Page 143 of Eternal

Declan

Two Weeks Later

Music and smoke fillSigma House. End-of-year parties are chaos, and this one tops the past two years.

People are wasted, stumbling around, celebrating a summer of freedom, when I can’t wait to get out of here. After everything that happened with Teal and the fraternity, I need a summer away from this place to clear my head.

Taking control of the Council is both freeing and exhausting. Weeding out who has been true to Sigma House and who hasn’t. It’s taken all our resources, and it’s work that’s far from over.

I’m thankful Alex is back. Kole and I will both be gone for a month, and Maddox is still a bit immature to take the reins with what’s ahead.

Alex still isn’t speaking to anyone, but his presence is enough to keep control while I’m gone. As for the rest of us, what we’re doing—vengeance for Sigma Sin, for Alex—is also personal. He won’t let anyone slip through the cracks, and he’s going to make those deserving atone for what they did.

Maddox leans forward on the couch and snorts a line of coke off the coffee table. Alex watches him, not saying anything or caring.

Alex generally spends even more time in his room than Kole does. But tonight, he’s here to make a show of solidarity with the rest of us for the last party of the year.

Maddox looks half-dead as he leans back against the couch. His pupils are blown wide, and he’s barely in his head at this point.

“You need to watch that shit before it gets out of control.” I smack him on the side of the face when he doesn’t immediately respond. “Maddox?”

“Yeah?” He sits up, shaking his head. “I’m good, man. Loosen up.”

Maddox stands up and stalks off, pissed. He’s been unraveling lately with everything that happened. Power and order do strange things to people, and I’m questioning if he is ready for what I’ve handed him, especially when he’s dealing with the fall of his own father.

Glancing over at Alex, I see he’s watching Maddox leave, and I wonder what he’s thinking.

His face is stone-cold, and his eyes are distant. He’s the opposite of the eighteen-year-old kid who pledged Sigma House with me three years ago. While I’ll be asenior next year, Alex is starting over. And if I thought this place changed me, it’s nothing compared to him.

“Alex?” A voice comes from my left, and I look up to see Patience with her mouth wide open.

Her arm is hooked through Mila’s, and her gaze quickly turns lethal the longer she watches her brother.

“Are you kidding me?” Patience rolls her shoulders back. “When Mom told me you were back here, I didn’t want to believe it. How could you?”

He doesn’t answer her, but she pauses like she thinks this might be the conversation that snaps him out of it.

“I can’t believe you would do this.” Patience steps back.

Mila tries to hold onto her arm to keep her calm. “Patience, listen to hi—”

“No.” Patience shakes Mila off. “I’m done with this place. He deserves whatever he gets if he’s going to stay here. I can’t believe I was by his side thinking things had changed.”

Patience storms off, and Mila watches her go, not following. Unlike Alex, Mila actually looks torn, but she’s also smart enough to know there’s no calming her best friend right now.

When Mila turns back to me and Alex, she forces a smile. “She’s just upset you’re back here. That’s all.”

“As if that wasn’t clear.” I chuckle, and Alex knocks me on the arm.

It catches me off guard when it’s the most reaction I’ve seen from him since he was carted away after his trial.

Mila appears equally confused, her eyebrows pinching.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I glance down to see a message lighting up the screen.

Wife: I’m back

“I gotta take off for a bit. You good?” I stand, looking over at Alex. “Keep an eye on Maddox for me?”