Page 20

Nineteen

Sebastian

“Right. Kendrick is at my place. It don’t look good, mate.”

Jacob’s words hammer down as we approach his door. There’s that broad accent again. Not a good sign.

“Kendrick? Why?”

“He wants a word with you before the meeting, and for us to walk in together. A united front. He’s really stickin’ his neck out for you. Try not to do anything else fucking stupid.”

Like texting Ophelia’s dad and brother detailed pictures showing exactly how I’m degrading her? Like that?

Shit.

Jacob opens his door, and I follow him inside. The place has transformed from the miserable man pad it once was. Quinn’s quirky personality screams at me from every available surface, from the gloomy stuffed deer and boar heads to the gaming merch to the colorful pop art on the walls.

Kendrick, thunder-faced in his ever-present dark suit, looks like a funeral director in a playground. He’s seated at the dining room table, glaring at his phone, and his head snaps up when we enter. “About time. What kept you? ”

I resist the urge to hide behind Jacob and meet his glare head on. “Just getting my Ward settled, sir. It’s still early days.”

“And those days might be numbered, along with your own, if this meeting doesn’t go our way.”

Our way.

It’s shameful how much relief that one word brings. Our. The big man, as Jacob calls him, has my back.

For now.

“Sit. We don’t have long.”

Jacob and I take our seats as Kendrick sets down his phone. He looks out of place with technology, as ridiculous as that sounds in the Brotherhood Compound. He seems like he’d order horses to be saddled. Ravens to be sent.

Christ, I’m spiraling, thoughts dissolving into nonsense as my heart races. Deep breaths. Deep fucking breaths.

“There’s been a development, and it’s not good. You both know Anthony Harker?”

Jacob nods as I force my whirling brain to concentrate. The connection clicks into place. A youngish Brother working on something in computing. He works in my building and keeps to himself. I don’t want to ask the next question, but I have to. “Yes. What about him?”

“His mother and father were attacked last night. Men broke into their home, battered them, and left them tied up. His father will pull through, but it’s touch and go for his mother. They’re in our hospital now. The Calders claimed responsibility early this morning.”

It’s a punch straight to the gut. My fault. My stupidity. My drive for revenge. I knew this might happen. Didn’t I? Yes, but that doesn’t come close to the brutal reality.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter, and Kendrick shakes his head .

“That’s not worth much. I also received a second message from Randall Calder at eight this morning. He doesn’t just want his daughter back. He wants you, Sebastian. Alive or dead.”

Right around the time I sent my message. The ever-present dice in my head roll, falling out just as I predicted. My message raised the stakes, and now my life hangs on how highly the Brotherhood value it. Exactly as I planned. Mission accomplished.

Fuck.

“Of course, I have no intention of letting that happen. You’ve acted in the most thoughtless, callous way possible, but even though you’re yet to be initiated fully, you’re still a Brother. It’s a sacred bond, and I won’t see it sullied to pander to this criminal scum.”

See? Ravens.

Focus.

Kendrick’s gaze sears me. “Not everyone will be of the same mind. This meeting is a fight for your life. When called to speak, focus on the ancient dignity and tradition of the Brotherhood. Don’t try to argue what you did was correct—it wasn’t—but call on your Brothers to honor their duty anyway. We are all flawed.”

Kendrick? Flawed? I doubt it. But I nod anyway. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

Jacob glances at his battered, old watch. “We need to move.”

“In a minute.” Kendrick narrows his eyes at me. “Is there anything else I need to know? I don’t like surprises. If something I’m not aware of comes out at this meeting, I won’t be pleased.”

Kendrick’s not pleased is anyone else’s really fucking pissed. I close my eyes, say a small prayer to the patron saint of ridiculously stupid people, and explain about the photographs I sent. When I finish my sorry tale, the silence has actual physical weight. It crushes me into the floor.

Kendrick’s voice is a snake’s hiss. “And why, may I ask, did you feel the need to antagonize Ophelia’s father further? Was abducting his only daughter not sufficient?”

I clench my fists. “You said it yourself. They’re bottom feeders. Scum. I don’t want to cut a deal with them. I want to end them. I just made sure the feeling was mutual.”

Jacob’s long sigh holds all the thoughts he’s keeping to himself, thoughts I’ll no doubt hear later in painstaking detail.

Kendrick gets to his feet. “Well, you’ve made the bed, and now we all have to lie in it.” His voice drops. “Don’t disappoint me again. I like you, Sebastian, but even I have my limits.”

We walk three abreast to Main Admin, where we angle toward the Boardroom. I’ve only been there once, to demonstrate a highly successful new algorithm to a group of senior Brothers.

It’s ironic, really. I came from money, and my greatest skill is making more of it. My predictive algorithms have thousands of applications, but financial trading is by far the most fun. I make a game of it, the numbers meaningless digits, and I’m sure it won’t hurt my situation that I bring millions of dollars each week to the Brotherhood coffers.

If it wasn’t for that, my head would probably already be in a box on Randall Calder’s doorstep.

The Boardroom falls firmly in the gloomy old country club side of the Compound’s aesthetic. A heavy oak table, shiny from years of varnish, sits in the center. It’s over three hundred years old, one of the Compound’s original features.

Oil paintings stare down from the wood paneled walls, and the ugly green brocade carpet would look at home in some disheveled, old stately home filled with ghosts. The whole setup is designed to intimidate and depress, and even knowing that, it works.

We’re the first to arrive, and Kendrick takes his seat at the head of the table, flanked by Jacob and myself. A clear statement of intent. Jacob might not be a full Brother, but his place is assured—Quinn has been going around telling everyone how excited she is about the ceremony. Also, his public position and military background give him serious clout.

I’ve heard rumors people think Kendrick is grooming him to take over one day, and I’m not sure they’re wrong. Jacob snorted and told me to fuck off when I asked him, but that doesn’t mean anything. The people best suited to lead are usually the ones who don’t want to.

Kendrick speaks quietly. “All five councilmen are attending. My vote holds the weight of three, and it takes five votes to carry a motion forward. If two support us, we succeed. If all five go against me, I can’t protect you.”

I lean forward, interested despite the circumstances. The Brotherhood keep their politics secret, leaving Kendrick as the visible face of all decisions. “What if it's a tie?”

“A tie is the same as a loss. The motion is dismissed. We keep proposing alternatives until one passes outright.”

All in all, not a terrible system, but I’d always imagined Kendrick would have the ultimate power of veto. Five votes, and I could be done for. The balance of probability sits in my favor, but I’m a long way from safe. A really, really long way.

I jump when the door opens, and Jacob shoots me a frown. I can almost read his thoughts. Keep it the fuck together.

One by one, the councilmen exchange polite greetings with Kendrick and take their seats. None speak to me or Jacob.

My stomach turns over, and I’m glad I didn’t eat this morning. Isn’t there some line about condemned men eating hearty breakfasts? Not today, I didn’t. Once all five are seated, Kendrick thumps a smooth rock with a little hammer, and I jump again. Fuck. I hadn’t even noticed the stupid thing in front of him.

“Welcome, all, and thank you for attending this extraordinary general meeting. Is anyone present unaware of the reason?”

A chorus of negatives punctuated with hostile glances in my direction follows, and Kendrick nods. “To business, then. Randall Calder has demanded not just his daughter’s return, but Sebastian’s life. As this demand is clearly unacceptable, we must decide on a response.”

“Why unacceptable?” a ginger-haired, bearded Brother who looks like he’d play an angry dwarf in a fantasy movie asks. His honking Texan voice doesn’t fit his looks. He should be Scottish. “You want all our families to pay for his mistake?”

A rumble runs around the table, but I can’t tell if it’s agreement or anger. Kendrick doesn’t miss a beat. “The Calder family are low-life criminal scum. We’ve tolerated their interference in our affairs for too long as it is. And you want to offer up one of our own as a sacrifice?”

“Not one of our own yet. Just an initiate. I know he’s part of your special little club, Kendrick, but that doesn’t make him a full Brother.”

Special little club. Interesting. Is that really how the other Brothers see us? Fred said something similar. Something to think about later. If there is a later.

Kendrick’s face tightens. “Sebastian’s work has been impeccable. I don’t need to remind any of you how much money he’s brought into the Brotherhood bank accounts. And his initiation is only a month away.”

A different man, tall, bald, and with jet-black skin, speaks. His deep voice echoes around the Boardroom .

“His initiation won’t happen. There’s no way that girl will submit to his authority. A month or a year, it doesn’t matter. She’s a crime lord’s daughter, and there’s a good chance she already knows what happens if she refuses to obey. She’ll act up out of spite to see him dead.”

Fuck. Does she know? She didn’t act as though she knew the Brotherhood, but why the hell would she? I’m sure she’s hiding what she knows.

The poison dwarf chimes in again. He’s not even a real dwarf, but now I can’t get the name out of my head. His loud voice batters my eardrums. “And everyone the Calders target in the meantime will have suffered for nothing.” He gets to his feet. “I call a vote. Red to end this charade and hand the idiot over.”

My blood freezes as the Brothers reach under the table and pull out smooth, flat stones. White covers one side, vivid blood red the other. Appropriate. Kendrick sets his down immediately, white side up. “Three for white. Anyone who chooses red is choosing a path of utmost cowardice. To sacrifice the life of a Brother…”

His pale face and the tight set of his lips scream true rage. I’m not sure even he believed it would actually come to this.

The two Brothers who already spoke set down their stones, blood-red side to the roof. The color sears my retinas, burning a path to my brain. Another Brother sets his stone down, red side up, without a word.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The man on the end, small and mousey with wire-rimmed glasses, slaps the table. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. Kendrick is right. You’re pathetic cowards.” He slams his stone down, brilliant white side showing.

Kendrick bangs his hammer. “Four for white. The motion can’t carry. Dismissed. ”

The relief is icy water on burned skin, tracking through my veins. I want to run over and hug the little man, spin him round and round like we’re in a yogurt commercial. I catch Jacob’s eye, and don’t miss the way his muscles relax as if he’s backing down from a fight. If this had gone against me, would he have done something stupid?

It’s a sobering thought. I shouldn’t have placed him or Kendrick or anyone else into this position. And what about the fifth councilman? Kendrick didn’t wait to see his vote before dismissing the motion. Did he want my head in a box, too?

The brave little man, my new bestie, gets to his feet. “I call a new vote. Red for immediate retaliation against the Calders. Full force. Everything we have. Scorch them off the planet.”

Holy shit. Dramatic music should be playing in the background. I love this man. He slams his stone to red and takes his seat.

I hold my breath. This is it. What I’ve wanted for years. The entire reason I set this insane plan in motion. Can it really be this easy? Dice roll in my mind. Please, let them land on six.

Kendrick flips his stone. “Three for red. Full force is the only option.”

The three who wanted me dead flip their stones to white. Poison dwarf, their fucking spokesman, opens his stupid mouth yet again.

“And what if it’s not that easy? We don’t know their full capability. They’ve surprised us before. Our families will pay the price if they retaliate, and for what? Olwani is correct. The girl won’t submit. It’s too much to go to war for an idiot who’ll die at initiation.”

Everyone falls silent, staring at the one Brother who didn’t vote in the previous round. He’s tall, skeletally thin, and older than all the rest. Easily in his seventies. “I have sympathy for the young man, but I can’t support taking such a risk for someone whose initiation is far from settled.”

My heart drops to my boots as he lays his stone down, white face upright.

Fuck.

Kendrick’s hammer thumps down. “Motion dismissed.”

Skeletor isn’t done, though. “I propose we let the lad go through initiation and make a call. If he fails, as you say, the problem is solved. If he succeeds, we go to war.”

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Not quite as good as striking right now, but not far off either.

Kendrick sets his hammer down. “Are you calling a motion?”

“Not quite yet.” Skeletor turns to me. “You’re confident you can get this girl of yours to behave?”

I clear my throat and try my best to project all the confidence I don’t feel. “Yes. Absolutely.”

He graces me with a single brief nod, then addresses Kendrick. “The Calders can do a great deal of damage in a month.”

A rumble of assent ripples through the room.

“I propose we bring initiation forward. Five days should suffice.”

My stomach drops again. Five days? Jacob and I speak together. “That’s not…”

“No, he can’t…”

“Silence!” Skeletor again. “Initiates only speak when addressed in a council meeting.”

Kendrick snaps, “They’re right, and you well know it. He’s only had his Ward for two days.”

“Well then—” Skeletor gets to his feet. “—let's allow the young idiot some grace, shall we? Ten days.”

The three who want me dead mutter and nod. They don't think I can do it.

Skeletor formalizes it. “I call a motion. Red for bringing the initiation forward to ten days’ time. He succeeds, we go to war. He fails, he goes to Randall Calder in a box.”