I decide to intervene and push to my feet. “What do you want from me?” I ask Mr. Averson as I step up beside Finn.
His smile is cruel, and the way his gaze deliberately sweeps up and down my body causes nausea to form in my gut. “You are a pretty thing, aren’t you? No wonder my sons are attempting to throw their lives away over you.”
“Ew.” I pull a face and give an exaggerated shudder.
Yeah, I know now is probably not the time to antagonize him, but the dude’s being a creep.
His lip twitches, but he keeps his composure. “Smart off to me all you want. I don’t care. All I care about is your blood.”
“My blood? What? Are you trying to be a vampire or something?” I play dumb even though on the inside I’m freaking the hell out.
He knows who I am.
He’s going to kill me.
Maddison Everford, you have quite the fucking mouth on you. Maybe once this is all over, I’ll make you put it to good use.” A grin curves at his lips as I visibly pale.
“You won’t touch her,” Finn warns with his hands balled into fists. “You have to come over here to get her, and you won’t get past me. You may have been able to beat the shit out of us when we were younger, but you don’t stand a chance against me now.”
“No one will be throwing punches. You’re going to come with me, and you’re not going to fight me about it,” Mr. Averson replies impatiently. “Because if you don’t, I’ll put a hit out on Noah, and as an added threat, I’ll also ship your sister off to Broken Crown Island. In fact, it might do her some good to struggle a bit. She’s had it way too good. Besides, at the rate she’s going with men, she’ll end up knocked up by graduation.”
I’ve heard of Broken Crown Island before, but I thought it was a rumor that northsiders told themselves to make Royals seem like terrible people. Not that they’re all good. Clearly, since the worst is standing in our only escape path.
According to these rumors, an island exists where Royal families can send their children who are considered bad seeds, and they go through what is called a cleansing program. I’m unsure what that means, but it sounds horrifying.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Finn says, but the uncertainty in his voice doesn’t match his words.
Mr. Averson derisively laughs. “You know I would.”
“You’re with Noah’s mom.” Finn is getting desperate. “You wouldn’t kill your wife’s son.”
“You really believe that? Besides, she won’t know I’m the one behind his hit. That’s the entire point of an assassination.” Mr. Averson looks way too pleased with himself. “Now, are you two going to willingly come with me, or do I need to make some calls?”
Finn’s panicked gaze slides to me. “Maddy,” he starts to say.
I don’t wait for him to finish. He doesn’t need to say anything. I know what I need to do.
“We’ll go with him,” I take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. “It’ll be okay.”
If only I believed it myself, but I don’t.
Still, I’m good at faking it. I’ve had to do it my entire life, which is why I am able to pretend to be calm as Mr. Averson extracts a key from his pocket and unlocks us from the chains. Finn massages his wrist the instant the metal cuff falls off and clanks to the ground. I refuse to do so, though, wanting to appear as unbothered as possible.
I find it odd that he releases us without anyone else nearby. Sure, he threatened us to cooperate, but I could still run. After all, I barely know Lily and Noah. But even if I’ve only known them for a month, they’re more important to me than almost everyone else in this world. Mr. Averson doesn’t know that, though, so why is he trusting me to simply obey? Because he’s a Royal and he’s used to people complying with his every demand?
Nope, that’s not even remotely close to the reason, which I learn the moment we exit the room. On the other side is another room, only much more spacious and less dungeon-y. It has black marble flooring, maroon walls, and a beamed ceiling with a thorn of vines that make up the gothic chandelier, which is directly above a table. All of that seems fine, but two details about this space are freaking me out. One, that a bed is nestled in the corner of the room, and two, cloaked people are everywhere.It's the same cloaks as the society members wear, and my pulse quickens as I cast a frantic glance at Finn, who’s in the society.
Did he know about this?
His wide-eyed gaze meets mine, and he whispers, “I have no idea what’s going on.”
The puzzled concern creasing his forehead is enough for me to believe him. I want to wrap my arms around myself as we venture further into the room, but that would reveal how anxious I am. Thankfully, Finn threads his fingers through mine again. I clasp onto his hand like it’s my lifeline. I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my life, and I loathe it. I pride myself on being strong, but right now I feel on the verge of crumbling.
Mr. Averson approaches the end of the table, where three cloaked men stand in a row, all with their hoods drawn over their heads. But as he stops in front of them, they lower their hoods.
I resist a loud swallow as I notice that one of the men is Eli, the guy who not only tormented Lily but also has had his sights set on me and was the one behind me being dragged into the woods the other day.
My grip on Finn’s hand tightens, and he skims his thumb along the back of my hand, an attempt to soothe me. It won’t work, but I appreciate the effort.
