Conning women into taking classes at the Center, handing over their personal details, bank accounts, bodies… “One of your recruits, Jasmine, is insisting on working with you.” He snorts. “Apparently, her pussy and Daddy’s pocketbook only open for you.”

Tick, tick, tick.

“So, you’re willing to pull me off grunt work, so I can seduce a heiress.”

He shrugs. “Under supervision.”

“You can force me to work in the fields, but what? You are going to make Erik stand over me with a gun while I fuck this girl?” I shake my head. “I don’t think she’ll be into it.”

A line creases between his eyes. It’s his tell. He’s pissed. The first time I noticed it was when me and the guys came home late one night, rolling on molly and rummaging through the kitchen in the Main House. We’d trashed one of the cars, wrapping it around the mailbox of a professor’s house just off Wittmore’s campus. He didn’t lose control then, and I don’t expect him to now.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t pay.

“I think you’ve forgotten your roots. The Why of this community. How we are One and work together for The Way. How your petty, rebellious actions affect everyone.”

His tone drops at the word everyone. Even if I’m isolated here, I know I’m not alone. Imogene and Silas are both bound to me. From the quirk on Anex’s lips, I know where this is leading.

“You’re upset about Imogene,” he suggests.

“Don’tsay her name.”

He stands, slowly walking toward me. When he speaks his voice is low. “You seem to be confused about how Serendee operates. This is my community, and these are my people. Igaveyou Imogene, which means I can, and have taken her away. The fact she kept the women’s group and their actions a secret from you, fucked your friends onmycommand, and subjects herself to intense sessions of Corrections, means she never belonged to you. That’s why I branded her. She’smine.” His voice shakes, anger pushing through. “By the equinox she will be claimed,” he smirks, “intimately.”

My hand shoots out, clamping around his throat. His eyes bulge, jaw parts, fingers grabbing for release. “Not if I kill you first.”

My fingers squeeze, tightening, but around me the guards, Erik, in particular, have sprung into action.

“Get off! Get him off!” a voice shouts. Hands grab at me, weapons are drawn. I have Anex too close for them to shoot me and I take advantage of the chaos swirling around us.

Another trick he taught me.

I don’t stop, gritting my teeth as I try to snuff the life out of my father. “You will die for this. I will wring the life from you before I allow you to defile Imogene.”

I grin down at him, he’s losing strength—air—just a few more seconds and—

Slam!

A hard weight crashes down on the back of my head, I stumble back, dragging Anex with me, but my brain is fuzzy, consumed by distant echoing clicks. I blink, looking up at the barrel of Erik’s gun, wishing for him to end it. To take me out.

Finish this for good, because the pain in my head, in my limbs, in my fucking gut is too damn much.

Our eyes meet, and he rears back, dropping the gun and the last thing I see is his fist slamming into my face.

Then I black out.