Page 5

Four

Sebastian

This is it. Will Kendrick honor the terms of the Brotherhood’s ancient laws? I haven’t broken any of them. Ophelia is twenty-four and unmarried and has no children. She meets all the requirements for a Ward.

Of course, practical man that he is, Kendrick might order her delivered immediately back to her father and throw me in detention. Or have me shot right in the middle of my stupid forehead.

I glance at my friends, registering their confusion. They don’t know the woman at my feet is a hand grenade lobbed right into the heart of their home. I’ve endangered not just them, but their Wards too. Will they forgive me once they understand what I’ve done?

I force myself to meet Kendrick’s gaze. His mouth hangs open, all his usual poise destroyed. “Sebastian. What have you done?”

The words stick in my throat, but I force them out anyway. “I’m sorry. It was the only way. She’s the one I want.”

Kendrick doesn’t speak, only steps closer, staring at Ophelia as though she might disappear if he wishes for it hard enough. Even Ophelia stops her mumbling. Only the screech of a bird in the forest interrupts the taut silence.

When Kendrick tears his gaze away from Ophelia, his jaw tightens and his eyes lazer into me. “Are you insane? Do you understand what this means? That’s Ophelia Calder. This is going to start a war.”

At the distant edge of my hearing, Jacob mutters, “Fuck’s sake,” at the same time Quinn whispers, “Who?”

I’ve practiced this over and over, until the words burned themselves into my brain. Kendrick values traditional values, history, and logic. I clear my throat. “Sir, if you—”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Sebastian.” Kendrick’s voice is a hard, unfamiliar rasp. He gestures to a waiting Gilda soldier. “Sedate the girl and take her to Medical.”

The guard salutes, then pulls a box from a kit bag at his feet. Do they just walk around with fully loaded syringes? Seems excessive.

Focus.

Apparently they do, though, because he pulls out a syringe filled with clear liquid. Ophelia’s eyes widen, and she tries to shuffle away. She unbalances, and I crouch out of reflex, steadying her before she hits the floor. Our eyes meet, hers wide, gray, and full of tears. Does she know about the Brotherhood? Has she realized what this means for her yet?

She mumbles and gives a sad little shake of her head as the Gilda soldier grips her shoulder, holding her still as he sinks the needle into her neck. She flinches, and I keep my arms wrapped around her as the drug hits and her eyes droop. Her body becomes a limp weight in my hands.

“I’ll take her from here, sir.” The Gilda soldier grips her under the arms and hoists her up, draped over his shoulder. She’s on the tall side for a woman, but slim, and he gets to his feet as though she’s no encumbrance at all. For a mad instant, I want to follow him. Then Kendrick’s voice snaps me back to the real world.

“Inform Medical to keep her under until I reach a decision. Sebastian, my office. Now.”

No one has shot me yet. That has to be a good sign. Maybe I’ll get to use my carefully prepared arguments after all, if Kendrick calms down enough to listen once he has a glass of whiskey in hand. He’s already striding off, so I trail after him.

Jacob and Gabriel flank me.

“Are you fuckin’ mental, mate?” Jacob’s accent is as strong as it ever gets, a sure sign he’s stressed. “This is why you’ve been all shifty? Plotting to steal the mafia princess like some bad fuckin’ movie? You realize people could die over this.”

“Why did you have to have her in particular?” Gabriel cuts right to the heart of the matter. He gets it. Eve was a dangerous choice, too, though the only person it endangered was himself. “Do you already know her, or…”

He lets the question hang. Now that the deed is done, the urge to spill my guts is overwhelming. I’ve been holding it all in for so long that the pressure has built up to the point where it has to blow. Kendrick, though. Kendrick first, and I can tell the guys everything once I’m sure I’m not going to die.

“I’ll explain. I will, but not now. After.”

Gabriel starts to speak, but Jacob cuts him off. “Yep. Get things straight with the big man, then find us when you’re ready.” He lowers his voice. “That’s if he doesn’t blow your stupid fuckin’ head off first.”

Ah, Jacob. A ray of sunshine in every situation. Gabriel snorts a laugh, and it almost makes me feel better. If they can joke about it, it means it probably won’t happen. Right ?

“Thanks so much for the vote of confidence.” I punch Jacob in the arm—might as well punch a wall—then speed up to catch Kendrick.

I draw level with Kendrick, and he shoots a glare my way, then turns back to the path, lips thin. The short walk takes approximately twenty years, the thick pressure of Kendrick’s anger surrounding us like a cloud. We pass through the pretty, manicured Compound gardens, but it might as well be a torn-up, post-apocalyptic wasteland. It certainly feels like the end of the world.

We finally reach Main Admin, and Kendrick presses a hand to the entry door without a word. Just that one action summons his special elevator, and it’s waiting for us when we enter the lobby. The doors slide open with an ominous hiss, and we step inside.

No. I can’t stand the silence anymore. Not in this enclosed space. “Sir, I—”

“Quiet.”

I snap my mouth closed and watch the light as it marks our glacial progress up the tower. My clothes are too tight against my hot, sweaty skin. I hate this. I’d rather a screaming fight than the sort of tense, awkward silence that marked so much of my childhood. When your parents despise each other, dinner times are not much fun.

The two Gilda soldiers outside Kendrick’s door salute as we approach, and he uses his palm to gain entry. Guarding his office has to be the most boring job in the entire Compound. Who would come here willingly? What would they do, steal the suit of armor as a prank?

The door shuts behind us, and Kendrick stalks to his desk. He sits but doesn’t suggest I do the same, so I hover, trying not to shift from foot to foot. All the lines of Kendrick’s body radiate tension, from the crease between his brows down to his steepled fingers. He stares at his desk for a long time before meeting my gaze.

His voice is soft and dangerous. “I was advised not to allow you into the Brotherhood because of your family’s connection to the Calders. Did you know that?”

No. No, I hadn’t, though it makes a lot of sense. I manage, “No, sir.”

“I overrode their objections. You’re a bright young man with a brilliant mind. I didn’t want your birth to define your opportunities.”

Each word is a hammer blow to my heart. Not many Brothers see behind Kendrick’s carefully constructed image, but I do. I’m one of the few who understands how precarious his position is. He took a risk because he believed in me.

Shit.

“I’m sorry. I—”

“Do you have any idea what this will mean?”

I do. I've gone over it a hundred ways to Sunday.

“I’ll have to restrict Brothers’ movements. Put security details on their families to prevent retaliatory attacks. Reduce external staffing levels to the absolute minimum to prevent infiltration.”

I know. I know. I know. Except he's already been infiltrated. But Kendrick's right. I've screwed the others until things settle down. I'm not going to be very popular for a while.

“Sebastian, what you’ve done today will deeply impact the life of every Brother in this Compound, including me.”

Guilt begins to wrap me in spidery webs. I open my mouth to explain, but Kendrick isn't finished.

“We've long known of the Calders. It's been an uneasy coexistence of sorts, with neither side willing to risk all-out conflict. They steal from us, and we block them. They threaten to unveil us, and we disrupt their operations until they back down. But this...” He shakes his head. “You've brought a war to our doorstep.”

Only one thing keeps me from crumbling into dust. Maggie. I did it for Maggie. Her face gives me the strength to look Kendrick in the eyes.

“I’ll take all the blame, sir, and the consequences.”

Kendrick lets out a long, weary sigh. “That’s meaningless, and we both know it.”

Of course it is.

Kendrick taps his index finger on the desk, a staccato rhythm that scrapes at my nerves. “You’re going to tell me exactly why you made this insane decision, and you’re going to do it right now.” He pauses, then flicks a hand at the uncomfortable chair. “And for the love of God, sit down.”

I do, though it hardly feels better than standing. I open my mouth, but Kendrick holds up a hand. “Straight talking, Sebastian. I don’t need you to sell this to me. Just the facts.”

Shit. He knows me too well. I take a second to reorder my thoughts, stripping nuanced argument down to bare essentials. Where to start? With the only thing that really matters. “My sister killed herself when she was fourteen years old.”

Kendrick’s face softens, though only for a moment. I half expect him to interject and ask me what the hell that has to do with anything, but he’s too smart for that. After a second, I continue. “Ophelia Calder pushed her to it. She and her friends bullied Maggie until she couldn’t take it anymore. Dad wouldn’t do anything to stop it, of course.”

I don’t try to hide the bitterness. “All he cared about was the Calder contract. And after she died, nothing happened. They squashed the investigation. That fucking woman—” I jab a finger down, toward medical. “—never got a single day of suspension. No punishment. Nothing. And when I confronted her, Harrison stepped in.”

Kendrick makes a noise low in his throat. “I’ve heard the Calder heir is every bit as cutthroat as his father.”

I snort. “You could say that. The recovery from that day…” I shake my head. If Kendrick pushes me, I’ll give him every sad little bit of teenage trauma. The weeks in the hospital. Dad pulled me out of school and assigned me private tutors, because God forbid I disrupt his relationship with the precious Calders. Kendrick can have it all and more, but he just nods.

“I think I understand. So, this is about revenge?”

“It’s about justice. They think they’re untouchable.” It sounds ridiculous, but Kendrick doesn’t laugh.

Another uncomfortable silence falls as Kendrick rubs his temples, then, thank every deity under the sun, reaches for his decanter. I need alcohol like a desert traveler needs a cool oasis. It takes all my restraint not to grab the bottle out of his hand and chug it like a kegger.

The hefty measure he pours me feels like a tentative truce. I close my eyes as I take a long sip. Heaven in liquid form.

“I understand your logic, but this isn’t what the sacred bond of Ward and Patron is supposed to represent. Look at your friends and the wonderful relationships they’ve developed. You only get one chance at this, Sebastian. One. Do you really want to spend it like this? On a woman you despise?”

He makes it sound bleak, but his words do nothing. I’ve thought all this through so many times it’s lost all meaning. None of it matters.

How much should I tell Kendrick? I hesitate for a moment before deciding. All of it. He needs to know the whole thing. “I’ve known about the Brotherhood since I was a teenager. ”

Kendrick’s brow lifts at my sudden change of topic. “Really? How?”

A brief smile passes over my lips at the memory. “My father’s computers were so easy to hack. He might as well have pinned his private documents to the fridge. His files on the Brotherhood made interesting reading.”

Kendrick leans forward, lips a hard line. “What did he have on us?”

“More than you’d want him to. He had lists of some members, the location of the Compound, and information on the practice of taking Wards. It didn’t capture the truth of it, just that women were held here at the Compound and never released. Nothing on the ceremony or that they belong to just one Brother. But enough to give me an idea.”

“An idea?” The soft, dangerous note is back in Kendrick’s voice, and I try not to let my nerves show as I grip the glass.

“Yes, sir. When you approached me, I’d been planning it for years. I did everything I could to bring myself to your attention and receive an introduction to the Brotherhood. Everything I did led me to this point.”

“And what point is that?”

“The point where I ruin all three of the Calders’ lives. They have eyes in here, however hard you try to stop it. They’ve spied on the Brotherhood for years. And now, Harrison and Randall are going to see exactly what I make Ophelia into. They’re going to watch me turn her into my obedient little pet.”