Page 49 of Serpent In White

I’m fucked. What kind of leader am I??

My emotions are going haywire, and I decide to cut the rest of my day short and go find Drake. I’m wound up tight right now, tense and bordering on irate by the time I get to the Field. Chances are I’ll find my brother in his lab. It’s a safe bet since this is where he spends most of his time. Here and up the mountain.

As I stomp to the entrance path, the patrolmen, who are shooting the shit and smoking cigarettes, notice me and startle. They drop their butts onto the ground and straighten as I approach, acting like I’m a damn military sergeant. It would be comical if I weren’t so damn frustrated.

“Head Priest,” one of them—Lorn, I can tell by his eyes—says.

“At ease, boys.” I smirk. “Can one of you take me up to the lab, please?”

“Yes, sir. Right away.” Lorn gets settled on his ATV, and I hop onto the back as he starts it up.

He pulls away from his friend and we begin up the path through the Field, heading toward the lab. It’s only about three minutes going as fast as he does, and once we’re there, the guards let me right in; no questions, no words.

It’s good. It means I can surprise brother dearest.

“I’ll wait for you here, Head Priest,” Lorn says as I approach the giant door to the lab.

Turning over my shoulder, I tell him, “I might be awhile.”

“That’s fine, sir. I don’t mind waiting.”

He’s a good one.

I shoot him a wink and then I’m inside, wandering the long hallway leading us to the inner laboratory. I don’t come in here all that often, since Drake typically takes the reins on this operation. But every time I do, I’m always amazed at how much it feels like him in here.

Drake has loved science since we were kids. While I was playing football and trying to act like I wasn’t checking out my teammates, he was reading and studying. Becoming amasterat all things knowledge. It would have gotten him picked on in school if kids weren’t so scared of him. And then once I moved in with his foster family, no one would dare say a word about my brother. They would answer to my fists. A few of them did.

Moving through the double doors, I wave off the soldiers who are practically escorting me and saunter up to Drake’s office. I knock on the door and wait, gaze flinging all around as I watch the chemistry happening in here, wishing I could hearanythingother than what everyone else hears.

The door tugs open, and of course Drake already knows it’s me, since I’m sure he heard me coming. He smirks and steps aside without a word, motioning for me to come in, which I do without hesitation. I barge right inside, brushing past him in my anger as he closes and locks the door behind us.

“So… to what do I owe the pleasure of your impromptu visit?” Drake inches toward me, his ever-present smugness bringing my blood to a boil.

No pleasantries.“Abdiel Harmony.” My face, and my thoughts, say everything that doesn’t leave my mouth.

The smirk stays planted on his lips, though his gaze narrows in my direction, and it’senragingme that I can’t hear him right now.

He straightens up. “What about him?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Drake. It’s not you.” My jaw tenses. “You gave him Empyrean. What the fuck is that about?”

Drake shrugs while I fume silently. “He came to me. I’m sure you know by now that he watched us…” He pauses, and I give him a slight nod. “Well, he saw it and he was curious.” He stops again to run his thumb along his lower lip. “Apparently, he’s curious about a lot of things.”

Red splashes my vision. I stalk up to my brother quick, pushing him until his back slams into the door as I hold my forearm to his throat.

“Did you fuck him??” I growl in his face, close enough that I witness his pupils dilate.

“Calm down,your majesty.” He shoots his own flames of fury at me through his swirling eyes. “You don’t own anyone other than your five, remember?”

I surge closer to his face until I’m hovering over him, even with his couple of inches on me in height.

“I’ll ask you again, Drake. And this will be the last time. Did. You.Fuck. Him?” I’m vibrating with the heat of wrath and jealousy; so many intense things I can’t control whipping through my body.

He still takes a moment to answer me. “No. Is that what you want to hear?”

“Is it true?” I seethe at him, and he has the nerve to laugh.

“Yes. It’s true. I didn’t fuck him.” I relax my hold just a bit, until he says, “I made him come, though.”